Issues: Whether CENVAT credit is admissible on countervailing duty paid at the concessional rate under Notification No. 12/2012-Customs dated 17.03.2012 on imported coal.

Analysis: Rule 3(1)(vii) of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 independently permits credit of additional customs duty. The restriction associated with Rule 3(1)(i) is confined to goods availing the specified Central Excise exemption and does not extend to countervailing duty paid under the Customs notification on imported coal. The restriction applicable to domestically manufactured coal cannot be read into the Customs notification governing imports.

Conclusion: CENVAT credit of the countervailing duty paid on imported coal under Notification No. 12/2012-Customs dated 17.03.2012 is admissible, and its disallowance is unsustainable.

Issues: (i) Whether 99% VAT remission retained under the Assam industrial incentive scheme formed part of transaction value under Section 4(3)(d) of the Central Excise Act, 1944. (ii) Whether the extended limitation period and equal penalty were invocable.

Issue (i): Whether 99% VAT remission retained under the Assam industrial incentive scheme formed part of transaction value under Section 4(3)(d) of the Central Excise Act, 1944.

Analysis: The incentive was conditional upon capital investment and commencement of commercial production, was available for a defined entitlement period and subject to a ceiling linked to fixed capital investment. VAT liability was first determined for each return period, after which 99% was remitted under the statutory incentive, with 1% deposited. The retained amount was a State industrial subsidy and not an additional amount paid by buyers in connection with the sale of goods.

Conclusion: The 99% VAT remission was not includible in transaction value; the central excise duty and consequential interest demand were unsustainable.

Issue (ii): Whether the extended limitation period and equal penalty were invocable.

Analysis: The VAT retention was known to the Department during audit, particulars were sought and supplied before issuance of the show-cause notice, and no suppression of facts with intent to evade duty was established. The applicable departmental circular also recognised that the extended period was unavailable for this valuation controversy.

Conclusion: The extended limitation period was not invocable, and the equal penalty was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: Investment-linked VAT remission under the applicable State incentive scheme is treated as a subsidy rather than sale consideration, and neither duty liability nor the related limitation-based penalty could be sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: A State-granted, investment-linked VAT remission is not additional consideration from the buyer and cannot be included in excise transaction value.

Issues: (i) Whether amounts paid during investigation before adjudication constituted excise duty or deposits and were liable to be treated as pre-deposit; (ii) Whether interest was payable on the refunded amount, and if so, under which provision, from what date and at what rate.

Issue (i): Whether amounts paid during investigation before adjudication constituted excise duty or deposits and were liable to be treated as pre-deposit.

Analysis: Excise duty becomes payable only against an assessment or an adjudication modifying the assessment under Section 11A of the Central Excise Act, 1944, and upon becoming due. Amounts paid during investigation, before any assessed or adjudicated liability, are deposits notwithstanding their credit under an excise-duty accounting head. The Central Excise Act, 1944 does not authorise compulsory collection of amounts in anticipation of a liability that may arise from investigation. As the sums were accepted towards the appeal and no excess over the mandatory pre-deposit was released, the entire amount was required to be regarded as pre-deposit under Section 35F of the Central Excise Act, 1944.

Conclusion: The amounts were deposits and, in the facts, must be treated as pre-deposit under Section 35F of the Central Excise Act, 1944, in favour of the assessee.

Issue (ii): Whether interest was payable on the refunded amount, and if so, under which provision, from what date and at what rate.

Analysis: Interest is recoverable or payable only as statutorily prescribed, not on equitable considerations or at a non-statutory rate. Section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944 applies to delayed refunds of duty after an application, whereas the amount here was not duty and the form of the refund request did not alter its character. Refund of the amount treated as pre-deposit is governed by Section 35FF of the Central Excise Act, 1944.

Conclusion: Interest is payable to the assessee under Section 35FF of the Central Excise Act, 1944 at the applicable statutory rate from the date of deposit until the date of refund; the claim for interest at 12% per annum is rejected.

Final Conclusion: The refunded investigative deposits carry statutory interest applicable to pre-deposits for the period commencing from their payment.

Ratio Decidendi: An amount paid during investigation before assessment or adjudication is a deposit rather than duty; where it is treated as pre-deposit in appeal, interest on its refund is governed by the statutory pre-deposit provision from the date of deposit.

Issues: (i) Whether CENVAT credit on services received at centrally registered service stations and marketing or branch offices was admissible and could be utilised for payment of excise duty without an input service distributor registration; (ii) Whether ISD credit distributed wholly to Tiruvottiyur was recoverable; (iii) Whether credit of services exclusively used by the Oragadam and Manjambakkam units was recoverable from Tiruvottiyur; (iv) Whether the extended period of limitation was invocable for the first show cause notice; and (v) Whether interest and penalties were sustainable.

Issue (i): Whether CENVAT credit on services received at centrally registered service stations and marketing or branch offices was admissible and could be utilised for payment of excise duty without an input service distributor registration.

Analysis: Under the first limb of Rule 2(l) of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004, services used by a provider for rendering taxable output services qualify as input services. The services received at the service stations were used for taxable repair and maintenance services rendered from premises covered by the centralised registration. Receipt of input services in the factory is not a condition for credit under the provider-of-output-service limb. Rule 4(2) of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 treats the centrally registered person, and not each declared premise, as the provider of taxable output services.

Analysis: Rule 3(4) permits CENVAT credit validly earned by a person acting as a provider of output service to be used for payment of excise duty, without a one-to-one correlation or separate credit pools. An input service distributor mechanism applies where credit is distributed from one office to another; it does not require a centrally registered provider to distribute credit to itself. The marketing and branch office services were independently eligible as services used up to the place of removal and for advertisement or sales promotion, since the offices were premises of the manufacturer from which goods were sold. A denial founded on Rule 7 where that ground was not alleged in the notices could not sustain the demand.

Conclusion: The issue is decided in favour of the assessee: the service-station and marketing or branch-office credits were admissible, and their utilisation for payment of excise duty was permissible.

Issue (ii): Whether ISD credit distributed wholly to Tiruvottiyur was recoverable.

Analysis: Rule 7(d) could apply only upon proof that the underlying services were used in more than one unit. The notices assumed common use without establishing that foundational fact. For the relevant period before 01.04.2016, Rule 7 enabled, rather than compelled, distribution of credit among units. Where the eligibility and quantum of the ISD credit and the distribution at the ISD end were not disputed, recovery from the recipient unit was unwarranted.

Conclusion: The issue is decided in favour of the assessee: the ISD credit distributed to Tiruvottiyur was not recoverable on merits.

Issue (iii): Whether credit of services exclusively used by the Oragadam and Manjambakkam units was recoverable from Tiruvottiyur.

Analysis: The assessee accepted that this credit had been taken in error and did not contest its substantive eligibility. However, the recovery notice for this amount invoked only the extended period, whose statutory requirements were not met.

Conclusion: The issue is decided in favour of the assessee on limitation: the credit pertaining to the other units was not recoverable.

Issue (iv): Whether the extended period of limitation was invocable for the first show cause notice.

Analysis: Section 11A(4) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 requires fraud, wilful misstatement, suppression of facts, or contravention with intent to evade duty. Detection during audit, absence of invoice-wise particulars in returns that did not require them, and voluntary reversal with written intimation did not establish wilful suppression or intent to evade. The relevant records and ISD documentation were available to the Department, and transfer of credit among units of the same assessee was revenue neutral. The interpretative dispute concerning Rule 7 also negatived any inference of deliberate evasion.

Conclusion: The issue is decided in favour of the assessee: the extended period was not invocable, rendering the first notice time-barred to the extent it depended on that period.

Issue (v): Whether interest and penalties were sustainable.

Analysis: No interest could arise on credit validly availed, and interest on the remaining disputed credits could not survive once the recovery notice was barred by limitation. The foundation for penalty based on fraud, suppression, or wilful misstatement failed. The penalty imposed under Rule 15(1) also exceeded the statutory ceiling applicable through Section 11AC(1)(a) of the Central Excise Act, 1944.

Conclusion: The issue is decided in favour of the assessee: all interest demands and penalties were unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: Credit validly earned by the centrally registered provider of taxable output services could be maintained in a common CENVAT pool and used for excise-duty payment. The reversals already availed as credit by the other units cannot be taken afresh at Tiruvottiyur or refunded, as that would result in double availment of the same credit.

Ratio Decidendi: A centrally registered person providing taxable output services through its declared premises may avail input-service credit in its own account and cross-utilise it for excise duty; an input service distributor registration is unnecessary where no inter-office distribution of credit occurs.

Issues: (i) Whether subsequent financial developments warranted declining to adjudicate the legality of the AT-1 Bonds write-down; (ii) Whether the Administrator had authority under the Reconstruction Scheme, in the absence of a specific clause, to write down the AT-1 Bonds; and (iii) Whether the write-down conformed to the Master Circular and the Information Memoranda governing the AT-1 Bonds.

Issue (i): Whether subsequent financial developments warranted declining to adjudicate the legality of the AT-1 Bonds write-down.

Analysis: The legality of an administrative action must be assessed on the facts and law prevailing when that action was taken. Subsequent changes in the bank's financial position, including developments following reconstruction, could not alter the validity of the write-down made on 14 March 2020.

Conclusion: Subsequent developments did not make a merits determination unwarranted; the issue was answered against the appellants.

Issue (ii): Whether the Administrator had authority under the Reconstruction Scheme, in the absence of a specific clause, to write down the AT-1 Bonds.

Analysis: The draft reconstruction scheme expressly contemplated permanent write-down of the AT-1 Bonds, but the final Reconstruction Scheme omitted that provision after objections and proposals concerning the bonds had been considered. The omission reflected a conscious decision not to alter the bonds through the Scheme. The general savings provision preserving existing instruments did not confer a distinct and specific power to write down the bonds after the Scheme had taken effect.

Conclusion: The Administrator lacked authority under the Reconstruction Scheme to write down the AT-1 Bonds; the write-down was ultra vires and the issue was answered in favour of the respondents.

Issue (iii): Whether the write-down conformed to the Master Circular and the Information Memoranda governing the AT-1 Bonds.

Analysis: The loss-absorbency framework distinguished a pre-specified trigger, at which the bank could exercise the contractual options available to it, from the point of non-viability, at which the banking regulator was to determine and effect the required write-down or conversion. Where reconstruction under the Banking Regulation Act was invoked, the applicable framework required conversion or permanent write-down before the reconstruction took effect. The expression "before reconstitution" could not be extended to permit action at any time during the subsequent implementation of the Scheme. An Administrator exercising powers of the superseded board could not assume the regulator's separate statutory and regulatory function.

Conclusion: The Administrator's post-reconstruction write-down was contrary to the prescribed regulatory framework and was invalid; the issue was answered in favour of the respondents.

Final Conclusion: The permanent write-down of the AT-1 Bonds remains invalid, and the obligation to pay annual coupons continues in accordance with the applicable Information Memoranda.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a banking reconstruction triggers the point of non-viability, any write-down or conversion of AT-1 instruments must occur before the reconstruction scheme takes effect and through the authority and procedure prescribed by the governing regulatory framework; an Administrator cannot exercise the banking regulator's distinct power by relying on general board-management powers.

Issues: (i) Whether the tax demand of Rs.4,58,289/- could be sustained after its payment before the order-in-original; (ii) Whether interest under Section 50(1) is payable until credit of tax to the Government's account or until subsequent debit from the Electronic Cash Ledger on return filing; (iii) Whether the interest liability for FY 2017-18 and the balance payable required alteration or a further credit; (iv) Whether the penalty of Rs.45,829/- was sustainable.

Issue (i): Whether the tax demand of Rs.4,58,289/- could be sustained after its payment before the order-in-original.

Analysis: Section 73(1) authorises determination and recovery of tax that remains unpaid. The tax shortfall and interest thereon had been deposited through DRC-03 before the order-in-original was made, but the payment was not considered. Section 73(1) does not permit double recovery of an amount already received by the Government.

Conclusion: The tax demand of Rs.4,58,289/- was rightly set aside. This issue is in favour of the assessee.

Issue (ii): Whether interest under Section 50(1) is payable until credit of tax to the Government's account or until subsequent debit from the Electronic Cash Ledger on return filing.

Analysis: Section 50(1) imposes interest only for the period during which tax remains unpaid. Under Section 49, a payment made through Form GST PMT-06 is credited to the Government's account and reflected in the Electronic Cash Ledger upon realisation of the challan. The later debit from that ledger while filing the return is an accounting appropriation and does not prolong the period for which tax remains unpaid.

Conclusion: Interest under Section 50(1) runs only up to the date of credit of the tax amount to the Government's account, not up to the later Electronic Cash Ledger debit date. This issue is in favour of the assessee.

Issue (iii): Whether the interest liability for FY 2017-18 and the balance payable required alteration or a further credit.

Analysis: For September 2017, interest was correctly computed only up to the respective challan-payment dates, resulting in interest of Rs.5,22,204/-. For the remaining months, the record did not establish any earlier credit of cash to the Government's account than the return-filing dates. The due date for December 2017 was correctly taken as 22.01.2018 under Notification No. 02/2018-Central Tax dated 20.01.2018. The interest of Rs.4,58,289/- paid with the tax shortfall discharged interest attributable to that separate shortfall and could not also be adjusted against interest on delayed monthly tax payments.

Conclusion: The total interest liability of Rs.40,47,151/- and the balance of Rs.25,47,151/- after credit of Rs.15,00,000/- were confirmed; no further credit was allowable. This issue is partly in favour of the assessee and partly against the assessee.

Issue (iv): Whether the penalty of Rs.45,829/- was sustainable.

Analysis: Section 73(8) grants penalty immunity only where tax and applicable interest are paid within thirty days of the show-cause notice. Since payment was made after that period, the immunity was unavailable. Sections 73(9) and 122(2)(a) prescribe the applicable statutory penalty upon confirmation of the demand, without requiring proof of fraud, deliberate default, or contumacious conduct.

Conclusion: The penalty of Rs.45,829/- was sustainable. This issue is against the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The discharged tax shortfall cannot be recovered afresh; the recomputed interest liability and residual balance remain payable without further set-off, and the statutory penalty remains enforceable.

Ratio Decidendi: For purposes of Section 50(1), tax deposited through a PMT-06 challan ceases to remain unpaid when it is credited to the Government's account, and interest cannot be levied for the subsequent period merely because the Electronic Cash Ledger is debited later upon filing of the return.

Issues: Whether penalty for alleged facilitation of undervalued imports through use of another person's importer-exporter code was sustainable where the appellant's role was confined to introducing a freight forwarder and providing a contact for arranging an importer-exporter code.

Analysis: Penalty under the Customs Act, 1962 requires material establishing blameworthy conduct, knowledge of illegality, or participation in the alleged unlawful arrangement. Merely informing an importer about a freight forwarder or a person who could allegedly arrange an importer-exporter code does not itself contravene the Customs Act. The record contained no evidence that the appellant procured the importer-exporter code, participated in an illegal act, or knew of the alleged undervaluation or other illegal activity. The allegations therefore did not establish criminal conspiracy or culpable involvement.

Conclusion: The penalty under Section 112(a) and Section 114AA of the Customs Act, 1962 was not sustainable against the appellant.

Issues: (i) Whether the Supreme Court could interfere under Section 62 with concurrent findings of debt and default; (ii) Whether the assignee was entitled to maintain the Section 7 applications as a financial creditor; (iii) What evidentiary threshold governs proof of default for Section 7 admission and whether accounting disputes or profitability preclude admission; (iv) What legal weight an authenticated Information Utility record and other documentary material carry in establishing default.

Issue (i): Whether the Supreme Court could interfere under Section 62 with concurrent findings of debt and default.

Analysis: Section 62(1) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 confines an appeal to questions of law. Concurrent factual findings of the specialised insolvency fora cannot be reopened through a reassessment of accounts or documentary evidence unless they are perverse, unsupported by evidence, ignore material evidence, or apply an erroneous legal standard.

Conclusion: No basis existed to disturb the concurrent findings of financial debt and default.

Issue (ii): Whether the assignee was entitled to maintain the Section 7 applications as a financial creditor.

Analysis: Section 5(7) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 includes a person to whom a financial debt has been legally assigned or transferred. The validity of the assignment had been finally determined, and the identity of issue, finality of that determination, and identity of parties or privies attracted issue estoppel. The Adjudicating Authority's Section 7 jurisdiction does not extend to a collateral re-examination of a concluded assignment dispute.

Conclusion: The assignee was a financial creditor competent to initiate proceedings under Section 7, and the assignment challenge was barred by issue estoppel.

Issue (iii): What evidentiary threshold governs proof of default for Section 7 admission and whether accounting disputes or profitability preclude admission.

Analysis: Sections 3(12), 4 and 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 require proof that a financial debt, in whole or in part, became due and remained unpaid above the statutory threshold. Default is a historical event, whereas the outstanding quantum remains variable due to interest, charges, adjustments and repayments. The admission-stage enquiry is summary and is determined on a preponderance of probabilities from documentary material; it does not require a forensic reconciliation of accounts or a final calculation of every component of the claim. Detailed verification and quantification are addressed during the CIRP claims process under Section 18(b). Positive EBITDA or profitability does not establish debt-serviceability and is not a legal bar to admission once default is shown.

Conclusion: A documented default exceeding the statutory threshold was sufficient for admission; disputes on quantification, appropriation, and profitability did not negate or cure the default.

Issue (iv): What legal weight an authenticated Information Utility record and other documentary material carry in establishing default.

Analysis: Sections 7(3)(a) and 7(4) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 establish a hierarchy of proof. An authenticated Record of Default issued by an Information Utility is independently sufficient at the first tier and carries a strong evidentiary presumption, rebuttable only by clear, cogent, credible and compelling material rather than bare denial or bookkeeping disagreement. At the second tier, loan agreements, statements of account, acknowledgements, settlement communications and the materials identified in Part V of Form 1 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Application to Adjudicating Authority) Rules, 2016 may collectively establish default on the summary standard. A debtor's failure to dispute the Information Utility record during authentication may operate as an admission and estoppel.

Conclusion: The authenticated Information Utility records, read with the collective documentary record, sufficiently established default for Section 7 purposes.

Final Conclusion: The statutory requirements for commencing the corporate insolvency resolution process were satisfied, and the resolution process in respect of both corporate debtors may continue in accordance with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

Ratio Decidendi: In a Section 7 proceeding under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, admission depends on prima facie documentary proof of an unpaid due financial debt above the statutory threshold, not on final quantification of the claim or the corporate debtor's commercial solvency; an authenticated Information Utility Record of Default is sufficient unless displaced by compelling contrary material.

Issues: (i) Whether the construction demands relating to the landowners' and developer's shares were taxable and correctly classified and valued; (ii) Whether reverse-charge liability for GTA, security, legal and manpower services was established; and (iii) Whether extended limitation and consequential penalties could be sustained.

Issue (i): Whether the construction demands relating to the landowners' and developer's shares were taxable and correctly classified and valued.

Analysis: The legal character of a joint development arrangement depends on its contractual terms, the parties' rights and obligations, and the consideration flowing between them; its nomenclature is not determinative. Transfer of land or development rights in return for constructed flats is capable of being non-monetary consideration under Section 67 of the Finance Act, 1994, but taxability must first be established for the relevant period. The pre-01.07.2010 position requires examination under the applicable Board circulars and the relevant statutory exclusion; subsequent periods require independent application of the governing provisions.

Analysis: Valuation of a taxable landowners' share under Section 67 of the Finance Act, 1994 and Rule 3(a) of the Service Tax (Determination of Value) Rules, 2006 arises only after taxability is established. Comparable flats must be genuinely similar in material particulars and at the relevant time, and the record must be verified to avoid duplication of value already subjected to service tax. Whether the developer's construction was a service simpliciter or a composite works contract depends upon the actual agreements, transfer of property in goods, and contemporaneous records. The works-contract provisions and the correct taxable classification remain material after 01.07.2012; an incorrect statutory citation in a notice alone does not invalidate an otherwise sustainable demand.

Conclusion: The construction demands were not sustainable on the existing record and can be determined only after examination of the agreements, period-wise taxability, correct classification, valuation, and possible duplication of taxable value.

Issue (ii): Whether reverse-charge liability for GTA, security, legal and manpower services was established.

Analysis: GTA liability requires proof that the transporter satisfied the statutory definition, including issuance of a consignment note or a document meeting that requirement. Ledger entries and freight expenditure alone cannot replace that jurisdictional fact. For security services, the identity and status of the provider, applicability of Notification No. 30/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012, and any prior discharge of tax on the same service require verification.

Analysis: Direct engagement, payment, supervision and control of workers by the recipient do not, without proof of supply by an independent provider, constitute manpower-supply service. Similarly, an entry described as legal fees does not by itself establish that the provider was an advocate or that the service was a legal service covered by reverse charge. Revenue retains the initial burden to establish these foundational facts, subject to the assessee disclosing material within its special knowledge.

Conclusion: Reverse-charge liability can arise only upon proof of the statutory prerequisites for each alleged service and after reconciliation of the relevant records and payments.

Issue (iii): Whether extended limitation and consequential penalties could be sustained.

Analysis: Invocation of the extended period under Section 73 of the Finance Act, 1994 requires a positive act of fraud, wilful misstatement, or deliberate suppression with intent to evade tax; mere non-payment, non-registration, or an omission does not suffice. For the first notice, collection of service tax from purchasers, coupled with non-deposit and non-disclosure in statutory returns, was treated as material to the allegation of suppression. Availability of information in private books or subsequent departmental access during investigation does not by itself negate suppression. An incomplete voluntary disclosure and unsupported financial hardship do not establish reasonable cause for retaining tax collected from purchasers.

Analysis: A subsequent notice is not barred merely because an earlier notice concerned the same assessee or service category. The decisive inquiry is whether the notices rest on the same material facts and transactions. For a subsequent invocation of the extended period, Revenue must independently establish the statutory ingredients from evidence relating to the distinct project and transactions. Penalties under Sections 77, 78 and 78A of the Finance Act, 1994 depend upon the liability and limitation findings ultimately reached.

Conclusion: Limitation for both notices and the consequential penalties require fresh determination by applying the stated statutory tests to the relevant evidence.

Final Conclusion: Service-tax liability remains dependent on a fresh, evidence-based determination of the contractual arrangements, taxable character of the construction and alleged reverse-charge services, valuation, limitation, and consequential interest and penalties.

Issues: Whether the writ petition challenging GST notices and a summary order was maintainable despite available statutory remedies.

Analysis: The impugned notices were not shown to be ex facie without jurisdiction. Statutory remedies require the petitioner to respond to the show-cause notice, raise all defences before the competent authority, and pursue the appellate remedy if aggrieved. Extraordinary writ jurisdiction is not to be used to bypass such remedies in revenue matters absent exceptional circumstances.

Conclusion: The petitioner must pursue the available statutory remedies; all merits-based contentions remain open.

Issues: Whether delay in filing statutory GST appeals, explained by the proprietor's personal circumstances arising from the serious illness and death of her spouse, warranted condonation.

Analysis: The appellate orders had rejected the appeals as barred by limitation beyond the statutory condonable period. The appeal memoranda disclosed that the proprietor was required to attend to her critically ill spouse, whose death affected the conduct of the business and timely pursuit of remedies. The Revenue accepted that the merits should not be denied solely on account of delay, subject to compensation by costs. No opinion was expressed on the underlying tax demands.

Conclusion: The delay was condoned and the appellate time-bar orders were set aside, enabling fresh adjudication of the statutory appeals on merits.

Issues: (i) Whether input tax credit disallowed on the stated GSTR-3B and GSTR-2A mismatch was admissible; (ii) Whether tax could be demanded for alleged unaccounted inward supplies covered by 46 e-way bills under Section 35(6); (iii) Whether interest and penalty could be levied on input tax credit reversed on a purchase return; (iv) Whether non-reporting of sales-return credit notes in Form GSTR-1 created a tax liability.

Issue (i): Whether input tax credit disallowed on the stated GSTR-3B and GSTR-2A mismatch was admissible.

Analysis: Form GSTR-2A was only a facilitative record during the relevant period, and a mismatch did not by itself defeat credit. Eligibility nevertheless required satisfaction of Section 16(2)(c), while Section 155 placed the burden of proof on the claimant. Documentary material established credit of Rs. 3,44,974 through reported invoices and import documentation. Credit of Rs. 51,255 relating to four invoices remained unsupported by proof that the suppliers had paid the tax to the Government. Interest and penalty were consequential only to the extent of the credit validly disallowed.

Conclusion: The disallowance of Rs. 3,44,974 was set aside in favour of the assessee. Credit of Rs. 51,255 was disallowed, with consequential interest and penalty confined to that amount.

Issue (ii): Whether tax could be demanded for alleged unaccounted inward supplies covered by 46 e-way bills under Section 35(6).

Analysis: Section 35(6) applies only where goods or services have not been accounted for. The reconciliation statement, purchase register and ledger records linked each disputed e-way bill to an invoice and accounting entry. A determination under Sections 73(9) and 75(6) required consideration of this specific explanation and a reasoned basis for rejecting it. Since the supplies stood accounted for, the statutory premise for treating them as supplies by the assessee was absent; the proposed addition of gross profit did not arise.

Conclusion: The tax demand on the alleged unaccounted inward supplies, together with interest and penalty, was set aside in favour of the assessee.

Issue (iii): Whether interest and penalty could be levied on input tax credit reversed on a purchase return.

Analysis: Under Section 50(3) read with Rule 88B(3), interest on wrongly availed credit arises only where the credit is also utilised. Wrongful utilisation is deemed only to the extent the electronic credit ledger balance falls below the wrongly availed credit. The electronic credit ledger balance did not fall below the reversed credit amount. As tax had been paid before issuance of notice and no interest was payable, Sections 73(5) and 73(6) precluded notice and penalty in respect of that tax.

Conclusion: The interest of Rs. 27,530 and penalty of Rs. 5,188 were set aside in favour of the assessee. The pre-notice tax payment remained appropriated.

Issue (iv): Whether non-reporting of sales-return credit notes in Form GSTR-1 created a tax liability.

Analysis: Section 37(1) read with Rule 59(2) required credit notes to be reported in Form GSTR-1. However, Section 34 treats a credit note issued for returned goods as a mechanism for reduction of the supplier's output tax liability, subject to statutory conditions. Failure to report such a credit note was a compliance lapse but did not, by itself, establish short payment of tax by the supplier.

Conclusion: The tax demand of Rs. 99,718 arising from unreported sales-return credit notes, with consequential interest and penalty, was set aside in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The surviving liability is confined to the unsupported input tax credit of Rs. 51,255 and the statutory interest and penalty consequential to that limited disallowance.

Issues: (i) Whether the refund application was barred by limitation under Section 54(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017; (ii) Whether the appellant was entitled on merits to refund of GST paid on cancellation of the flat-booking agreement.

Issue (i): Whether the refund application was barred by limitation under Section 54(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Analysis: The cause for refund arose upon cancellation and revocation of the construction agreement. Although the ordinary two-year period would otherwise have expired, Notification No. 13/2022-Central Tax excluded the period from 01.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 from limitation computation. After giving effect to that exclusion, the application filed on 09.03.2023 was within time. The subsequent circular could not be applied retrospectively to prejudice the claimant.

Conclusion: The refund application was within the prescribed limitation period, in favour of the assessee.

Issue (ii): Whether the appellant was entitled on merits to refund of GST paid on cancellation of the flat-booking agreement.

Analysis: The documentary record established that the purchaser bore the CGST and SGST component and that the developer deposited the tax with the Government. On cancellation, the developer refunded the non-tax consideration but not the tax component. The refund procedure prescribed for an unregistered recipient applied, was binding on the departmental authorities, and the required material under Rule 89(2) was available. As the purchaser was the ultimate consumer who bore the tax incidence, unjust enrichment did not arise.

Conclusion: The appellant was entitled to refund of Rs. 4,32,225 with applicable interest, in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: GST borne by the ultimate consumer upon cancellation of the booking is recoverable, with interest becoming payable after the stipulated period from the refund application.

Ratio Decidendi: In determining the timeliness of an unregistered recipient's refund claim after cancellation of a construction agreement, the notified exclusion of the COVID-19 period from limitation must be given effect; tax borne by the recipient and remitted by the supplier is refundable where the prescribed evidence is furnished and unjust enrichment is absent.

Issues: (i) Whether penalty could be imposed where tax relating to omitted monthly sales was voluntarily paid before issuance of notice under Section 73. (ii) Whether interest on delayed tax payment was correctly quantified without month-wise application of the statutory provisions and verification of Electronic Cash Ledger and Electronic Credit Ledger balances.

Issue (i): Whether penalty could be imposed where tax relating to omitted monthly sales was voluntarily paid before issuance of notice under Section 73.

Analysis: The verified reconciliation established that the omitted sales were recorded in the books and disclosed in the annual return, and that the omission from monthly returns was a clerical reporting error. The entire tax liability was voluntarily discharged before issuance of the show-cause notice. Sections 73(5) and 73(6) apply to such voluntary pre-notice tax payment and preclude penalty in respect of the tax so paid.

Conclusion: The penalty is unsustainable and is set aside, in favour of the assessee.

Issue (ii): Whether interest on delayed tax payment was correctly quantified without month-wise application of the statutory provisions and verification of Electronic Cash Ledger and Electronic Credit Ledger balances.

Analysis: Interest on delayed payment is a statutory consequence under Section 50 and is not extinguished merely because tax was paid before issuance of notice. Rule 88B requires computation with reference to the month-wise liability, applicable due dates, date of actual payment, and the portion discharged through the Electronic Cash Ledger, while accounting for relevant ledger balances. The existing computation was based on the entire tax liability without the required verification.

Conclusion: The existing interest quantification cannot be sustained; only interest determined upon fresh statutory computation is recoverable, in favour of the assessee to the extent of recomputation.

Final Conclusion: Voluntary pre-notice payment of the reconciled tax liability excludes penal consequences in the circumstances, while preserving liability for correctly computed statutory interest.

Ratio Decidendi: Where reconciled tax liability arising from an inadvertent reporting error is voluntarily paid before notice, penalty under Section 73 cannot be sustained; statutory interest nevertheless remains payable only upon computation in accordance with the prescribed ledger-based method.

Outcome: The applications for open-court listing were rejected and the review petitions were dismissed.

Issues: (i) Whether writ challenges to reassessment notices remained maintainable despite an alternative remedy and subsequent assessment orders; (ii) Whether reassessment initiated after three years could validly rest solely on audit objections without newly available books of account, documents or evidence; (iii) Whether excise-duty refund under the industrial incentive scheme was a capital receipt; and (iv) Whether depreciation on goodwill arising from amalgamation was allowable and could be reopened merely on an audit objection.

Issue (i): Whether writ challenges to reassessment notices remained maintainable despite an alternative remedy and subsequent assessment orders.

Analysis: A jurisdictional challenge to a reassessment notice is amenable to writ jurisdiction. The availability of an appellate remedy against a later assessment does not bar such a challenge, and completion of consequential assessment proceedings cannot render it infructuous where the foundational notice is alleged to be without jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The writ challenges were maintainable in favour of the assessee; neither the alternative remedy nor subsequent assessment orders defeated the jurisdictional challenge.

Issue (ii): Whether reassessment initiated after three years could validly rest solely on audit objections without newly available books of account, documents or evidence.

Analysis: Sections 147, 148, 148A and 149 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 require, for reassessment beyond three years, that the Assessing Officer possess books of account, documents or evidence revealing the stipulated escapement of income. An audit objection is information for the purposes of Section 148, but is not by itself the new documentary material mandated by Section 149(1)(b). An audit objection that merely reappraises records available during the original assessment is an opinion and cannot convert reassessment into a review through a change of opinion. The scope of an earlier scrutiny assessment does not dilute these statutory jurisdictional preconditions.

Conclusion: The reassessment actions were barred by limitation and without jurisdiction, in favour of the assessee, because they were founded solely on audit objections and not on the requisite new books of account, documents or evidence.

Issue (iii): Whether excise-duty refund under the industrial incentive scheme was a capital receipt.

Analysis: The excise-duty refund or re-credit was received under an industrial incentive scheme for establishing an undertaking in Sikkim and had been disclosed and accepted in the original assessment. The applicable legal position treated such incentives as capital receipts rather than taxable revenue income.

Conclusion: The excise-duty refund was a capital receipt not chargeable to tax, in favour of the assessee.

Issue (iv): Whether depreciation on goodwill arising from amalgamation was allowable and could be reopened merely on an audit objection.

Analysis: Under Explanation 3(b) to Section 32(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, goodwill arising on amalgamation is an intangible asset qualifying for depreciation. The depreciation claim had been allowed in scrutiny assessments, and the audit objections disclosed no new material capable of supporting a reassessment.

Conclusion: Depreciation on the goodwill was allowable, and its earlier allowance could not be reopened merely because an audit objection advanced a contrary opinion; this finding is in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: Closed assessments cannot be reopened beyond the ordinary limitation period where audit observations merely invite a different view on disclosed and previously assessed material, without the statutorily required new evidence of income escaping assessment.

Ratio Decidendi: An audit objection may constitute information under Section 148, but, without independent new books of account, documents or evidence satisfying Section 149(1)(b), it cannot confer jurisdiction to reopen a completed assessment beyond three years or justify a change of opinion.

Issues: Whether the lien over fixed-deposit receipts imposed through provisional attachment should be lifted upon adequate protection of the Revenue's interests.

Analysis: The aggregate outstanding and anticipated tax demand was approximately Rs. 200 crores, while certain demands were stayed or remained subject to pending proceedings. The prevailing CBDT benchmark for stay upon payment of 20% of demand supported requiring payment of Rs. 50 crores, being 25% of the aggregate demand, as sufficient security.

Conclusion: The lien and provisional attachment over the fixed-deposit receipts must be lifted upon furnishing a post-dated cheque for Rs. 50 crores and an undertaking not to transfer or create third-party rights in the assets.

Issues: (i) Whether the combined radio-receiver and DVD unit is governed by Note 3 to Section XVI; (ii) Whether Revenue proved video reproduction as its principal function warranting classification under CTI 8521 90 90; and (iii) Whether the goods are classifiable under CTI 8527 29 00 with the claimed notification benefit.

Issue (i): Whether the combined radio-receiver and DVD unit is governed by Note 3 to Section XVI.

Analysis: Heading 8527 covers radio broadcast reception apparatus combined with sound recording or reproducing apparatus, while heading 8521 covers video recording or reproducing apparatus. Neither heading fully describes a unit combining radio reception and video reproduction. Since the two machines are fitted in a common housing and perform functions described under different headings, the unit is a composite machine. The Harmonized System Explanatory Notes also require the application of Note 3 to Section XVI in such circumstances.

Conclusion: Note 3 to Section XVI governs the classification of the goods, which must turn on their principal function.

Issue (ii): Whether Revenue proved video reproduction as its principal function warranting classification under CTI 8521 90 90.

Analysis: The principal-function inquiry must be based on the nature, construction and working of the machine. Promotional literature or market presentation may corroborate technical evidence but cannot, by itself, determine classification. Revenue bore the burden to establish the proposed reclassification through cogent evidence. No examination of the unit's construction, circuitry, component allocation, cost distribution, trade understanding or video-display capability was produced. The unrebutted technical material described the unit as built around a tuner-amplifier base performing AM/FM reception, with the DVD mechanism connected as a module; its design for dashboard installation and operation on 12-volt vehicle power was also uncontroverted.

Conclusion: Revenue failed to prove that video reproduction is the principal function; classification under CTI 8521 90 90 is unwarranted, in favour of the assessee.

Issue (iii): Whether the goods are classifiable under CTI 8527 29 00 with the claimed notification benefit.

Analysis: Where the principal function of a composite machine cannot be determined, the General Explanatory Notes to Section XVI require recourse to Rule 3(c). Of the equally meriting headings 8521 and 8527, heading 8527 occurs last in numerical order. Independently, Revenue's failure to establish its proposed classification leaves the importer's self-assessed classification intact. No separate basis existed for denying the notification benefit once classification under CTI 8527 29 00 was sustained.

Conclusion: The goods are classifiable under CTI 8527 29 00, and the notification benefit is available, in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The imported vehicle-use units retain the declared tariff classification and attract the consequential customs-notification benefit.

Ratio Decidendi: For a composite machine governed by Note 3 to Section XVI, reclassification based on an asserted principal function requires cogent evidence of the machine's nature and working; promotional material alone cannot establish that function.

Issues: Whether the notice initiating proceedings under Regulation 20(1) of the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2013 was issued within the mandatory ninety-day period from receipt of the offence report.

Analysis: Regulation 20(1) requires issuance of a written notice within ninety days of receipt of the offence report. The initiating notice did not disclose the date of receipt of the offence report. The Department had knowledge of the alleged contraventions at least when its customs notice was issued on 18.09.2014 and, in any event, when that notice was adjudicated on 09.09.2015. The notice issued on 11.03.2016 was beyond ninety days even from the later date. The mandatory time limit could not be disregarded merely because the allegations might otherwise be sustainable on merits.

Conclusion: The initiating notice was time-barred; the proceedings were vitiated and the penalty could not survive.

Issues: Whether the seized vehicles, cash, jewellery, fixed deposits and deposited title deeds were liable to be released after provisional attachment of other properties securing the stated proceeds of crime.

Analysis: Under the search-and-seizure and provisional-attachment framework of the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002, the ED acknowledged that the seized assets and fixed deposits were no longer required for the investigation. Properties of the group had meanwhile been provisionally attached to secure the stated amount, and the land parcels covered by the deposited title deeds were distinct from the attached properties.

Conclusion: The seized assets and fixed deposits listed in the relevant tables, along with the deposited title deeds, were directed to be released forthwith to the petitioners or their authorised representatives, without adjudicating the merits of the provisional attachment or pending proceedings.