ESG reporting requires disclosure of environmental, social and governance impacts to inform stakeholders and manage sustainability risk.
ESG reporting mandates disclosure of environmental, social and governance impacts to enable stakeholder assessment of sustainability performance and risk. Key frameworks (GRI, SASB, TCFD, UNGC, IIRC) guide methodology. Mandatory regimes cited include the EU CSRD, California climate disclosure laws, and India's SEBI BRSR requirements for top listed companies. Challenges include data accuracy, greenwashing and multi jurisdictional compliance; best practices recommend robust data governance, standardised metrics, verification and stakeholder engagement to improve credibility and comparability. (AI Summary)

Goods and Services Tax: valuation, registration and new health security cess rules target pan masala, tobacco producers and specified premises.
CBIC amended valuation rules to base GST valuation for specified pan masala and tobacco items on declared retail sale price and inserted Rule 31D prescribing a formula to compute tax from retail sale price, with an exemption for non manufacturer registered persons under Rule 86B; these changes take effect 1 February 2026. GSTN requires filing of opt in/opt out declarations for specified premises within defined windows, and a new Health Security/National Security Cess regime mandates registration, declarations and monthly cess returns for machines/processes producing specified goods. (AI Summary)

Section 5 Limitation Act requires showing sufficient cause covering entire limitation period and post expiry delay.
Section 5 of the Limitation Act requires demonstration of sufficient cause covering both the prescribed limitation period and the subsequent interval up to filing; negligence or prolonged inaction during the limitation period, including governmental lethargy, cannot be condoned and an appellate court will disturb condonation orders only if they are clearly wrong or arbitrary. (AI Summary)

Adjudication orders must be reasoned and address submissions; perfunctory non speaking orders risk being set aside.
Adjudication requires issuance of reasoned or speaking orders that link findings to outcomes; perfunctory or non speaking orders that do not address submissions or explain the factual and legal basis for conclusions exhibit non application of mind, violate natural justice principles, impede appellate review, and are liable to be set aside or remitted for fresh consideration. (AI Summary)

Goods and Services Tax reforms urged: correct inverted duties, protect input tax credit, centralize audits, ease e way rules.
Proposals seek correction of the Inverted Duty Structure to prevent accumulation of Input Tax Credit, including pharmaceutical rate rationalisation and amendment of Rule 89(5) to allow refunds for input services and capital goods. Procedural reforms recommend centralised audits for multi state operators, amendment to allow recipients undisputed entitlement to input tax credit with recovery from suppliers, prohibition of retrospective cancellation of registration based on absence at the principal place of business, and an exemption in Rule 138 from E way bill requirements for intra municipal or short distance movements to ease MSME compliance. (AI Summary)

Businesses must treat recurring compliance charges and small deductions as material cashflow risks and protect retained cash.
Revenue growth does not prevent cashflow shortfalls when unnoticed recurring outflows-notably compliance charges, routine small deductions, and regulatory-driven costs-convert temporary arrangements into permanent drains on working capital. Founders should implement regular cashflow reviews targeted at repeated small expenses, plan buffers for regulatory contingencies, and treat unexpected charges as signals for contractual and operational review to protect retained cash. (AI Summary)

Purchase tax under Section 7A does not attach to a buyer merely because the seller failed to remit tax.
The core legal principle is that Section 7A is a separate charging provision applicable only where goods are purchased "in circumstances in which no tax is payable"; tax payable by a vendor but not remitted by the vendor does not convert the transaction into one attracting purchase tax, and revenue should proceed against the defaulting seller rather than impose liability on a bona fide purchaser. (AI Summary)

Cheque dishonour complaints may be amended for clerical errors if the change does not prejudice the accused or alter the offence.
The law permits correction of formal or clerical infirmities in a written complaint arising from cheque dishonour where the proposed amendment does not alter the essential character of the offence or cause prejudice to the accused; courts apply a prejudice test, considering the nature of the change, the trial stage, and whether statutory prerequisites for prosecution of any altered charge are met before allowing amendment. (AI Summary)

Goods and Services Tax: Section 74 requires proof of fraud and valid jurisdiction; documentary compliance rebuts adverse inference.
Invoking Section 74 requires proof of fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression-a mens rea threshold that is jurisdictional; absent such material, penal proceedings cannot be sustained. State authorities must show valid cross-empowerment before acting against an assessee under Central GST jurisdiction. Documentary compliance including tax invoices, e way bills, bank payments and GST returns rebuts adverse inference; toll receipts are not legally required and cannot be the sole basis for penal findings. Circular trading allegations demand concrete corroborative evidence. (AI Summary)

GST adjudication: successor officers cannot reopen hearings reserved by transferred adjudicators; rehearings based solely on transfer are legally unsustainable.
Once final arguments and hearings are concluded and the matter is reserved, a successor officer may not direct a fresh personal hearing merely because the original adjudicator has been transferred; transfer is an administrative event and does not justify reopening completed quasi judicial proceedings, except where the hearing was not concluded or where a demonstrable procedural defect exists. (AI Summary)

MOOWR units: IDS GST refunds apply only to input goods ITC; Rule 89(5) formula and 90% provisional relief available.
Refunds under Section 54(3)(ii) read with Rule 89(5) are limited to ITC on input goods where GST on inputs exceeds GST on outputs; the Rule 89(5) formula caps refunds by reference to turnover of inverted-rated supplies, adjusted total turnover and net ITC (goods only), less tax payable. Filing requires RFD-01/RFD-01A, reconciled returns, Statement 1A and prescribed attachments, with a two-year limitation and provisional 90% relief subject to verification. (AI Summary)

Central and State GST proceedings require factual overlap assessment; challenge via statutory appeal, not writ petition.
Determination of whether Central GST proceedings and State GST proceedings concern the same subject matter requires detailed factual examination and is not a pure question of law; such factual adjudication should be addressed through the statutory appeal mechanism rather than by writ petition, with appellate authorities applying coordination and cross empowerment principles to avoid duplicate or parallel proceedings. (AI Summary)

Customs notifications: enforceability requires official publication, not mere issuance, to preserve taxpayer certainty and predictability.
The article explains that although the 2016 amendment to Section 25(4) deems a notification's date of issuance to be its enforcement date, courts have consistently held that a notification cannot impose obligations before it is published and accessible in the Official Gazette or its official electronic equivalent; publication, not mere issuance, is the operative trigger for enforceability to preserve taxpayer certainty and notice. (AI Summary)

Goods and Services Tax: section 16(2)(c) read down to deny input tax credit only in non bona fide or fraudulent transactions.
The High Court held that the denial provision in Section 16(2)(c) should be read down so that input tax credit may be denied only where a transaction is not bona fide or is collusive/fraudulent; Parliament failed to distinguish bona fide purchasers, and purchasers cannot be required to ensure suppliers deposit collected tax. (AI Summary)

National Security Cess registration requires factory-wise applications, while cancellation preserves prior cess liabilities and permits timely revocation.
Taxable persons controlling machines or processes in factories for manufacture or production of specified goods must obtain separate factory-wise registration through the prescribed portal process. A temporary certificate permits cess payment pending scrutiny. Registration is subject to examination, hearing for defects, and deemed approval if no decision is made within seven working days. Registration may be cancelled for changed business circumstances, loss of liability, specified contraventions, sustained return default, or fraudulent registration, without affecting prior cess liabilities. Cancellation may be revoked on timely application where sufficient grounds exist. (AI Summary)

Bona fide purchaser entitled to input tax credit despite supplier's failure to deposit tax, absent collusion or fraud.
The purchaser who has paid GST to its supplier cannot be denied Input Tax Credit where the supplier failed to deposit tax, absent collusion or fraud; the statutory condition must be read down to exclude bona fide transactions, and the department's remedy lies against the defaulting supplier or under provisions directed at fraudulent transactions. (AI Summary)

GST changes: tobacco rates revised, compensation cess set to nil, and staggered appeal filing revoked under GST procedure.
The government amended GST rate schedules to reclassify and increase rates for specified tobacco products and pan masala and omitted a 14% schedule, effective 01.02.2026; reduced the Compensation Cess rate to nil for listed goods from the same date; and reintroduced a capacity-based excise duty regime for certain chewing tobacco products, with rules for capacity determination and duty collection effective 01.02.2026. GSTAT revoked staggered-appeal filing and allocated benches to members, while GSTN issued validation rules and FAQs for Electronic Credit Reversal and RCM Liability/ITC statements restricting negative balances and tying reclaimed ITC and RCM claims to ledger and GSTR-3B entries. (AI Summary)

One Time Settlement schemes require prescribed upfront payments; failure to tender them renders applications ineligible for processing.
An OTS application is procedurally incomplete and ineligible for processing where the applicant fails to pay the scheme-prescribed up-front amount (5% for ordinary defaulters; 15% for wilful defaulters); compliance with express scheme terms is a prerequisite for consideration, and absent such compliance the bank may proceed with enforcement while remaining able to consider fresh, out-of-scheme proposals. (AI Summary)

SVB clearance is conditional; report material related party changes to customs to avoid reopened investigations and penalties.
SVB clearance is conditional on unchanged facts; material changes-such as modified related party agreements, new related sellers, revised royalties or post import price adjustments-must be proactively reported. The jurisdictional officer will assess disclosures, may call for Annexure A/B, and decide whether a fresh arm's length valuation investigation is warranted. Voluntary disclosure signals cooperative intent, while non disclosure risks extended limitation periods, penalties, and enhanced enforcement. (AI Summary)

Lease of vacant land for port construction is taxable only from the amendment; refundable interest-free deposits aren't automatically rent.
Leasing or licensing vacant land for construction of port or marine-related infrastructure is use in the course or furtherance of business and thus a taxable supply; under service tax law that activity became taxable only from the date of the relevant legislative amendment, and not for prior periods. Refundable interest-free deposits require factual analysis because their refundability means they do not automatically constitute rent or taxable consideration for renting immovable property. (AI Summary)