The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the environment ministry whether the deadline for "Category C" power plants in the National Capital Region of Delhi (NCR) to comply with statutory emission standards for sulphur dioxide can be advanced from December 31, 2029.
The apex court also wants to know from the ministry whether the categorisation of thermal power plants within 300 km from Delhi can be changed.
"On the aspect of classification and on the aspect of reducing the timeline, we will need the response of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. While we do so, we have to also ensure the timelines are not repeatedly extended," a bench led by Justice AS Oka said, while seeking replies from those thermal power plants which have so far not complied with the emission standards for sulphur dioxide.
During an earlier hearing, amicus curiae Aparajita Singh said thermal power plants accounted for 8% of the pollution in the NCR region, even then the compliance had been repeatedly postponed due to the extensions granted by the environment ministry.
The ministry had issued a notification in December last year extending the deadline for thermal power plants to meet emission standards and also prolonged the timeframe for the installation of flue gas desulfurization systems in the power plants.
According to recently revised timelines, Category A thermal plants have to comply by December 31, 2027, Category B by December 31, 2028 and Category C by December 31, 2029.
In 2021, a task force was set up by the ministry to disaggregate 596 coal thermal power plants based on location, creating categories A, B and C with different compliance deadlines. Category A covered plants located within 10 km radius of the NCR or cities with a population exceeding 1 million, Category B included plants within a 10-km radius of critically polluted areas or non-attainment cities and Category C included all remaining plants. Out of 11 non-retiring coal-based thermal plants near the NCR, four fall under Category A and seven under Category C.
Delhi HC seeks Ambuja Cements' response in stamp duty case
A division bench of the Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought response from Ambuja Cements, now part of the Adani Group, on a petition by the Collector of Stamps, Delhi, challenging a single judge bench order that quashed a stamp duty demand of Rs 289 crore including a Rs 69 crore penalty imposed on the cement company. The case related to the merger between Ambuja Cements and Holcim (India).
In November, the single judge bench held that since Holcim and Ambuja Cements were wholly owned subsidiaries of a common parent company (Holderind Investments of Mauritius), the scheme of amalgamation and the merger order were covered by the government’s Notification 13 of 1937 that exempted transfer of assets between a parent company and its subsidiaries from stamp duty.
After the completion of the merger in 2012, the Collector of Stamps in March 2014 issued a show-cause notice alleging that Ambuja Cements failed to pay stamp duty on the merger under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899.
The notice demanded payment of stamp duty calculated at 3% of the total value of the merger transaction (Rs 7,295.94 crore), amounting to Rs 218.87 crore, along with a penalty of Rs 69 crore.
Remove defamatory content about ANI, HC tells Wikipedia
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered the removal of allegedly defamatory descriptions about Asian News International (ANI) on its Wikipedia page.
Justice Subramonium Prasad on an interim application by the news agency asked Wikipedia to remove the content and restrain its users and administrators from publishing anything defamatory against ANI.
It also directed Wikipedia to remove the ‘protection status’ imposed on ANI’s Wikipedia page. The ‘protection status’ allows only admins to edit a Wiki page.
The court was hearing a defamation suit filed by ANI against Wikipedia and its host Wikimedia Foundation, wherein it sought to restrain the latter from putting defamatory content against the news agency and remove such content on the page. ANI also sought damages worth Rs 2 crore from the US non-profit organisation.
In November, the court had pulled up the platform for its apparent reluctance in sharing details of users who made edits to a page, observing that Wikipedia’s disclaimer that its content was based on secondary sources could not absolve it from responsibility for what users write on its pages.
According to ANI, Wikipedia has allegedly published palpably false and defamatory content with malicious intent of tarnishing the news agency's reputation and to discredit its goodwill.
HC orders removal of ‘Kindpan’ from trademark registry
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Trade Marks Registry to remove the ‘Kindpan’ trademark on a petition by Mankind Pharma.
A Ludhiana-based proprietorship firm had been granted registration for the ‘Kindpan’ trademark in 2014 for medicinal and pharmaceutical preparations.
Justice Saurabh Banerjee said the use of the mark by one Preet Kamal Singh, who was trading as Sanavita Medicare, "casts a shadow of doubt” since he was in the same field of offering the very same medicinal and pharmaceutical preparations as Mankind Pharma. The only plausible reason for doing that seems to be wanting to “encroach upon the established goodwill and built-up reputation” of Mankind Pharma, the order stated.
The apex court also wants to know from the ministry whether the categorisation of thermal power plants within 300 km from Delhi can be changed.
"On the aspect of classification and on the aspect of reducing the timeline, we will need the response of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. While we do so, we have to also ensure the timelines are not repeatedly extended," a bench led by Justice AS Oka said, while seeking replies from those thermal power plants which have so far not complied with the emission standards for sulphur dioxide.
During an earlier hearing, amicus curiae Aparajita Singh said thermal power plants accounted for 8% of the pollution in the NCR region, even then the compliance had been repeatedly postponed due to the extensions granted by the environment ministry.
The ministry had issued a notification in December last year extending the deadline for thermal power plants to meet emission standards and also prolonged the timeframe for the installation of flue gas desulfurization systems in the power plants.
According to recently revised timelines, Category A thermal plants have to comply by December 31, 2027, Category B by December 31, 2028 and Category C by December 31, 2029.
In 2021, a task force was set up by the ministry to disaggregate 596 coal thermal power plants based on location, creating categories A, B and C with different compliance deadlines. Category A covered plants located within 10 km radius of the NCR or cities with a population exceeding 1 million, Category B included plants within a 10-km radius of critically polluted areas or non-attainment cities and Category C included all remaining plants. Out of 11 non-retiring coal-based thermal plants near the NCR, four fall under Category A and seven under Category C.
Delhi HC seeks Ambuja Cements' response in stamp duty case
A division bench of the Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought response from Ambuja Cements, now part of the Adani Group, on a petition by the Collector of Stamps, Delhi, challenging a single judge bench order that quashed a stamp duty demand of Rs 289 crore including a Rs 69 crore penalty imposed on the cement company. The case related to the merger between Ambuja Cements and Holcim (India).
In November, the single judge bench held that since Holcim and Ambuja Cements were wholly owned subsidiaries of a common parent company (Holderind Investments of Mauritius), the scheme of amalgamation and the merger order were covered by the government’s Notification 13 of 1937 that exempted transfer of assets between a parent company and its subsidiaries from stamp duty.
After the completion of the merger in 2012, the Collector of Stamps in March 2014 issued a show-cause notice alleging that Ambuja Cements failed to pay stamp duty on the merger under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899.
The notice demanded payment of stamp duty calculated at 3% of the total value of the merger transaction (Rs 7,295.94 crore), amounting to Rs 218.87 crore, along with a penalty of Rs 69 crore.
Remove defamatory content about ANI, HC tells Wikipedia
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered the removal of allegedly defamatory descriptions about Asian News International (ANI) on its Wikipedia page.
Justice Subramonium Prasad on an interim application by the news agency asked Wikipedia to remove the content and restrain its users and administrators from publishing anything defamatory against ANI.
It also directed Wikipedia to remove the ‘protection status’ imposed on ANI’s Wikipedia page. The ‘protection status’ allows only admins to edit a Wiki page.
The court was hearing a defamation suit filed by ANI against Wikipedia and its host Wikimedia Foundation, wherein it sought to restrain the latter from putting defamatory content against the news agency and remove such content on the page. ANI also sought damages worth Rs 2 crore from the US non-profit organisation.
In November, the court had pulled up the platform for its apparent reluctance in sharing details of users who made edits to a page, observing that Wikipedia’s disclaimer that its content was based on secondary sources could not absolve it from responsibility for what users write on its pages.
According to ANI, Wikipedia has allegedly published palpably false and defamatory content with malicious intent of tarnishing the news agency's reputation and to discredit its goodwill.
HC orders removal of ‘Kindpan’ from trademark registry
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Trade Marks Registry to remove the ‘Kindpan’ trademark on a petition by Mankind Pharma.
A Ludhiana-based proprietorship firm had been granted registration for the ‘Kindpan’ trademark in 2014 for medicinal and pharmaceutical preparations.
Justice Saurabh Banerjee said the use of the mark by one Preet Kamal Singh, who was trading as Sanavita Medicare, "casts a shadow of doubt” since he was in the same field of offering the very same medicinal and pharmaceutical preparations as Mankind Pharma. The only plausible reason for doing that seems to be wanting to “encroach upon the established goodwill and built-up reputation” of Mankind Pharma, the order stated.
