Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: November 13 To November 19, 2023

A weekly round-up of important cases from the Madras High Court Citations: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 350 To 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 358 NOMINAL INDEX ITC Limited v Britannia Industries Ltd, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 350 Ringfeder Power Transmission India Private Ltd v Rajesh Mootha, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 351 M/s.Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd. Versus Union of India, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 352 M/s.Shewil Trading Company Versus The Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 353 Mohamed Irfan v Union of India, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 354 Dr. D.Hariharan and Others v. Union of India and Others, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 355 Sushma v State, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 356 R.P. Darrmalingam Versus Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 357 Duraiswamy Kumaraswamy Versus PCIT, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 358 REPORT Good Day v Mom’s Magic: Madras High Court Restrains Sunfeast From Selling Butter Cookies In Blue Colour Wrapper, But Allows Sale Of Existing Stock Case Title: ITC Limited v Britannia Industries Ltd Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 350 The Madras High Court recently refused to interfere with an order of a single judge injuncting ITC Limited from selling their “Sunfeast Mom’s Magic Butter Cookies” in a blue wrapper similar to that of Britannia Good day biscuits. The bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy however, allowed the company to sell its existing stock of products packed in the offending blue color wrap. Brittania had approached the court claiming that ITC was selling its priducts under the brand name “Sunfeast” in an identical blue colour trade dress/wrapper as that of Britannia and was thus trying to cash in on Brittania’s goodwill and reputation. Brittania claimed that the defendant was selling their product in red colour wrapper and only recently had started selling their butter cookies in blue color wrapper in South India with a dishonest intention to get unlawful gain. Built Suit Agreement That Does Not Create Rights Over Property Will be Stamped Under Article 5(j) of Indian Stamp Act 1899: Madras High Court Case Title: Ringfeder Power Transmission India Private Ltd v Rajesh Mootha Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 351 The Madras High Court has observed that when a built suit agreement does not confer any vested right over the property or gives possession of the property, the document will be stamped under Article 5(j) of Schedule 1 of the Indian Stamp Act 1899 and not under Article 5(i) of the Act. Justice Abdul Quddhose relied upon the Apex Court decision in Food Corporation of India and others vs. Babulal Agrawal and observed that when no possession, right or title had been passed at the time of execution of the contract, the contract was only an executory agreement and not an agreement creating rights in the immovable property. GST Council Can Recommend Rate But Can’t Determine Classification: Madras High Court Allows Parle Agro’s Petition Challenging Classification Of Flavoured Milk Case Title: M/s.Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd. Versus Union of India Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 352 The Madras High Court has allowed Parle Agro’s petition challenging the classification of flavoured milk. The bench of Justice C. Saravanan has observed that the GST Council cannot impose the wrong classification of “flavoured milk” as a “beverage containing milk” under the residuary item "non-alcoholic "beverages" under Subheading 2202 90 30 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. The court held that the GST Council is merely recommendatory. It is for the government to fix appropriate rates on the goods that are classifiable under the Customs Tariff Act, of 1975. As long as the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, is adopted for the purpose of interpreting Notification No.1/2017-CT(Rate) dated June 28, 2017, classification has to be strictly in accordance with the classification under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, irrespective of the fact that concessions were given under the earlier regime by the Central Government under Sections 5 and 11C and Section 4A of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985. Madras High Court Directs Dept. To Investigate Misuse Of Login ID By Unknown Person Facilitating Tax Evasion Case Title: M/s.Shewil Trading Company Versus The Commissioner of Commercial Taxes Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 353 The Madras High Court has directed the state tax officer to investigate the misuse of login IDs by unknown persons facilitating tax evasion. The bench of Justice C. Saravanan has observed that the petitioner alleged that the petitioner's login ID was misused by a third party, who filed returns and passed on a huge input tax credit to the third party. The court held that the Commercial Tax Department shall coordinate with the rest of the respondents and investigate the complaint of the petitioner. This exercise shall be completed within a period of 18 months from the...

Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: November 13 To November 19, 2023

Upasana Sajeev

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