Input tax credit entitlement depends on statutory conditions and GSTR 2B matching, shaping claimability of credits.
ITC is available only if statutory conditions in Section 16(2) are met: tax invoice or debit note, receipt of goods or services, tax actually paid to government by the supplier, and filing of return. Rules require the invoice to appear in GSTR 2B for claiming credit; taxpayers may argue that GSTR 2A is rule based and not binding if Section 16(2) conditions are otherwise satisfied. (AI Summary)

Consideration of subsequent developments: tribunals must assess intervening orders before treating superior court directions as substantive precedent.
Tribunals must account for subsequent developments and consequential orders when applying superior court directives. In the Biju Patnaik sequence the Supreme Court directed a reference to the High Court, the High Court required factual inquiry into opportunity for cross examination and remitted the matter for consequential orders; subsequent remand material showed witnesses were unavailable, rendering further re assessment academic. The ITAT Ahmedabad wrongly treated the Supreme Court direction as a substantive holding permitting examination of a creditor's "source of source," and applied amended assessment principles retrospectively without regard to intervening developments. (AI Summary)

Extension of GST compensation cess continued and Council reforms ease compliance and refund procedures under GST.
Extension of the period for levy and collection of the GST Compensation Cess has been enacted to continue the cess until 31 March 2026, effective 1 July 2022. The GST Council's 47th meeting approved operational measures easing compliance (GSTR 3B amendments, auto population, withdrawal of the new return system), permitted use of e credit and e cash for output tax, approved six e invoice portals, rate rationalisation and targeted taxability changes, and portal enhancements including return frequency display and refund withdrawal via Form RFD 01W. (AI Summary)

Conciliation proceedings mandatory before Permanent Lok Adalat adjudication; adjudication valid only after failed conciliation.
Conciliation under Section 22-C is a mandatory precondition for a Permanent Lok Adalat to adjudicate; the PLA must conduct conciliation and assist parties to reach settlement, and may decide on merits only after conciliation fails. Permanent Lok Adalats have both conciliatory and adjudicatory functions in respect of public utility services, but awards made without following the mandated conciliation procedure lack jurisdictional validity. (AI Summary)

GST rate revisions and procedural amendments reshape taxability, refund mechanisms, and input tax credit administration.
The 47th GST Council recommended comprehensive GST rate revisions and removal of multiple exemptions to simplify rates, along with clarifications on concessional treatment for specified goods and services. Procedural amendments include a revised formula for refund of unutilized input tax credit in inverted duty cases, transmission of pending IGST refund claims to jurisdictional authorities, a new form for re crediting erroneously refunded amounts, clarifications on export and duty free shop refunds, and measures to clarify interest calculation and transfer of cash ledger balances to improve liquidity. (AI Summary)

Unexplained cash deposits under Section 68: verify creditor sources before imputing income to the borrower.
Unexplained cash deposits in creditors' bank accounts preceding issuance of demand drafts prompted additions under Section 68 because the borrower failed to produce creditor confirmations, KYC, PAN, business records, ITRs or books. The creditor statements were filed by the borrower rather than on creditor letterhead or by the creditor, creating suspicion and necessitating AO verification of the creditor's sources. Assessing officers should seek proof from creditors; borrowers should request notices to creditors and prefer bank transfers or cheques to avoid imputation under Section 68. (AI Summary)

Extinguishment of unstated claims after resolution plan approval bars recovery of pre CIRP statutory dues.
Claims not lodged with the Resolution Professional after public notices during CIRP, and not included in an approved resolution plan under Section 31 of the IBC, stand frozen and extinguished on the date of approval and cannot be pursued thereafter; statutory or operational dues omitted from the plan are consequently barred from later enforcement against the corporate debtor. (AI Summary)

Assessment procedure under GST requires proper show cause notice and hearing before confirming tax liability and recovery.
The case concerns whether inspection based defects can validly be converted into confirmed tax demands without issuing a statutory show cause notice under Section 74(1) and affording a proper hearing; the department issued Form DRC 01A and later a bank recovery direction under Section 79, and the court found the recovery step premature and directed that the statutory notice and opportunity to file objections be provided before any final assessment or recovery. (AI Summary)

Time-barred enforcement: delayed securities investigations undermine penalty validity and risk unfair sanctioning of traders and investors.
Allegations involve confirmation of penalties under the PFUTP Regulations for reversal trades and alleged artificial volumes in illiquid options, where adjudicatory proceedings were initiated long after the trading period. The article argues such delayed enforcement suggests time barred or unjustified penalties, noting absence of pleaded fraud, victim complaints, or contemporaneous regulatory detection, and contends that sanctioning traders for trades permitted on exchange terminals raises concerns of procedural fairness and regulatory accountability. (AI Summary)

Vicarious liability limited: partners or officers criminally liable only if in charge or if consent/neglect caused the cheque offence.
Section 138 makes cheque dishonor a criminal offence and Section 141 limits vicarious criminal liability to persons who were "in charge of and responsible" for the conduct of the business or whose consent, connivance or neglect attributable to the offence is proved. The prosecution must plead and prove these prerequisites; mere status as guarantor, partner, director or officer does not by itself attract criminal liability, which cannot be premised solely on civil obligations or guarantee arrangements. (AI Summary)

GST registration for liquidator: registration must be granted despite minor formal defects; authorities urged to avoid hypertechnical refusals.
GST registration for a liquidator was rejected for documentary deficiencies, late filing, and alleged non application of specified notifications. The court held that the liquidator had furnished necessary documents, that denial for minor formal defects or not specifying status was unjustified, and that Section 25(8) obligates officers to register delayed applicants (with possible penalty under Section 122). The court directed grant of GST registration and urged administrative restraint from hyper technical rejections when liquidators perform statutory functions, including sales of company assets. (AI Summary)

Penalty confirmation for alleged market manipulation upheld despite inadequate notice specificity and failure to address limitation and pleading defects.
Penalty confirmation for alleged violations of PFUTP regulations is criticised for lacking particularised charges and for treating omnibus show cause notices as sufficient; the appellate order selectively records counsel contentions, accepts the investigation report and adjudicating officer's findings without specific linkage of evidence to discrete regulatory clauses, and remains silent on limitation, time bar and notice defect objections-warranting reconsideration or rectification. (AI Summary)

Agricultural produce classification determines GST exemption based on farm level processing and first marketability.
The document explains that agricultural produce means goods from cultivation or animal rearing (excluding horses) that are unprocessed or only subjected to processing customarily performed by cultivators which does not alter essential characteristics and makes them marketable in the primary market; once first marketability or subsequent value adding processing occurs the goods fall outside the definition. Multiple advance rulings apply this test to cereals, pulses, tea, dry chillies, oilseeds, imported produce, cleaning and storage services, and cooperative procurement to determine NIL rate exemption or taxable treatment under GST notifications. (AI Summary)

TDS on virtual digital asset transfers: payer must deduct tax when transfer exceeds annual threshold, subject to specified rules.
The Finance Act, 2022 introduced TDS under section 194S effective 1 July 2022, requiring the payer of consideration for transfer of virtual digital assets to deduct tax at source from payments to resident transferors when aggregate consideration in a financial year exceeds the prescribed thresholds for specified persons and others. Deduction is at the time of credit or payment, whichever is earlier. CBDT Circular No.13/2022 clarifies payer responsibility across peer-to-peer transactions, exchanges, brokers and in-kind transfers, excludes GST and commission from consideration, and requires pre-effective-period transfers in the same financial year to be counted for threshold calculation. (AI Summary)

Arbitrary penalty against small trader questioned for delay, lack of nexus and disproportionate treatment compared to counterparties.
Alleged arbitrariness in enforcement under the prohibition on fraudulent and unfair trading practices is identified by a delayed, omnibus show cause notice lacking specific pleaded breaches or penalty quantification, and by the absence of evidence establishing nexus between the noticee and the counterparty. Comparative figures are used to show disproportionate per trade penalties imposed on the noticee while the counterparty faced much lower penalties and the broker was absolved, supporting a claim of discriminatory treatment and harassment of small self employed traders; an appeal has been filed against the adjudication order. (AI Summary)

Anti-arbitration injunctions: courts restrict intervention to instances of null arbitration agreements or vexatious, oppressive proceedings.
Anti-arbitration injunctions restrain parties or tribunals from commencing or continuing arbitration and are distinct from anti-suit injunctions; Indian courts recognize them under equitable jurisdiction but apply a higher threshold. Relief is limited to cases where the arbitration agreement is null, void, inoperative or incapable of performance, or where arbitration is vexatious, oppressive, barred by res judicata, tainted by fraud, or where a prior tribunal has already assumed jurisdiction. Competence-competence and comity counsel judicial restraint, and courts generally direct parties to arbitral or supervisory remedies unless exceptional circumstances exist. (AI Summary)

TDS on Virtual Digital Assets requires deduction by payer at payment or credit, with exemptions and reporting obligations.
Section 194S requires any person paying consideration for transfer of a virtual digital asset to deduct tax at the time of credit or payment; where consideration is wholly or partly non-cash and the cash portion is insufficient, the payer must ensure tax has been paid before releasing consideration. The provision overrides certain other withholding rules, applies to credits to suspense accounts, and exempts small-value payers and defined specified persons; reporting and operational procedures are prescribed for exchanges, in-kind withholding, conversions of withheld VDA to fiat, and buyer-liability scenarios for payment gateways. (AI Summary)

Specificity in show cause notices is required so penalties rest on clearly identified breaches and factual bases.
Non-specific, omnibus show cause notices under PFUTP regulations fail the specificity requirement and basic natural justice because they do not identify the particular clause or limb alleged to be breached, the factual basis for that breach, or the penal consequences. Such notices listing multiple independent and mutually exclusive provisions without specifying which applies leave the noticee unable to reply effectively; precedent applying analogous penalty provisions requires a notice to invoke a particular limb, and orders must be confined to grounds notified in the SCN. (AI Summary)

Summons under GST: authorized officers may require attendance and document production in inquiries, subject to procedural safeguards.
Section 70 empowers a proper officer to summon any person to attend, give evidence, produce documents or other things, or have statements recorded in any inquiry; summonses are investigatory tools issued in the manner of a civil court, should target persons with first hand knowledge, and do not inherently label the addressee as an evader. (AI Summary)

Pure agent reimbursement excluded from taxable value when contractual and evidentiary conditions for pass through are met.
Reimbursement of expenses paid to third party vendors and recovered from the client is excluded from taxable service value when the supplier acts as a pure agent; the tribunal relied on the Supreme Court's finding that the challenged valuation rule was ultra vires, so reimbursements meeting the pure agent criteria are not includible in service tax valuation. Under GST, the value of supply includes amounts a supplier is liable to pay on the recipient's behalf and incidental expenses unless excluded by the pure agent conditions in the GST rules, which require contractual appointment, no title or use, and recovery of actual amounts. (AI Summary)