GST Refund Can't Be Granted To Trader Until Cancelled Registration Is Restored: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has made it clear that GST refund cannot be granted to a trader whose GST registration stands cancelled.In the case at hand, the Petitioner's registration was cancelled in February 2023 with retrospective effect from July 2018.In this backdrop a division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain observed,“When the GST registration itself has been cancelled in 2018, obviously, no refund can be granted till the said GST registration of the Petitioner is restored.”The...

S.74 CGST Act | Consolidated SCN For Multiple Financial Years Necessary To Establish Wrongful Availment Of ITC: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that consolidated show cause notice under Section 74 of the CGST is not only permissible but necessary, to unearth wrongful availment of ITC over a span of period.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta observed,“The nature of ITC is such that fraudulent utilization and availment of the same cannot be established on most occasions without connecting transactions over different financial years. The purchase could be shown in one...

Process Patent | S.104A Of Patents Act Can Be Invoked At Interim Stage To Seek Disclosure Of Defendant's Process: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that there is no bar on the invocation of Section 104A of the Patent Act 1970 at the initial stage of a suit, when the patent holder seeks disclosure of the defendant's process.For context, Section 104A prescribes that where the subject matter of a patent infringement suit is a 'process' for obtaining a product, the burden is on the defendant to prove that the process used by him to obtain the identical product is different from the patented process.A proviso to the...

Delhi High Court Reprimands GST Dept For Raiding Lawyer's Office, Seizing Computer Over Client's Tax Case

The Delhi High Court has pulled up the GST Department for harassing a tax lawyer, by raiding his offices and seizing his files and electronic gadgets, in connection with alleged GST evasion by one of his clients.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain observed that unless the Department has some material to indicate the lawyer's involvement in alleged tax evasion, it cannot take such steps against him.“The Advocate cannot be subjected to harassment in this manner unless and...

Arbitral Award Cannot Be Challenged Through Civil Suit: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh has held that an arbitral award cannot be challenged through a civil suit, as such a course is clearly barred under Section 5 read with Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Arbitration Act). Such a plaint deserves to be rejected under Order VII Rule 11(d) of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC), on the ground that it is barred by law.The plaintiff has already invoked the criminal remedies by filing a complaint before the...

Mere Pendency Of Formal Signature By One Party Doesn't Preclude Parties From Being Referred To Arbitration: Delhi HC Allows Vedanta's Plea

The Delhi High Court bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad has held that the mere pendency of a formal signature by one party, when the other party has signed the agreement after reading and understanding its terms, including the arbitration clause, does not prevent the parties from being referred to arbitration. The Petitioner has filed this petition under section 11(6) of the Arbitration Act seeking appointment of the Respondent's nominee arbitrator to adjudicate disputes. The...

Civil Courts Not Prohibited From Granting Anti-Arbitration Injunction In Foreign-Seated Arbitration If Proceedings Are Vexatious: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav has held that Civil Courts are not prohibited from granting anti arbitration injunction in a foreign seated arbitration if the proceedings are conducted in a vexatious and oppressive manner. The present application has been filed seeking an injunction against the ongoing arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) stating that the proceedings are vexatious, oppressive, unconscionable and against the...

[Patent Act] Applicant's Failure To Disclose Prior Art Doesn't Bar Amendment In Specifications Of Application: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that if by suppressing any prior art, an applicant is able to obtain patent undeservingly, then such prior art can certainly be relied even at a later stage to challenge the grant of patent to such an applicant or to revoke such patent, under Section 64 of the Patents Act, 1970.However, Justice Mini Pushkarna added, “if a prior art comes to the notice of the Controller during the pendency of a patent application, though not disclosed by the applicant, and if...

Simplicity No Bar To Patentability, Even Simple Changes Can Lead To New Inventions: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has made it clear that a simple invention, if novel and non-obvious, warrants patent protection when it addresses a technical problem with ingenuity.Justice Mini Pushkarna observed,“It needs no emphasis that simplicity is no bar to patentability and even simple changes can introduce discernible and substantive differences, leading to a new invention.”The observation was made while hearing the plea of a South Korean company engaged in developing automated car parking systems,...

Advisable For Legislature To Correct Lacuna On What Constitutes 'Infringement' Under Patents Act: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has suggested to the legislature to define what constitutes 'infringement' under the Patents Act 1970.A division bench of Justices C. Hari Shankar and Ajay Digpaul noted that while other intellectual property statutes define what constitutes infringement therein, the Patent Act is 'peculiarly' silent on this aspect.For context, Section 29 of the Trade Marks Act 1999 defines infringement of a trade mark, Section 51 of the Copyright Act, 1957 defines infringement of...

Unauthenticated Documents From Foreign Govt Regarding Swiss Bank Account Of Assessee Can't Form Basis For Criminal Action: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has quashed the criminal proceedings initiated against an assessee under Section 276C, 276D and 277 of the Income Tax Act 1961 merely on the basis of some unauthorised documents alleging existence of an undisclosed Swiss Bank account in his name.In doing so, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna observed,“Merely on some unauthenticated information received from a third Country with no material evidence, is not sufficient to make out a prima facie case and there cannot be a...

Delhi High Court Lists YouTuber Mohak Mangal's Plea To Transfer ANI's Copyright Suit Before IP Division

The Delhi High Court on Monday listed before a coordinate bench of the intellectual property (IP) division YouTuber Mohak Mangal's plea seeking transfer of the copyright and trademark infringement suit filed by Asian News International (ANI) against him before city's Patiala House Court to the High Court.Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani listed the matter before a coordinate bench on Friday, after taking note of Rule 26 of the Delhi High Court Intellectual Property Rights Division Rules, 2022. As...