Provisional release of detained goods under GST: bank guarantees, bonds, or conditional payments enable temporary release pending adjudication.
Provisional release of goods detained under GST is attainable by meeting documentary transit requirements and providing security to protect revenue interest: executing the prescribed bond and furnishing a bank guarantee or paying tax, interest and penalty can secure temporary release while the statutory inquiry proceeds. Courts have directed acceptance of bank guarantees or bonds and, in some cases, staged payment of assessed penalties as conditions for release, with statutory proceedings continuing and without prejudice to the right of appeal or judicial review. (AI Summary)

Liability for customs duty where imports relied on forged DEPB licences, with penalty assessment remanded for determination.
Liability to pay customs duty arises where exemption claims are based on forged DEPB licences, which are void ab initio and render the exemption inadmissible; duty liability stands regardless of the importer's knowledge. Penalty assessment remains a distinct inquiry: the importer's knowledge or lack of reasonable precautions affects penalty imposition but not the substantive duty demand. The matter was remanded for penalty determination and ordered to be completed expeditiously. (AI Summary)

Reasonable bank conduct in one time settlement acceptance can prompt equitable extension of payment timelines under constitutional writ jurisdiction.
Banks must adopt a reasonable, businesslike and timely approach when accepting payments under a one time settlement (OTS) scheme; courts exercising constitutional writ jurisdiction may grant brief extensions where the borrower shows genuine effort, minimal delay, reasons beyond control, prior substantial payments, post-deadline acceptance by the bank, bona fides evidenced by deposits, and where rigid bank conduct would produce inequity. RBI guidance mandating simplified, non-discriminatory OTS mechanisms for public sector banks informs bank policies and limits arbitrary deviation by bank authorities. (AI Summary)

Appellate jurisdiction under Section 260A ties High Court appeals to the Assessing Officer's location, not administrative transfers.
Appeals under Section 260A must be filed in the High Court within whose territorial jurisdiction the Assessing Officer who passed the assessment order is situated; administrative transfers under Section 127 do not change that appellate forum, and the situs of an ITAT Bench covering multiple States does not, by itself, determine the appropriate High Court. (AI Summary)

Obligation to disclose public-domain information: provide extract of relevant rules when requester cannot deduce applicability, free of cost.
The Central Information Commission directed the CPIO to identify and provide an extract of the specific rules or notifications that answer the applicant's question about which portion of incentive receipts constitutes consideration for GST, finding that merely pointing to public-domain sources is inadequate where a lay requester cannot deduce the operative provision; the extract must be furnished free of cost and communicated to the Commission within the prescribed short timeframe. (AI Summary)

Input tax credit compliance tightened under GST amendments, linking credit to supplier compliance and mandatory reversal for non payment.
CBIC's amendments effective 01.10.2022 tighten Input Tax Credit mechanics by mandating reversal of credit where suppliers do not pay GST, conditioning credit on supplier compliance, imposing stricter claiming conditions, requiring sequential return filing, and limiting the time to avail credit to a specified cut off in the following financial year; refunds from electronic cash ledgers are clarified and prior extended timelines for specialized agency refunds have been rescinded. (AI Summary)

Demand based on assumptions invalid; compounded levy requires factual proof of clandestine manufacture and undeclared machines.
Demand for excise duty under a compounded levy cannot be sustained on assumptions; no undeclared packing machines were found at the appellant's factory and the assessing authority relied on a survey sheet and presumptions without material evidence. The appellant's explanations for the survey data were rejected and cross-examination was denied, leading the tribunal to set aside the confirmed demand, interest, and penalty because duty cannot be imposed in the absence of concrete proof of clandestine manufacture or undeclared machinery. (AI Summary)

Inspection of goods in movement enables officers to verify prescribed documents, with digital oversight and penalties for non-compliance.
Section 68 provides that proper officers may intercept a conveyance carrying consignments in transit to verify prescribed documents and devices; the person in charge must produce those documents and allow inspection. Conveyance inspections may occur during transit without Joint Commissioner authorization, while inspections of business premises require written authorization based on specified suspicions. Rules set monetary thresholds and prescribe the e-way mechanism and digital verification, and delays beyond a short interval permit transporter portal reporting. Deficiencies in documentation can lead to detention, seizure, confiscation and penalties under GST law. (AI Summary)

Input tax credit eligibility now depends on supplier communicated GSTR 2B status; disallowed items cannot be claimed and reversals apply.
A new eligibility condition requires that input tax credit details communicated to the recipient under the statutory communication mechanism are not restricted; credit shown as ineligible in the auto-generated inward-supplies statement (GSTR 2B) cannot be claimed. The prior provisional matching framework is removed in favour of taxpayer self-assessment; recipients must reverse credit where the supplier has not paid tax and may re-claim it once the supplier pays. The law also permits prescribing a maximum proportion of output tax dischargeable through input tax credit. (AI Summary)

Filing of pre-cancellation GST returns allowed to regularize outstanding tax, interest and penalties with portal changes enabling payment.
The court permitted filing of pre-cancellation GST returns that were not filed before registration cancellation, conditional on payment of outstanding tax, interest for belated payment, and applicable fees or fines, within 45 days of the order if unpaid. The court directed the assessing authority to instruct the GST Web Portal operator to modify the portal architecture to allow submission of returns and payment of tax, penalty, or fine for the defaulted period. (AI Summary)

Writ petition procedure requires prescribed petition form, verified affidavit, paper book filing, service protocols and categorization for hearing.
Rules prescribe writ petition procedure under Article 226: petitions must follow prescribed form and affidavit requirements disclosing identity, source of information, absence of alternate remedies and related proceedings; multiple reliefs permitted with separate fee rules. Filing standards mandate specified paper book content, duplicates/triplicates, synopsis and indexed documents with an extra copy for government service. Service may be effected by registry, party, courier, registered post or electronic means with proof; returned-notice publication and time-limited steps are set. Categorization dictates bench allocation, with timelines for appearance, counter affidavits, caveats and review petitions. (AI Summary)

Show-cause notice requirement: an electronic DRC-01 summary cannot substitute the statutory show-cause notice, affecting procedural validity.
An electronic Form DRC-01 summary is not a substitute for the substantive statutory show-cause notice; Rule 142(1) requires the DRC-01 be issued along with a proper show-cause notice that specifies the foundational allegations. Absent a clear statutory notice, proceedings violate principles of natural justice, and consequent assessment orders are liable to be quashed, although fresh proceedings may be initiated if statutory requirements are thereafter satisfied. (AI Summary)

Search and seizure under GST: reasoned belief standard, procedural safeguards on recoveries and officer conduct.
Search and seizure under GST must rest on a reason to believe grounded in recorded information; courts may quash searches only if that belief lacks any rational connection to material or is non-existent. Operational safeguards include prohibition on recoveries during search proceedings, deferral of voluntary payments until officers leave premises, grievance remedies for coerced payments, and procedural limits on interrogation and officer participation. Administrative objections under the rules and disciplinary action for officer misconduct are available as remedial mechanisms. (AI Summary)

Limitation under IBC: Limitation Act principles apply to insolvency proceedings where not inconsistent with the Code.
The note explains that the IBC Code's non-obstante supremacy coexists with an express provision requiring the Limitation Act to apply "as far as may be" to insolvency proceedings. Where the Code specifies limitation rules those prevail; otherwise Limitation Act provisions, including acknowledgement of debt and exclusion of time for bona fide proceedings, apply mutatis mutandis provided they are not patently inconsistent with the Code's object. The accrual of the right to file is the date of default, distinction between operational and regulatory dues matters, and factual inquiry determines condonation and applicability. (AI Summary)

ITC reversal on undivided share of land excluded from GST is not required under allocation rules due to incidental use.
The article contends that reversal of input tax credit under Rule 42 is not required for the one third portion of consideration excluded from GST as attributable to the undivided share of land. It relies on the absence of express inclusion of undivided share of land within the expanded definition of exempt supplies, the CGST Rules' linkage of exempt land value to stamp duty (which is not separately assigned for undivided shares in flat sales), and the incidental nature of the land share such that common input services would not have been used in lesser quantity if that incidental element did not exist. (AI Summary)

Mandatory fees for delayed income-tax returns now payable without Assessing Officer discretion, raising concerns about procedural safeguards.
Section 234F creates a mandatory fee for failure to furnish a return of income within prescribed time, payable by the assessee without any action by the Assessing Officer and applicable even where no tax is payable. Introduced by the Finance Act, 2017 (effective 1 April 2018) and amended in 2021, it replaces an earlier penalty regime under section 271F which was amended to require Assessing Officer discretion and procedural safeguards before imposing penalty. (AI Summary)

Decriminalization of GST offences proposed to allow monetary settlement and reduce criminal prosecutions while enhancing administrative audits.
The central administration is pursuing decriminalization of GST offences to allow compounding or monetary settlement in place of prosecution. A web-based system for online monitoring of GST audits has been introduced to provide end-to-end visibility, improve audit quality, limit revenue leakage and reduce burdens on taxpayers. The Electronic Duty Credit Ledger regime now extends e-scrip validity to two years with unutilized credits lapsing thereafter, and export claims are to be processed in the customs automated system subject to scheme conditions. A Group of Ministers has been reconstituted to examine real estate measures under GST. (AI Summary)

Settlement of insolvency petitions: debtor payment under court order can suspend admission while creditor retains right to restore petition.
Withdrawal after admission under Section 7 is governed by Section 12A and Rule 30A, permitting the Adjudicating Authority to approve withdrawal with prescribed procedures and committee approval where required; the authority may record a liberty to restore the petition if settlement terms are not met. When a debtor offers to pay outstanding dues within an ordered timeframe, the Adjudicating Authority may require deposit into the creditor's account and refrain from admitting insolvency so long as payment is made, while preserving the creditor's right to revive the application on non performance. (AI Summary)

Search and seizure safeguards require valid authorization, DIN compliance, panchnama, and witness presence under GST law.
Search and seizure under GST require a valid search warrant issued by an officer not below Joint Commissioner with recorded reasons and generation of a Document Identification Number (DIN). Searches must include a lady officer at residences, disclosure of identity, presence of two independent witnesses, preparation of a panchnama/mahazar with annexed inventory, and provision of copies to the person from whom items are seized. Seized goods/documents may be retained only while required, returned if not relied upon within thirty days of show cause notice, and provisionally released on bond, security or payment; six month notice rules and CrPC conformity apply. (AI Summary)

Limitation exclusion for pandemic period preserves GST refund timeliness; refund claims require reconsideration under revised computation rules.
The central government notification excludes the pandemic period from computation of limitation for GST refund applications; because the refund provision then specified a relevant date only for exports and not for supplies to SEZ units, the petitioner's refund claim could not be treated as time barred and the matter was remanded to the assessing authority for fresh consideration under the revised limitation computation. (AI Summary)