Bombay High Court

Anil Ambani gets protection from coercive action in 'tax evasion' case

The Bombay High Court has granted interim protection from prosecution and penalty to industrialist Anil Ambani in an alleged tax evasion case, while admitting his petition challenging the constitutional validity of provisions of the Black Money Act. Ambani, in his plea, said certain provisions of the (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, were "ultra vires" (beyond the powers/violative) to the Constitution of India. A bench of Justices B P Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla on Tuesday noted that there are other petitions filed in HC against the Act and admitted Ambani's plea, which will be taken up for final hearing in due course. The court directed the Union government to file its affidavit in response to the plea. The HC noted that an assessment order against Ambani has already been passed and that he has filed an appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals). "The said appeal can proceed and orders can be passed thereon. However, we ..

HC rejects Lilavati Trust's restraint plea against HDFC Bank, imposes costs

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday dismissed an interim plea filed by the medical trust that runs Lilavati Hospital here, seeking to restrain the HDFC Bank, its Managing Director and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan and others from making any defamatory remarks against the trust and its members. The Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust had filed the interim application in a defamation suit seeking Rs 1,000 crore damages from the bank, alleging that it and its senior executives had allegedly released statements to the media and also on its social media platforms that were defamatory and harmed the reputation of the trust. A bench of Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan, while dismissing the application, however, noted that the statements were not defamatory and were in fact factually accurate. The court also imposed a cost of Rs 5 lakh on the trust, which would have to be paid to the HDFC Bank, while noting that the application was just another plea in the long chain of proceedings initiated by the .

Relief for Airtel, Vi as Bombay High Court quashes OTSC spectrum levy

Bombay High Court quashed the DoT's one-time spectrum charge, offering major relief to Airtel and Vodafone Idea in a decade-old ₹20,000 crore dispute

HDFC AMC gets HC relief in cyber theft case; injunction against hackers

The Bombay High Court has granted temporary injunction against a ransomware group identifying itself as "Morpheus" from distributing or disclosing confidential data exfiltrated by it from the HFDC Asset Management Company. A vacation bench of Justice Shreeram Shirsat, in the order passed on May 29, said prima facie an arguable case was made out to grant interim relief. "If the confidential data is misused or leaked or traded or compromised, it will lead to dreadful consequences and it can cause irreparable and irreversible damage to the plaintiff company," the court said. Apart from the injunction against the ransomware group from using, distributing or disclosing the confidential data, the court also directed the Union government to take all steps necessary to remove, delete, block and disable accounts in relation to the stolen confidential data. The order was passed on an application and suit filed by HDFC Asset Management Company Limited seeking an injunction against the hackers

Charity Commissioner stops today's Tata Trusts meet, orders inspection

The Commissioner's Office has warned Tata Trusts that any other appropriate orders can be issued to prevent further violation of rules and protect interest of the public trust and its beneficiaries

Bombay HC restrains Berger Paints ad, flags meme for disparagement

The Bombay High Court restrained circulation of a Berger Paints advertisement after observing that it prima facie crossed into disparagement of Asian Paints

No parity between Agniveers, regular soldiers on pensionary benefits: Govt

The Union government has informed the Bombay High Court that Agniveers are not "similarly situated" as regular soldiers and hence, cannot claim parity in pensionary benefits for their next of kin in the event of death in action. In an affidavit filed last week against a petition by the mother of a deceased Agniveer, the Centre argued that the differentiation is constitutionally valid, as the Agnipath scheme is a short-term engagement designed for present-day national security needs. The government filed its affidavit in response to a petition by Jyotibai Naik, mother of Agniveer Murali Naik, who was killed in cross-border shelling in Jammu & Kashmir during Operation Sindoor in May last year, seeking benefits similar to those of regular soldiers. The petition, filed last year through advocates Sandesh More, Hemant Ghadigaonkar and Hitendra Gandh, stated that the Centre's Agnipath scheme creates an "arbitrary" distinction between Agniveers and regular soldiers, and questioned the ...

Tata Trusts defers board meeting till May 16 amid concerns over veto powers

The top agenda for friday's meeting was a review of tata trusts representation for nominee directors on the tata sons board

HC refuses urgent hearing on plea against Tata Trusts board meeting today

The Bombay High Court asked the petitioner to move the vacation bench if urgent relief was needed in the case challenging Sir Ratan Tata Trust's life trustees

Bombay HC upholds acquittal of 22 in Sohrabuddin 'fake' encounter case

The Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld the acquittal of the 22 accused in the 2005 case of the alleged fake encounter of gangster Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati. A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad dismissed the appeals filed by Shaikh's brothers, Rubabuddin and Nayabuddin, challenging the December 2018 judgment of a special court acquitting all the accused in the case. Among the 22 accused acquitted, 21 were junior-level officers from Gujarat and Rajasthan police, who were allegedly part of the teams that abducted the three and later killed them in staged encounters. The remaining one accused was the owner of a farmhouse in Gujarat, where Shaikh and Kausar Bi were allegedly illegally detained before they were killed. A detailed copy of the judgment would be made available later. The special court, while acquitting the accused, had observed that the prosecution failed to establish a cogent case to sugges

Bombay HC quashes Lilavati Trust bribery case against HDFC Bank CEO

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday quashed a bribery case against HDFC Bank MD and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan filed by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, calling the complaint a "counterblast" to the bank's recovery proceedings to reclaim dues of over Rs 65 crore. A division bench of Justices M S Karnik and N R Borkar stated that financial institutions are bound to initiate proceedings for recovery of loan amounts, and observed that the complaint was a result of the acrimony and strained relations between the Trust's past and present trustees. Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust runs Lilavati Hospital in Bandra. "In our view, the complaint is nothing but a counterblast to the recovery proceedings initiated, and the materials on record do not at all justify an investigation into the claim made by the complainant," the court said. It also refused to accept the complainant's claim that the Trust's founder, Kishore Mehta, died in 2024 because of pressure mounted by the bank and sa

JioStar moves Bombay High Court against CCI order in broadcast dispute

JioStar moves Bombay High Court, challenging CCI's jurisdiction in Asianet dispute, arguing the matter falls under TRAI's regulatory domain

Bombay HC grants RoDTEP relief to sugar firms, flags litigation chaos

The Bombay High Court allowed RoDTEP benefits to sugar exporters and flagged inconsistent litigation by the Centre, calling for a National Litigation Policy to ensure uniformity

Bombay High Court refers GST consolidated SCN issue to larger bench

Section 73 covers tax shortfalls/input tax credit errors without fraud, while Section 74 covers the same issues involving fraud or suppression

Consumer protection: Flat buyers' rights must not be scuttled by financiers

Seldom do courts take cognizance of Section 9 of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, which says that if a mortgage is created, it shall not affect the buyer's rights

Marital discord alone not basis for abetment of suicide charge: Bombay HC

A spouse cannot be accused of abetting the suicide of his or her partner merely because there was marital discord between the two, the Bombay High Court has said while quashing a case lodged against a woman for abetting the suicide of her husband. The HC's Nagpur bench, in its order passed last week, held that matrimonial discord is common in domestic life and suicide cannot be attributed to any of the spouses merely because there was a matrimonial dispute. It added that there has to be instigation or direct incitement from the accused to the victim to end life. "In such cases, it cannot be held that due to abetment from one partner the other committed suicide," the court said. The bench allowed the plea filed by a 49-year-old woman, a teacher by profession, seeking to quash the abetment of suicide case filed against her in 2019 by the Amravati police. A single bench of Justice Urmila Joshi Phalke said that in the present case both the husband and the wife had levelled allegations

Bombay HC seeks Maharashtra govt's response on Muslim quota plea

The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Maharashtra government to respond to a petition challenging its decision to cancel five per cent reservation in education and jobs for the Muslim community. A bench of Justices R I Chagla and Advait Sethna asked the state government to file its response through an affidavit in three weeks and posted the matter for further hearing on May 4. The petition filed by advocate Syed Ejaz Abbas Naqvi challenged the government resolution (GR) of February 17 issued by the Department of Social Justice and Special Aid of Maharashtra, terming it as being violative of the Constitution and against the interests of the Muslim community. Naqvi called the government's move "racial discrimination". "The respondent (Maharashtra government) is practicing racial discrimination with the persons of a minority community i.e. the Muslim community. This is in violation of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution," the plea said, adding there is no ...

Bombay High Court halts GST action on 18% hotel restaurant levy

Court continues interim relief, stays show-cause notice in case challenging 18% GST rate on restaurants in high-tariff hotels, with hearing slated for June

Supreme Court upholds state's right to withdraw power duty exemptions

Supreme Court overturns Bombay High Court rulings granting electricity duty relief to industries, affirming State's authority to modify fiscal exemptions

HCs tighten scrutiny of GST enforcement actions amid due process concerns

High courts are tightening scrutiny of GST enforcement actions, emphasising due process and procedural fairness in cases involving registration suspensions and bank account attachments