Intermediary services: treated as domestic supply because place of supply is supplier's location, not export under IGST.
The applicant's marketing and facilitation activities met the statutory criteria of an intermediary by arranging or facilitating supplies between the foreign related company and Indian customers. Under the place of supply rule for intermediary services, the place of supply is the supplier's location in India, and consequently the services do not satisfy the conditions for export of services under the IGST regime. (AI Summary)

Criminal prosecution despite time barred assessments may proceed when appellate quashing is technical and prima facie offences exist.
The High Court held that criminal prosecution can continue despite assessment orders being quashed on limitation grounds where the quashment is technical and a prima facie case of tax offences-non filing of returns, concealment of income, failure to pay tax and furnishing false statements-exists; findings in adjudicatory proceedings are not binding in criminal trials and statutory presumptions may assist prosecution unless rebutted. (AI Summary)

Binding effect of advance rulings limits reassessment and appeals when authorities correctly apply the ruling to the specified transaction.
Advance rulings under Chapter XIX-B bind only the applicant, the transaction in question, and the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner and subordinate income-tax authorities for that applicant and transaction, remain operative unless law or facts change, and assessments and appeals that follow an unmodified ruling will generally be sustained by appellate fora when authorities below have correctly applied the ruling. (AI Summary)

Time of supply: invoice issuance or receipt determines when GST liability arises for goods and services.
Time of supply fixes when GST liability arises: for goods and services it is generally the earlier of invoice issuance (or last invoice date under section 31) and receipt/entry of payment; reverse charge uses receipt/payment or a statutory days limit after invoice, with recipient book entry as fallback. Vouchers are taxed on issue if identifiable or on redemption. Where timing cannot be determined, return filing dates or actual tax payment govern, and additions to value (interest, late fees, penalties) are timed to receipt of such additions. (AI Summary)

Voluntary GST payments via DRC-03 clarified; coercive recoveries prohibited and insolvency SOPs require timely claims to protect revenue.
Administrative safeguards clarify that taxpayers may make voluntary tax payments via Form DRC-03 during searches or investigations, while coercive recovery without due issuance of notice and adjudication is impermissible; complaints of officer misconduct must be promptly investigated. A Standard Operating Procedure requires GST authorities to act as operational creditors in insolvency processes, file claims timely, and coordinate through a nominated central nodal officer to safeguard government dues. The government has released GST compensation to states up to May and provided a temporary waiver of late fees for composition dealer annual returns. (AI Summary)

Advance ruling limitation: recipient of works contract services cannot obtain advance ruling as rulings bind only the applicant.
The Authority held that an advance ruling on inward supplies cannot be sought by a recipient of works contract services because the statutory scheme limits applications to the applicant's own proposed or undertaken supplies and any ruling would bind only the recipient and relevant officers, not the supplier; consequently, such applications are not maintainable. (AI Summary)

Operational Creditor classification requires GST authorities to file timely insolvency claims to protect government revenue.
GST and Customs authorities are classed as operational creditors under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and must file claims within 90 days of the insolvency commencement date. CBIC's SOP designates the Additional Director General, DGPM as Nodal Officer to receive IBBI public announcement data and disseminate it to zonal and field formations within two working days via official email and a dedicated WhatsApp group, ensuring timely claim filing, daily IBBI checks, liaison with the Resolution Professional, and monthly reporting to improve claim admission and protect government revenue. (AI Summary)

Interest claims alone cannot trigger corporate insolvency; initiation requires an outstanding qualifying debt and default.
Initiation of corporate insolvency proceedings requires an existing payable debt and a default; interest is an incident to an underlying financial debt and cannot, once the principal has been discharged, by itself trigger the corporate insolvency resolution process. Unilateral invoices claiming interest without an agreement or outstanding principal do not establish a continuing debt or default sufficient for initiation. (AI Summary)

Fundamental rights protection on arrest requires adherence to Rule of Law and custodial safeguards with enforceable writ remedies.
Fundamental protections against arbitrary arrest and detention rest on the Rule of Law and Articles 13, 14 and 21; Articles 20 and 22 provide specific safeguards including notice of grounds, right to counsel and timely production before a magistrate. Articles 32 and 226 permit writ remedies-habeas corpus, mandamus, certiorari, quo warranto and prohibition-for enforcement. Custodial jurisprudence mandates identification of arresting officers, an attested arrest memo, notification of relatives, medical documentation and access to counsel, and courts have held that non compliance may invite departmental and contempt consequences. (AI Summary)

Illegal recovery of tax demands: refund adjustment impermissible during pending appeal; interest and costs ordered against officials.
The court found that unilateral adjustment of a taxpayer's refunds and initiation of recovery while the taxpayer's appeal remained pending and unconsidered by the department violated statutory procedure, departmental circulars and Article 265, concluding that recovery beyond the permitted proportion during pendency is impermissible and that departmental defaults may attract consequences for responsible officials. (AI Summary)

User friendly document presentation: enable filtered views showing only relevant tax form entries for easier review and printing.
Advocates implementing software features that allow online tax documents (ITR, intimations, forms) to be viewed, saved and printed showing only relevant information by omitting or deselecting rows with no values; options must be prominently presented, persist when exercised, and be reflected in the saved document with a clear bold note that only relevant rows are shown. (AI Summary)

Cancellation of GST registration blocked filing; temporary portal access ordered so trading and returns can proceed.
The petition challenged cancellation of GST Registration where return filing was prevented because the GST portal required full tax payment before accepting returns; after raising funds the petitioner uploaded returns but missed the statutory revocation window. The court stayed the cancellation and ordered temporary reopening of the portal to permit continued trading in stock held at cancellation, emphasizing the portal's operational barrier to compliance and its effect on input tax credit entitlement. (AI Summary)

GST Council recommendations are recommendatory, leaving centre and states concurrently able to legislate on GST and rates.
The Supreme Court held that supplies naturally bundled (such as goods with freight and insurance under CIF contracts) constitute a composite supply under Section 8 of the CGST Act and must be taxed as a single transaction; additionally, the Court declared GST Council recommendations to be recommendatory and non binding, leaving Parliament and state legislatures concurrently competent to enact GST laws and permitting states discretion in adopting Council recommendations. (AI Summary)

Duomatic principle: unanimous, informed shareholder assent can validate informal corporate acts, subject to honesty and objective manifestation.
The Duomatic principle treats unanimous, fully informed shareholder assent as equivalent to a formal general meeting resolution for intra vires corporate acts, permitting informal validation of such acts provided the transaction is lawful and bona fide; assent must be unanimous and objectively manifest, with fraud or concealed conspiracies excluding the doctrine. (AI Summary)

GST exclusion of alcoholic beverages reduces input tax credit recovery, impacting industry costs and state excise revenues.
Alcoholic beverages are excluded from GST, preventing recovery of input tax credit on inputs and services; the sector nonetheless contributes to GST collections indirectly through taxes on inputs while providing primary fiscal revenue to states via state excise duty. Post-COVID demand recovery has boosted volumes and excise receipts, but blocked credits increase effective tax costs, prompting recommendations for cost management by industry and industry-friendly excise and tax incentives by state governments. (AI Summary)

Summoning corporate officers: Managing directors should be summoned only as a last resort after representatives fail to cooperate.
Authorities must ordinarily summon an authorized representative of a company for a customs enquiry; the Managing Director should be summoned only as a last resort when representatives do not cooperate or when the MD's immediate presence is necessary to complete the investigation expeditiously. A direct summon to the MD without such justification was quashed, and authorities were directed to issue the summon to an authorized representative in accordance with the controlling administrative circular. (AI Summary)

Exemption from integrated tax clarifies when supplies qualify for notification-based relief and when GST must be charged.
Exemption under Section 6 permits government notifications or special orders to exempt specified goods or services wholly or partly, with power to issue clarifying explanations; absolute exemptions prevent suppliers from collecting tax above the effective rate. Advance rulings apply these principles: works linked to local government functions may shift between taxable rates and exemption entries; AARs lack jurisdiction to determine whether Council decisions bind revenue absent formal notifications; classification and nexus to entrusted functions determine eligibility for specific exemption entries, while health-care testing by a clinical establishment is exempt and not subject to reverse charge. (AI Summary)

Services by an employee to the employer: excluded from GST where employment indicia like control and employer liability exist.
Services by an employee to the employer are excluded from GST supply where an employment relationship exists: an individual engaged and paid for work and/or reserved time, reporting to and controlled by the employer, with the employer bearing ultimate responsibility. Absence of statutory definitions means indicia-control, remuneration, reporting, employer liability, and individual status-determine application, and mixed or independent engagements may fall outside the exclusion. (AI Summary)

Copyright infringement criminality under Section 63 treated as cognizable and non-bailable, permitting FIR registration and police seizure.
Copyright infringement includes reproduction, distribution, public performance, exhibition and importation of infringing copies; section 63 criminalizes knowing infringement or abetment with prescribed minimum and maximum imprisonment and fines. Police officers not below sub-inspector may seize alleged infringing copies and plates without warrant and produce them to a magistrate, who may order restoration after inquiry. The classification of the offence as cognizable and non-bailable turns on the maximum statutory sentence bringing it within Part II of the First Schedule, thereby authorizing FIR registration and seizure powers. (AI Summary)

Reporting error in GST returns cannot bar export refund where exports occurred and IGST was paid.
Reporting exports in the wrong GSTR-3B table is a technical misclassification that should not defeat entitlement to export incentives; where exports occurred and IGST was validly paid, procedural requirements under the CGST Rules must not be applied so rigidly as to deny refund claims. Authorities are required to verify invoices and transmit/consult GSTN and customs records and proceed to process refund claims based on substantive compliance rather than technical reporting errors. (AI Summary)