Procuring Authority Liable For Differential GST In Government Contracts: Madras High Court Reiterates

Reiterating that additional GST arising from the rollout of the GST regime in government works contracts must be borne by the procuring authority, the Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu Housing Board to consider a contractor's claim for reimbursement of differential tax.A Bench of Justice N Sathish Kumar relying on settled law, held that contractors cannot be fastened with liability for differential GST, interest, or penalties when tax was discharged strictly in accordance...

GST Late-Fee Amnesty Benefit Cannot Be Denied To Early Annual Return Filers: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has held that GST-registered persons who filed their annual returns before the amnesty scheme cannot be denied its benefit merely because the GST Council did not address their situation in its meeting. The amnesty scheme, notified in March 2023, capped the maximum late fee for delayed filing of GSTR-9 (annual GST returns) at Rs 10,000 per financial year for the financial years 2017-18 to 2021-22. A single-judge bench of Justice C Saravanan observed that such taxpayers...

Madras High Court Directs Consolidated GST Adjudication After Trader Receives Two Assessments For Same Year

After a Chennai-based trader received two separate GST assessment orders for the same financial year, the Madras High Court remanded the matter for consolidated adjudication by a single authority. A single-judge bench of Justice C Saravanan noted that, for the same tax period, “two officers who are the Respondents in the respective Writ Petitions filed respective impugned orders,” and proceeded to consider the grievance raised by the trader. The dispute relates to two assessment orders issued...

Madras High Court Orders Removal Of Wipro's 'PREMIO' Trademark On Crompton Greaves Plea

The Madras High Court has ordered the removal of the “PREMIO” trademark registered in favour of Wipro Enterprises Private Limited. The Court found that the mark had not been put to genuine commercial use for more than five years. Justice N Senthilkumar passed the order on December 16, 2025. He allowed a rectification plea filed by Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Limited, a Mumbai-based consumer electricals manufacturer.The court held that the disputed mark was liable to be removed from...

Madras High Court Upholds Arbitral Award Granting Relief To 93 Chennai Port Spillage Workers

The Madras High Court on Wednesday rejected a petition filed by the Chennai Port Authority, refusing to set aside an arbitral award that directed the port to reinstate spillage-handling workers and grant back wages, gratuity and other service benefits to 93 workers. A single bench of Justice N Anand Venkatesh held that the award did not suffer from any jurisdictional error or patent illegality and did not conflict with public policy. The court observed that the Port Trust, as a State...

Income Tax | Manual Returns Invalid After E-Filing Became Mandatory For Companies on May 14, 2007: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has held that from May 14, 2007, companies had to file their income tax returns electronically, and that paper returns filed after that date carry no legal validity A bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and Mummineni Sudheer Kumar rejected a claim for deduction under Section 80-IC of the Income Tax Act, holding that electronic filing of returns was a mandatory requirement for availing the benefit. The case reached the High Court after the Income Tax Department filed an appeal...

Madras High Court Allows US Inventor's Late Patent Examination Request Despite Indian Agent's Error

The Madras High Court has directed the Indian Patent Office to accept and process a request for examination filed by a US-based inventor, holding that a patent application cannot be treated as abandoned due to an inadvertent mistake by a patent agent. The court ruled that in the absence of any intention to give up the invention, such procedural lapses should not defeat substantive rights. Justice N Anand Venkatesh passed the order on December 18, 2025, while disposing of a writ petition filed...

Madras High Court Quashes CESTAT Chennai Order For Deciding Issues Not Under Appeal

The Madras High Court has pulled up the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, Chennai for overstepping its mandate, quashing its order and holding that the Tribunal cannot decide issues that were never appealed before it. A Bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi said that although Section 129-B of the Customs Act, 1962 confers wide powers on the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, those powers are not unbridled."It is true that Section...

Madras High Court Rejects Vegan Brand Origin Nutrition's Interim Plea To Restrain 'ORIGIN FRESH' Trademark

The Madras High Court has refused to grant interim relief to Origin Nutrition Private Limited, a maker of vegan protein products, in its trademark infrigment dispute with Tech7 Phyll Private Limited over the use of the name “ORIGIN/ORIGIN FRESH” for selling fruits and vegetables. In an order dated December 19, 2025, Justice N Senthilkumar said that “ORIGIN” is a common, generic word and cannot be claimed as an exclusive trademark. The court also pointed out that the two companies are in very...

Madras High Court Refuses To Lift Interim Ban On YouTube Channels Streaming Raj Television's Tamil Films

The Madras High Court has refused to lift an interim injunction against a YouTuber accused of illegally streaming Tamil films claimed by Raj Television Network Limited. The case centres on the Tamil films 16 Vayathinile, Kalangarai Vilakkam and Kudiyirundha Kovil. Raj Television says it holds exclusive copyright over these films, including their digital and streaming rights. Justice N Senthilkumar, in an order passed on December 12, 2025, rejected Palanivel Dhaksnamoorthy's plea to lift an ex...

Madras High Court Sets Aside GST Demand For Not Considering CBIC Circulars Cited By Taxpayer

The Madras High Court has set aside a GST demand on a corporate guarantee after finding that the tax department failed to consider CBIC circulars relied upon by the taxpayer while raising the assessment.Allowing the writ petition, Justice G R Swaminathan held that an assessment order cannot survive if the tax department fails to consider the defence raised by the taxpayer. The court held, “When a defense raised by the noticee is not considered in the final order, the order is vulnerable on...

Madras High Court Upholds Trade Marks Registry Order Rejecting “Fresh Not Frozen” Mark

The Madras High Court has dismissed an appeal filed by Freshtohome Foods Private Limited, a Bangalore-based online grocery delivery platform against a 2019 order of the Trade Marks Registry rejecting its trademark application for the brand “FRESH NOT FROZEN”. Justice N Anand Venkatesh passed the order on December 18, 2025. The court held that the proposed mark was deceptively similar to an existing registered trademark, “FRESH N FROZEN”, which covers similar food-related retail services. The...