Taking Cognisance Of Complaint By Unauthorised Person U/S 151 Electricity Act Vitiates Entire Trial: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court held that taking cognizance of an offence by a court based on a complaint lodged by an unauthorised person under Section 151 of the Electricity Act, 2003, goes to the root of the matter and cannot be treated as a mere irregularity. The Court ruled that when the law specifically designates the categories of persons competent to lodge a complaint, any cognizance taken on...

Income Tax | Bombay High Court Declines Interim Relief To Same Sex Couple Seeking Inclusion Under Term 'Spouse' For Tax Exemption

The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to grant any interim relief to the same sex couple, which has challenged the constitutional validity of Section 56(2)(x) of the Income Tax (IT) Act, which grants exemption from tax on gifts between heterosexual couples.A division bench of Justices Burgess Colabawalla and Amit Jamsandekar heard the brief submissions of the petitioner Payio Ashiho and...

Furnace Oil Not On Par With 'Plant And Machinery', Unrelated To Goods Dispatched For Complete Sales Tax Set-Off: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday held that manufacturers cannot claim full sales tax set-off on furnace oil used in producing goods that are partly sold within Maharashtra and partly transferred to branches outside the state, ruling that a 6% reduction must apply under Rule 41D(3)(a) of the Bombay Sales Tax Rules, 1959. Assessee sought to put forth that Furnace oil is a consumable...

Bombay High Court Restrains Local Retail Shop From Infringing 'The Body Care' Mark

The Bombay High Court has temporarily restrained a Mumbai-based retail store from using the name “The Body Care Shop”, ruling that it infringes the registered trademark “The Body Care”, owned by a city-based cosmetics business.A single bench of Justice Sharmila U Deshmukh delivered the order on November 7, 2025, in response to a trademark infringement and passing off petition filed by...

Bombay High Court Restrains Surat Company From Using German Entity's 'PETROFER' Mark

The Bombay High Court has granted an interim injunction in favour of German lubricant manufacturer Petrofer Chemie H.R. Fischer GmbH & Co. and its Indian licensee Hardcastle Petrofer Private Limited, restraining United Petrofer Limited, a Surat-based company, from using the mark 'PETROFER'. A single bench of Justice Arif S Doctor passed the order on November 6, 2025, while deciding...

Bombay High Court Says Recordings Of Live Streamed Videos Will Be Preserved Subject To Concerned Judge's Directive

The Bombay High Court on Monday notified that the records of the live streamed court proceedings will be preserved only on specific direction of a concerned judge presiding over a court.The notification issued on November 10, states that the ongoing live streaming of the High Court proceedings is being done "only subject to consent of the Judge/Judges."Further, it is stated that as per the...

Bombay High Court Issues Notice On Plea Seeking CBI Probe Into Reliance's Alleged $1.55 Billion Gas Theft From ONGC

The Bombay High Court has issued notice on a petition seeking CBI probe against Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and its directors, Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani for allegedly stealing over USD 1.55 billion worth of natural gas from neighbouring Oil and Natural Gas Corporations (ONGC) wells in the Krishna Godavari Basin, off the coast of Andhra Pradesh. The petition was filed by Jitendra P Maru,...

Video Recording Of Judicial Proceedings Can't Be Used As Evidence In Other Courts: Bombay High Court Dismisses PIL To Record MERC Hearings

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday, while dismissing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking mandatory audio video recording of the proceedings before the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), held that such recordings of the proceedings cannot be used as 'evidence' in any court of law.A division bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad noted...

Bombay High Court Upholds Conviction & Life Term Of Watchman For Killing Corporate Lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha

The Bombay High Court today upheld the conviction of a watchman convicted for the murder of a female corporate lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha, in Mumbai's Wadala area in August 2012.A division bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Dr Neela Gokhale upheld the conviction and the punishment of one Sajjad Ahmed Abdul Aziz Mugal alias Pathan, who was sentenced to life term by a sessions court in the...

Parents Merely Stating That 'Daughter Was Unhappy' And 'Often Wept' Insufficient To Convict In-laws & Husband U/S 498A IPC: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that the in-laws or husband of a woman cannot be convicted under charges of cruelty punishable under section 498-A (cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) merely on the basis of the statements of the wife's parents that their daughter was 'unhappy' in the marriage and often 'wept' in front of them due to the alleged harassment by her in-laws. Single-judge...

Police Cannot Intimidate Lawyers, Force Them To Disclose Details Of Communication With Clients: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday while imposing a cost of Rs 25,000 on a police officer made it clear that the police cannot insist lawyers to disclose details of their 'privileged' communication with their clients. A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Sandesh Patil were irked to note that an officer of the Matunga Police Station in Mumbai, issued at least six notices to...

'Multi-Year Tariff Cannot Be Amended Without Hearing Stakeholders': Bombay High Court Sets Aside Electricity Regulatory Commission Order

The Bombay High Court held that the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) could not amend or review a Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) order without first providing notice and a meaningful opportunity of hearing to all affected stakeholders. The Court observed that when the due procedure was followed by the MERC in passing the original MYT order, the same procedure should have been...