Karnataka High Court issues rulings on GST claims and matrimonial cruelty

The Karnataka High Court has issued two distinct rulings involving legal disputes in the state.

In a commercial matter, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K. S. Hemalekha set aside an order requiring the Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society to reimburse differential GST to a contractor. The dispute involved Sweet Home Constructions, which sought reimbursement of approximately Rs. 25,99,398 after claiming that the original contract estimate provided for 4% tax while actual GST rates were 12% and 18%. The court found that previous precedents cited by a Single Judge were not applicable to the specific facts of this construction contract for a girls' engineering hostel in Karwar.

In a matrimonial case, the High Court ruled that spouses living in separate rooms within the same house does not, on its own, constitute matrimonial cruelty. A Bench of Justices DK Singh and H Shanthi Bhushan dismissed an appeal against a family court verdict that had dissolved a marriage and ordered alimony. The court noted that while separate rooms are not inherently cruel, they must be evaluated within the broader context of a couple’s matrimonial history, including allegations of abuse and estrangement.