Highest Officer In State Dept Liable For Contempt If Non-Compliance Of Court Order Is Due To Confusion In Admin Machinery: Allahabad HC

Recently, the Allahabad High Court has held that the highest officer in a government department will be liable for contempt proceedings against him/ her is a writ court order is not complied with due to confusion in administrative machinery. Holding that Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh will be liable for contempt in cases relating to the Land Acquisition Act 1984 as...

Allahabad High Court Doubts UP DGP's Claim That Only 11 Mob Lynching Cases Reported In State Since 2018

The Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) recently expressed serious doubt regarding the data furnished by the Director General of Police (DGP) before the HC, which claimed that only 11 cases pertaining to mob lynching have been reported in the State since 2018. Observing that the figure "prima facie appears to be incorrect", a Division Bench of Justice Abdul Moin and Justice Rajeev...

Madras High Court Asks Centre To Consider Framing Law Similar To That In Australia For Monitoring Children's Internet Usage

The Madras High Court recently asked the central government to consider bringing in a law, similar to that in Australia, to monitor internet usage by children. The bench of Justice G Jayachandran and Justice KK Ramakrishnan made the suggestion after noting that pornographic content is widely available to children using the internet. The court observed that the end users had to be...

"Law Should Not Be Used To Target Specific Individuals": Madras High Court Grants Interim Bail To Savukku Shankar

The Madras High Court, on Friday, granted interim bail to YouTuber and journalist Shankar @ Savukku Shankar. Shankar was arrested on December 13 on allegations of assault and extortion by a film producer.The bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice P Dhanabal noted that Shankar had serious health issues and needed treatment. The court also noted that the authorities had been filing...

Benefit Of S.14 Limitation Act Applies To Appeals U/S 107 GST Act Where Rectification Application Is Filed Within Time: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has held that the benefit of Section 14 of the Limitation Act can be granted to a party for filing appeal under Section 107 of the Goods and Service Tax Act where a rectification application under Section 161 of the GST Act was filed within time. Limitation for filing appeal under Section 107 of the GST Act is 3 months from the date of the order with...

Arbitration Clause In Expired Lease Cannot Be Invoked In Dispute Over Alleged Fresh Contract: Calcutta High Court Dismisses HDFC's Plea

The Calcutta High Court has held that once a lease stands expired, disputes arising out of an alleged fresh or independent contract cannot be referred to arbitration by relying on an arbitration clause contained in the expired lease deed.Justice Aniruddha Roy, while dismissing an application filed by HDFC Bank Limited under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, held that...

Delhi High Court Slaps ₹1 Lakh Costs On Securities Brokerage That Undertook Trades Without Client Mandate

The Delhi High Court recently pulled up a stock brokerage firm for indulging in unauthorised trading and “sharp practices” aimed at earning commission income at the cost of investors. It also imposed a costs of Rs 1 lakh for prolonged harassment of its client. Dismissing an appeal by Trustline Securities Limited, the court held that trades executed without client instructions and...

Delhi High Court Upholds Arbitral Referral Of Trademark & Passing Off Dispute Involving "Pind Balluchi" Restaurant

The Delhi High Court Bench of Justices Om Prakash Shukla and C. Hari Shankar have allowed the Section 8, Arbitration and Conciliation (“ACA”) application seeking referral for arbitration between M/s Triom Hospitality (“Triom”) and M/s J.S. Hospitality Services Pvt. Ltd. (“J.S.”) regarding the registered trademark of the famous “Pind Balluchi”...

Information Technology Act Provisions Regarding Service Of Notice Inapplicable To Service Under GST Act: Allahabad High Court

In a landmark judgment, the Allahabad High Court has held that the provisions of Information Technology Act regarding dispatch and receipt of service are not applicable to service made under Section 169 of the Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017. The six modes of service provided under Section 169(1) of the State/Central GST Act are: (a) tendering directly or by messenger; (b) dispatch...

Delhi Air Pollution | GST Council Meeting Can't Be Conducted On VC, PIL To Abolish 18% Tax On Air Purifiers 'Loaded': Centre To High Court

Union of India informed the Delhi High Court on Friday (December 26) that the meeting of the GST Council to decide the issue of lowering or abolition of GST on air-purifiers can only be conducted physically and not virtually and sought to time to respond to a PIL to declare air-purifiers as “medical devices”.The PIL moved by lawyer Kapil Madan further seeks removal of imposition of 18%...

'Strong Prima Facie Case': Calcutta High Court Flags Unfair Exclusion Of IndiaMART By ChatGPT, Defers Interim Relief Pending OpenAI Hearing

The Calcutta High Court has held that IndiaMART has made out a strong prima facie case of selective discrimination after being allegedly excluded from ChatGPT-generated search results, but declined to grant ad-interim relief on the ground that such an order would virtually amount to granting final relief without hearing OpenAI and the other respondents.Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur, sitting in...

GST Registration Can Be Restored If Returns And Dues Are Cleared: Gauhati High Court

The Gauhati High Court has allowed a writ petition seeking restoration of Goods and Services Tax (GST) registration which had been cancelled due to non-filing of returns for a continuous period of six months. A single judge bench of Justice Kardak Ete was hearing the petition filed by a proprietor engaged in execution of works contracts, whose GST registration was cancelled by the...