Author: kkslawoffices

The Supreme Court (SC), while dealing with the issue of whether the time period prescribed for conducting preliminary assessment of child-in-conflict with law (CCL) under Section 14(3) of Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection) Act, 2015 (JJ Act) is mandatory & failing which the CCL has to be tried as a juvenile by the Juvenile Justice Board, has held that since there is involvement of many persons i.e., investigating officer, experts in the proceedings & thereafter the proceedings before the Board, any party may be able to delay the proceedings, the time period cannot be held to be mandatory. The SC further noted that wherein the consequence of default in adherence to time period is not mentioned in the statute, the time period cannot be held to be mandatory.

The Delhi High Court (DHC), in an application filed by Dominos IP Holder LLC (Domino’s) seeking permanent injunction against 13 restaurants from infringing Domino’s registered trademark, has held that the impugned marks of these restaurants have identical/deceptively similar tradenames, marks, & names. Thus, these restaurants are getting an unfair advantage in the name & goodwill of Domino’s. The DHC further directed Swiggy & Zomato to delist the restaurants, along with allowing time till 1st June, 2024 to restaurants to change their tradenames and trademarks.

The Supreme Court (SC) has issued an ad interim protection to teachers employed in the Government primary & secondary schools in West Bengal from getting terminated from service in accordance with the Calcutta High Court judgment in School Jobs for Cash Scam case. The SC further made a clarification that the application of ad interim protection is “…subject to the express stipulation that any person found to have been appointed illegally and has continued as consequence of present order shall undertake to refund the salary drawn”.

The National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai (NCLT-M) while dealing with an application filed by a Homebuyer seeking directions to the Resolution Professional to condone the delay of 1 year, 11 months and 11 days in filing the claims, has held that any claims submitted after the approval of resolution plan by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) albeit, pending approval before the Adjudicating Authority, can’t be admitted. The NCLT-M, while noting that the claim had been filed near about the time when CoC had unanimously approved the Resolution plan, dismissed the application.

The Australian Federal Court, acting on an action filed by Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has imposed a penalty of $100 million on Qantas Airlines (Qantas) for selling tickets of flights (‘Ghost Flights’) that Qantas had already decided to cancel. Further, Qantas has accepted to have misled consumers by advertising tickets to more than 8000 Ghost Flights, which Qantas had cancelled between May 2021 & July, 2022.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has dismissed an information filed by a purchaser of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.’s (MSIL) Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) – Jimny, alleging that MSIL abused its dominant position by selling a limited edition ‘Thunder’ variant of Jimny at a lower price, thereby, cheating their initial customers to the tune of Rs.2 Lacs. The CCI held that considering the comparatively relatable market share of MSIL and Mahindra & Mahindra in 2022 & 2023, MSIL does not appear to be in a dominant position in the SUV segment of the passenger cars market in India. The CCI further noted that once a buyer purchases a product for a given price, it cannot insist to claim benefit of any future discounts which are offered by the seller.

The Supreme Court (SC), while dealing with the issue of whether the principles of lis pendens applies in relation to transfer of immovable property situated in a state where the provisions of Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (TPA) are not applicable, has held that “since the explanation to Section 52 is based on equity and good conscience this principle (lis pendens) can be applicable”. The SC further noted that by virtue of Section 1 of TPA, provisions of the TPA are not applicable in the States of Punjab, Delhi or Bombay.

The Supreme Court (SC), while dealing with the issue of whether plea of juvenility taken by the accused, purportedly, a child in conflict with law, can be denied on the ground that such plea was taken at a belated stage, has held that, as per Section 7-A of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 plea of juvenility can be taken at any stage & before any court. The SC further overturned the Patna High Court’s order of conviction on the ground that plea of juvenility had been rejected without conducting a proper inquiry.

The Delhi High Court (DHC), in a trademark infringement suit filed by BVLGARI S.P.A (BVLGARI) seeking temporary injunction against the Amaris Flagship Store (Amaris) from manufacturing, marketing, selling etc. products similar to BVLGARI’s SERPENTI trade-dress, noting the visual & structural similarity, “with similar colour combinations and placement of elements/ ornamentation,” has issued a temporary injunction order against Amaris.

The UK Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has formed a prima facie opinion that the acquisition of Serato Audio Research Limited (Serato) by AlphaTheta Corporation (ATC) is likely to result in substantial lessening of competition in the market for supply of Disc Jockey (DJ) software globally and DJ hardware globally. ATC manufactures DJ hardware by the brand name – ‘Pioneer DJ’ & ‘AlphaTheta’ and also sells DJ software; whereas, Serato is the market leader for the supply of DJ software. According to CMA, if the proposed deal is allowed, it will result in an entity double in size of its nearest rival, potentially impacting the price, quality & innovation of DJ software.