CASES REPORTED IN HCC | Case Laws on Specific Performance of Contract; E-Way Bill; Condonation of Delay; Adverse Possession; IPR; and more

Contract and Specific Relief—Remedies for Breach of Contract—Specific Performance of Contract—In suit for specific performance of contract relating to an immovable property, it is essential for the plaintiff to prove the due execution of the agreement to sell and that it is capable of enforcement, and also demonstrate the readiness and willingness to perform his part of the contract continuously, [Arjun Prasad v. Ganesh Prasad, (2023) 1 HCC (All) 219]

GST—Search and Seizure—Detention of Goods—E-Way Bill—The petitioner sold 300 bags of pan masala valued at Rs 33,81,000 to a dealer at Meghalaya. A tax invoice was generated under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 charging 28 per cent IGST and 60 per cent cess on the transaction. The goods were intercepted and 100 per cent penalty of Rs. 33,81,000 along with tax of Rs 9,46,680 and cess of Rs 20,28,600 was imposed. Held, the inference drawn by the taxing authorities after interception of goods required no interference, [Ayann Traders v. State of U.P., (2023) 1 HCC (All) 300]

Limitation—Period of Limitation—Condonation of Delay—Reiterated, an appeal under Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 should be filed within 60 days from the date of the order as per Section 13(1-A) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015. Section 5 of the Limitation Act will apply to the appeals filed under Section 37 of the Act, 1996, [NHAI v. Sampata Devi, (2023) 1 HCC (All) 305]

Property Law—Adverse Posession—Appellants admitted that the suit property belonged to the church before the Trial Court, hence, inasmuch as the property in question was the same, and the judgment had attained finality, there could be no question of the appellants contending that the suit property was not owned by the church. Held, plea of adverse possession dismissed, [Jodhian v. Methodist Church in India, (2024) 1 HCC (Del) 240]

Education Law—Indira Gandhi National Open University Act, 1985—Ss. 7 and 23— Students not covered under collaboration agreement—The collaboration aimed to establish a joint centre of excellence for advanced education and research. IGNOU later refused to issue consolidated marksheets and degree certificates to students. Held, no direct correspondence between students and IGNOU. The petitioners did not have any authority to enter into MoC, [International Institute of Information Technology v. IGNOU, (2024) 1 HCC (Del) 250]

Education Law—Expulsion/Rustication/ Removal of Student from Rolls of Institution/Discipline—Petitioners admitted as PhD students were part of the protest against the reduction of stipends and against the expulsion and alleged institutional harassment. Reiterating, an act of an educational institution expelling a student from its portals results in divesting the student of his/her right to receive education from the organisation, the impugned orders expelling the students quashed and set aside, [Bhim Raj v. South Asian University, (2024) 1 HCC (Del) 264]

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—S. 438—GST Offences and Prosecution—Evasion of Tax—Assessees were summoned by the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence, but did not join the investigation and instead moved an application for grant of anticipatory bail, which was allowed. Challenge to anticipatory bail order. Held, the assesses were beneficiaries in an economic fraud involving a large corpus and were evading summons until the grant of anticipatory bail, hence, the impugned order, set aside, [Intelligence Directorate v. Chaman Goel, (2024) 1 HCC (Del) 277]

Arbitration — Foreign Awards — Enforcement of Foreign — Awards-Whether consent award fall within the ambit of New York Convention — Held, consent award not specifically excluded. Therefore, as long as disputes exist, arbitral process can be triggered and consent award can be considered within the scope of the Convention. [Nuovopignone International SRL v. Cargo Motors (P) Ltd., (2023) 6 HCC (Del) 169]

Education Law—Delhi School Education Act, 1973—S. 8(2) Reinstatement in service—Appeal against petition directing payment of Vice-Principal’s full salary and terminal dues during period of suspension. Held, DSE Act read with DSE Rules makes it amply clear that prior approval of DoE is mandatory for termination of an employee after holding disciplinary proceedings and as prior approval was not obtained, Single Judge justified in allowing writ petition, [Dayanand Model School v. State (NCT of Delhi), (2023) 6 HCC (Del) 196]

Civil Procedure Code, 1908 — S. 115 proviso — Maintainability of revision application after amendment — Held, question to be asked-Held, question is whether order in favour of revisional applicant would have given finality to the proceeding, if yes, hem application is maintainable. [Saket Grover v. Hemant Grover, (2023) 6 HCC (Del) 209]

Intellectual Property — Trade marks and passing off — Application of triple identity rest — Whether the mark, trade channels and customer segments, identical — Observed, use of an identical mark in an identical colour combination, with identical trade channels and segment of customers satisfied triple identity test — Held, use of an identical mark, especially in an identical colour combination was clearly dishonest and mala fide. [Smithkline Beecham Ltd. v. Maxivision Eye Hospitals (P) Ltd., (2023) 6 HCC (Del) 246]

Conflict of Laws and Private International Law — whether an anti-suit injunction can be granted against foreign appellant being a subsidiary of Indian Company when they are not personally amenable to Indian jurisdiction — Held, there cannot be an anti-suit injunction against a foreign company or person unless amenable to personal jurisdiction of court in which injunction filed. [Advantage Strategic Consulting Singapore (P) Ltd. v. Subramanian Swamy, (2023) 1 HCC (Mad) 347]