A weekly round-up of important cases from the Madras High Court Citations: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 350 To 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 358 NOMINAL INDEX ITC Limited v Britannia Industries Ltd, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 350 Ringfeder Power Transmission India Private Ltd v Rajesh Mootha, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 351 M/s.Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd. Versus Union of India, 2023 LiveLaw...
A weekly round-up of important cases from the Madras High Court
Citations: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 350 To 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 358
NOMINAL INDEX
ITC Limited v Britannia Industries Ltd, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 350
Ringfeder Power Transmission India Private Ltd v Rajesh Mootha, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 351
M/s.Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd. Versus Union of India, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 352
M/s.Shewil Trading Company Versus The Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 353
Mohamed Irfan v Union of India, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 354
Dr. D.Hariharan and Others v. Union of India and Others, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 355
Sushma v State, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 356
R.P. Darrmalingam Versus Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 357
Duraiswamy Kumaraswamy Versus PCIT, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 358
REPORT
Case Title: ITC Limited v Britannia Industries Ltd
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 350
The Madras High Court recently refused to interfere with an order of a single judge injuncting ITC Limited from selling their “Sunfeast Mom’s Magic Butter Cookies” in a blue wrapper similar to that of Britannia Good day biscuits.
The bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy however, allowed the company to sell its existing stock of products packed in the offending blue color wrap.
Brittania had approached the court claiming that ITC was selling its priducts under the brand name “Sunfeast” in an identical blue colour trade dress/wrapper as that of Britannia and was thus trying to cash in on Brittania’s goodwill and reputation. Brittania claimed that the defendant was selling their product in red colour wrapper and only recently had started selling their butter cookies in blue color wrapper in South India with a dishonest intention to get unlawful gain.
Case Title: Ringfeder Power Transmission India Private Ltd v Rajesh Mootha
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 351
The Madras High Court has observed that when a built suit agreement does not confer any vested right over the property or gives possession of the property, the document will be stamped under Article 5(j) of Schedule 1 of the Indian Stamp Act 1899 and not under Article 5(i) of the Act.
Justice Abdul Quddhose relied upon the Apex Court decision in Food Corporation of India and others vs. Babulal Agrawal and observed that when no possession, right or title had been passed at the time of execution of the contract, the contract was only an executory agreement and not an agreement creating rights in the immovable property.
Case Title: M/s.Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd. Versus Union of India
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 352
The Madras High Court has allowed Parle Agro’s petition challenging the classification of flavoured milk.
The bench of Justice C. Saravanan has observed that the GST Council cannot impose the wrong classification of “flavoured milk” as a “beverage containing milk” under the residuary item "non-alcoholic "beverages" under Subheading 2202 90 30 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975.
The court held that the GST Council is merely recommendatory. It is for the government to fix appropriate rates on the goods that are classifiable under the Customs Tariff Act, of 1975. As long as the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, is adopted for the purpose of interpreting Notification No.1/2017-CT(Rate) dated June 28, 2017, classification has to be strictly in accordance with the classification under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, irrespective of the fact that concessions were given under the earlier regime by the Central Government under Sections 5 and 11C and Section 4A of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985.
Case Title: M/s.Shewil Trading Company Versus The Commissioner of Commercial Taxes
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 353
The Madras High Court has directed the state tax officer to investigate the misuse of login IDs by unknown persons facilitating tax evasion.
The bench of Justice C. Saravanan has observed that the petitioner alleged that the petitioner's login ID was misused by a third party, who filed returns and passed on a huge input tax credit to the third party.
The court held that the Commercial Tax Department shall coordinate with the rest of the respondents and investigate the complaint of the petitioner. This exercise shall be completed within a period of 18 months from the date of receipt of a copy of the order. Till the investigation is completed, all revenue recovery proceedings against the petitioner shall be kept in abeyance. If the complaint of the petitioner turns out to be untrue or was intended to facilitate fraud being committed using the login ID of the petitioner, the assets of the petitioner shall be brought to sale.
Case Title: Mohamed Irfan v Union of India
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 354
While granting bail to a man accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Madras High Court recently observed that merely threatening a person by claiming to be associated with an ISIS terrorist will not be a ground to hold that the person was supporting the terrorist organization. The court added that though such threats would be an offense, it was not an offense under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
The bench of Justice SS Sundar and Justice Sunder Mohan also observed that the materials produced by the prosecution did not show an intention to support the terrorist organization but only showed that the appellant had handled the funds for the prime accused which was different than supporting a terrorist organization. The court added that for bail while alleging conspiracy under the UAPA Act, it was necessary to show exactly what the terrorist act was agreed to be committed.
Case Title: Dr. D.Hariharan and Others v. Union of India and Others
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 355
The Madras High Court recently ruled in favor of granting incentive marks for medical practitioners and PG doctors who were engaged in COVID-19 duty in Government hospitals. The court also observed that the normal rule of "not changing the rules of the game during the course of the game" required a different consideration in view of the COVID-19 scenario and could not come in the way of granting incentive marks to Medical Officers who put their life at risk.
The bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy was hearing the pleas filed by applicants who had participated in the recruitment to the post of Assistant Surgeon (General). The challenge was against the GO issued by the Government of Tamil Nadu dated August 17, 2023 deciding to grant incentives to those Health Professionals who worked for COVID - 19 related duty in regular Government appointments.
Case Title: Sushma v State
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 356
The Madras High Court has suggested the state to consider coming up with a procedure for registering the Deed of Familial Association, recognizing the civil union entered into between LGBTQAI+ partners in order to protect the fundamental rights of persons forming part of this community.
Justice Anand Venkatesh gave the suggestion in a plea filed by one Prasanna intervening in the ongoing hearing wherein the court has been passing a series of directions in an attempt to remove the stigma associated with the community and to ensure the welfare of the members of the community. The purport of this Deed, as suggested by the petitioner, is to ensure that two persons will have the right to live in a relationship.
The court, after looking into the recent Supreme Court verdict in Supriyo’s case, noted that the Apex Court had clearly recognised the right to choice of two persons to have and live in a relationship and their right to protection and also their right not to be harassed. The court further observed that the “Deed of Familial Association” would only safeguard the rights that were already guaranteed under Article 21 of the constitution.
Assessee Willfully Concealed Income: Madras High Court Refuses To Quash Prosecution
Case Title: R.P. Darrmalingam Versus Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 357
The Madras High Court has dismissed the assessee’s criminal original petition and held that the assessee was found to have suppressed and concealed the income, and the mens rea is categorically proved against the assessee since he failed to disclose a major portion of the income in his return.
The bench of Justice G. K. Ilanthiraiyan has observed that the provision makes it punishable under Section 276CC of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for non-filing of return within the stipulated time and wilfully concealing its true and correct income under Section 276C(1), and the petitioner cannot seek the indulgence of the Court to quash the entire proceedings.
Case Title: Duraiswamy Kumaraswamy Versus PCIT
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 358
The Madras High Court has allowed the Foreign Tax Credit (FTC) claim on the grounds that filing Form-67 after filing the Income Tax Return (ITR) but before the issuance of an intimation amounts to due compliance.
The bench of Justice Krishnan Ramasamy has observed that the returns were filed without FTC; however, the same was filed before passing the final assessment order. The filing of FTC in terms of Rule 128 is only directory in nature. The rule is only for the implementation of the provisions of the Act, and it will always be directory in nature.