S. 37 of Arbitration Act | Fresh Material Barred At Appellate Stage If Not Placed Under Section 34: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has held that parties to an arbitration cannot introduce completely new material for the first time at the appellate stage (Section 37) of arbitration proceedings if such material could have been produced earlier but was not placed before the court when the arbitral award was initially challenged (Section 34) The court emphasised that an appeal at this stage is not an opportunity to cure evidentiary lapses or supplement the record belatedly. A division bench of Justices...

Suit Liable To Dismissal Cannot Be Transferred To Commercial Division: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has dismissed a 25-year-old suit between Tractel Tirfor India Pvt. Ltd. and Tractel International S.A.S., holding that the case was never legally pending and therefore could not have been transferred to the court's commercial division. A Division Bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Md. Shabbar Rashidi ruled on January 21 that the failure to lodge a writ of summons, which is mandatory under the High Court's Original Side Rules, rendered the suit liable to dismissal in...

Council Members Changed Between Hearing and Award: Calcutta High Court Sets Aside MSME Award

The Calcutta High Court has set aside an arbitral award passed by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Facilitation Council.It held that the award in this case could not stand because it was delivered by a differently constituted tribunal than the one that heard the parties A division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi found that the dispute was heard over several years but the Council's composition kept changing. The members who finally delivered and signed the...

Calcutta High Court Sets Aside Calcutta Stock Exchange Penalty Against Dalmia Securities Over Invalid Board

The Calcutta High Court has set aside a penalty order passed by the Calcutta Stock Exchange Ltd (CSE) against Dalmia Securities Pvt Ltd, holding that the decision was taken by an unlawfully constituted governing board. The court, however, upheld the validity of the underlying investigation. Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya partly allowed the writ petition filed by Dalmia Securities and its director. He held that the investigation into alleged violations was legally valid, but the final order...

Calcutta High Court Declines To Entertain Arbitral Award Challenge In Disposed Arbitrator Appointment Plea

The Calcutta High Court has dismissed an application seeking to challenge an arbitral award after finding that it was filed in the wrong proceeding. The Court held that once it appoints an arbitrator, it cannot entertain further applications in that case and that any challenge to an award must be filed separately under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. In this case, the opposite parties approached the High Court after the arbitral award was passed but filed their challenge in the already...

Email Service Of Patent Examination Report Valid, Postal Service Not Mandatory: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has upheld the rejection of a patent application on the ground of abandonment, ruling that service of the First Examination Report (FER) through email constitutes valid service under the Patents Act, 1970, and that postal service is not mandatory.In an order passed on January 19, 2026, Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur dismissed a writ petition challenging the abandonment of a patent application titled “Herbal Anti-Venom against Catfish Sting,” holding that the Patents Act and...

Mortgagor's Right Of Redemption Prevails Over Auction Purchaser's Claim Of Title: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has reiterated that while an auction purchaser acquires certain rights upon being declared the successful bidder, such rights are not absolute and cannot override the statutory right of redemption available to the mortgagor under law.The court said once the borrower exercises the right of redemption by clearing the dues before the transfer of the secured asset, the auction purchaser cannot claim an indefeasible right over the property.A single bench of Justice Ajay Kumar...

Calcutta High Court Sets Aside GST Demand Over Reliance On Undisclosed Back Portal Data

The Calcutta High Court recently set aside a GST demand raised against a transport company after holding that the tax department relied on undisclosed back-office data.Justice O.M. Narayan Rai held that the tax department relied on “data available in GST B.O. portal”, leaving the petitioner without an effective opportunity to respond. The court focused on the manner in which the demand was raised in this case. It noted that the show-cause notices were founded on figures drawn from the GST...

Court Can Extend Arbitrator's Mandate Even After Its Expiry: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has reiterated that an arbitrator's authority does not end automatically on expiry of the time limit prescribed under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The court said that it retains the power to extend an arbitrator's mandate even after expiry of the time fixed and that in this case the parties had consented by their conduct. Applying this settled position, the court extended the mandate of the arbitrator in the case before it and refused to terminate the...

Only Final SFIO Report, Not Interim Report, Can Trigger Prosecution Under Companies Act: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has clarified that the central government cannot initiate prosecution under the Companies Act on the basis of an interim report submitted by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office and must wait for the final investigation report after completion of the probe. Justice Krishna Rao made the observation while allowing a writ petition filed by Sunil Kumar Agarwal and quashing a Look Out Circular issued against him during the pendency of an SFIO investigation, noting that...

Calcutta High Court Removes Rival 'TANA TAN' Trademark, Rules Bikaji Foods Is Prior User

The Calcutta High Court has ordered the removal of the trademark “TANA TAN” from the Trade Marks Register. The Court held that the mark was deceptively identical to the long-standing “TANA TAN” trademark owned by snack food manufacturer Bikaji Foods International Limited. It found that the rival registration, secured in the name of Jagaranath Prasad, had been obtained in bad faith. A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur passed the order on January 7, 2026, while allowing a...

Bioreactor Invention Involving Human Embryonic Stem Cells Not Patentable: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has upheld the Patent Office's refusal to grant a patent to US-based biotechnology company Viacyte Inc., holding that the claimed bioreactor invention was primarily directed at biological material, including human embryonic stem cell-derived aggregates and therefore fell within non-patentable subject matter under the Patents Act, 1970.In a judgment dated January 16, 2026, a Single-Judge Bench of Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur, affirming the decision of the Deputy Controller...