SC on Clauses to Prevent Disputes in Agreements
The Supreme Court, on July 23, 2018 in the case of Shyam Sunder Agarwal v. P Narotham Rao ruled that clauses that are inserted in agreements for the purpose of preventing disputes from occurring and to ensure the smooth implementation of the agreement will not be sufficient to term the agreement as an arbitration agreement.
SC on S. 34(5) of Arbitration Act
The Supreme Court, on July 30, 2018 in the case of The State of Bihar & ORS v. Bihar Rajya Bhumi Vikas Bank Samiti, held that the requirement under Section 34(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“The Act”) for prior notice to other party before filing an application to set aside an arbitral award is merely a direction under the Act and not a mandatory compliance. With this ruling, the SC has disapproved the view adopted by many High Courts in the matter of interpretation of Section 34(5) of the Act.
SC on Benefit of Ambiguity in Tax Exemption Notification
The Supreme Court, on July 30, 2018 in the case of Commissioner of Customs (Import), Mumbai v. M/s. Dilip Kumar and Company ruled that, in the event of ambiguity in the statute regarding taxation liability, the benefit of the doubt should go to the subject/assessee. But, in a situation where the tax exemption has to be interpreted, the benefit of doubt should go in favour of the revenue department.