Company law notifications: circulation of settlement scheme, declarations of additional nidhis and secretary appointment amendment.
Circulation of three company-law notifications: the Company Law Settlement (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheme, 2003; a notification declaring additional companies as Nidhis; and the Companies (Appointment and Qualifications of Secretary) (Amendment) Rules, 2003 establishing appointment on a population basis, forwarded to Regional Directors and Registrars of Companies for information and necessary action with a request to acknowledge receipt.

Decentralisation of Brand Rate fixation shifts filing and approval to zonal JDGs and SEZ Development Commissioners for deemed exports.
Decentralisation of the Brand Rate fixation for deemed-export supplies reallocates responsibility to zonal JDGs and Development Commissioners of SEZs/EPZs; applicants must file with the JDG or Development Commissioner having jurisdiction over the recipient unit and continue to file a copy with the regional licensing authority for payment. Only complete applications will be accepted, acknowledged with a file number and contact details, processed on a FIFO basis, examined against Export-Import Policy and Customs and Central Excise rules, and approved by the Joint DGFT/Joint DC with communicated Brand Rate letters.

Extended realisation period for export proceeds allows exporters of listed products to repatriate full value within one year.
Authorised dealers are notified that manufacturer exporters, merchant exporters, and traders of the listed products may realise and repatriate the full value of exports within 365 days from the date of shipment for shipments made up to the specified cutoff; authorised dealers should inform their constituents and act pursuant to the Reserve Bank's powers under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

External Commercial Borrowings by SEZ units limited to own use; transfer or on lending to DTA units prohibited.
Units in Special Economic Zones may raise External Commercial Borrowings only for their own requirements and are prohibited from transferring or on lending borrowed funds to sister concerns or any unit in the Domestic Tariff Area; Authorised Dealers must ensure compliance with Government ECB guidelines and the directions issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

Duty exemption accountability for imported garlic now tied to moisture-based recovery rates, with licensing committee fallback.
DGFT modifies accountability for imported raw garlic under the Duty Exemption Scheme by prescribing moisture-based recovery rates for specified products (dehydrated/dry garlic and garlic flakes/powder) and providing that the Administrative Licensing Committee will decide accountability for other garlic products or where exporters face difficulties; the prior import condition continues to apply.

Selection for scrutiny: compulsory and randomized criteria determine which non-corporate returns are scrutinised under income tax procedure.
Procedure mandates compulsory scrutiny for specified categories including sustained appellate additions, search and seizure, survey under section 133A, inter-agency or credible information of evasion, and significant international transactions. For other non-corporate non-salary returns processed on AST, the CIT must prepare a single descending-income consolidated list for the charge and apply stratified random sampling across top, middle and remaining tiers; ineligible company, salary or time-barred cases are ignored. The CCIT must certify selections and the CIT office must segregate cases AO-wise before issuing notices, using the AST executive query to generate the list.

Drawback scheme misuse through over invoicing and document manipulation prompts customs vigilance and investigative action.
Large scale misuse of the Drawback Scheme in exports of cotton knitted garments through ICDs in Tamil Nadu involved willful over invoicing, namesake exporters, and document manipulation to claim inflated drawback. Fraudsters procured IECs and bank accounts for benami firms, exported to non quota destinations on vague purchase orders, and declared FOB values far above market rates. The scheme included post detention revision of shipping documents, non filing of GR forms to evade RBI monitoring, and use of banks that do not verify shipping paperwork, prompting Customs field formations to be alerted and investigate.

Forward contract hedge for non resident investors permitted to cover rupee dividend currency risk after board approval.
Non-resident persons with Foreign Direct Investment in Indian companies may enter into forward contracts with Authorised Dealers using the rupee to hedge currency risk on dividends receivable, but forward cover may be taken only after the dividend rate is approved by the company's Board of Directors; implementing amendments to the Foreign Exchange Derivative Contracts Regulations, 2000 will be issued and Authorised Dealers should inform constituents under the FEMA, 1999 framework.

Statutory stay limit: Tribunal cannot extend stay beyond prescribed period; waiver of pre-deposit power remains available.
Tribunal lacks authority to grant extensions of interim stay beyond the statutory stay period introduced by the Finance Act, 2003, while the Tribunal's power to waive pre-deposit obligations during appeal pendency remains unaffected because the waiver provision was not amended; a prior Board circular advising High Court reference applications has been withdrawn as such Tribunal orders are not passed under the provision cited and may not be maintainable, and individual cases should be examined for possible filing of special leave petitions.

Service Tax payment deadline: statutory due date falling on a public holiday may be met on the next working day.
Service Tax obligations under Rules 6 and 7 require deposit by the statutory due date following receipt and, for proprietors and partnerships, quarterly deposit by the month immediately following the quarter. If the statutory due date for payment or return filing falls on a public holiday, payment and filing may be made on the next working day. Service providers should take precautions to meet deadlines; field formations are to be informed and a trade notice issued.

Customs valuation: written importer consent permits value enhancement without issuing a speaking order, subject to written grounds and hearing.
Rule 10A empowers officials to question declared import values, request further information, and-at the importer's request-provide written grounds for doubt and a reasonable opportunity to be heard before finalizing valuation. The Board clarifies that a speaking order need not be issued where value enhancement is made with the importer's consent, provided that consent is obtained in writing to guard against later allegations of arbitrary enhancement, while maintaining documentation of reasons for adjustments.

CENVAT credit for moulds and dies: balance credit may be claimed later even if goods are no longer in possession.
The amendment to Rule 4(2)(b) of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2002 permits manufacturers to claim the deferred balance of credit on moulds and dies in a subsequent financial year even if those goods are no longer in their possession or use in that subsequent year, provided the goods were used for manufacture of final products in that later year.

Random selection procedure for corporate scrutiny sets differential sampling by paid-up capital tiers and fixed periodic intervals.
Random selection from Return Registers is required for corporate assessee scrutiny, with companies segregated into two paid up capital tiers, chronologically listed, and sampled at fixed intervals: every fourth case in the higher tier and every fifteenth case in the lower tier; this procedure supplements earlier instructions and must be notified to all concerned.

Compulsory quality control for honey: exports must carry an inspection certificate or consignments may be stopped.
All export consignments of honey must be accompanied by a valid Certificate of Export issued by a notified Export Inspection Agency under the Export (Quality Control and Inspection) Act; consignments lacking this certificate are to be stopped. Officials must investigate past honey exports for compliance, take appropriate action in default cases, and inform the Board of such actions.

Broker fee payment obligation extended; non compliant brokers must pay full fees and interest by the revised deadline or face enforcement.
Brokers in the cash segment who did not avail the 50% facility by March 31, 2003, and whose fee collection has not been stayed by any court, must pay the entire fees and interest due through the relevant financial year by December 31, 2003; failure to comply will result in enforcement action under the SEBI Act and the SEBI (Stock Brokers and Sub brokers) Regulations read with the SEBI enquiry and penalty procedure regulations.

Deletion of a regulatory note removes a specified General Note from the Handbook of Procedures, altering export-import guidance.
The Director General of Foreign Trade, invoking Paragraph 2.4 of the Export and Import Policy 2002-2007, deletes Note 11 under the General Notes for All Export Product Groups as contained in the Handbook of Procedures, Vol. II, 2002-2007, as amended; this amendment is communicated by public notice as issued in the public interest.

Duty free import of Natural Rubber: fresh and pending licences may be issued or revalidated with conditions and anti fraud exclusion.
Duty free import of natural rubber may be permitted by issuing fresh Advance Licences or DFRCs under normal policy; RLAs may allow direct import or revalidate licences (including those issued before or after 20.2.1999) where imports could not be effected, waiving fee and Appx.10G formalities and cancelling ARO where necessary. Applications excluding or omitting rubber may be reviewed to include it or to issue fresh licences after a declaration that no drawback was claimed; revalidation without fee applies even if No Bond or EODC was issued. Measures do not apply in cases of fraud or misrepresentation.

Industrial licence granted directly to applicants to speed project implementation, subject to statutory approvals and small scale exceptions.
Industrial licence applications for new undertakings, expansions, or manufacture of new articles will as a default be granted directly against applications to expedite implementation; applications for items reserved for exclusive small scale production remain subject to initial issuance of a Letter of Intent and subsequent conversion into an Industrial Licence after execution of a Legal Undertaking to satisfy export-obligation conditions. Entrepreneurs remain responsible for obtaining all requisite statutory approvals and clearances under central and state laws for the specified manufacturing activity.

Rupee loan permission for nonresident employees allows personal housing loans with repayment only by remittance or specified account debit.
Indian companies may grant rupee loans to employees who are Non-Resident Indians or Persons of Indian Origin for personal purposes, including purchase of residential property, provided loans are made under the lender's staff welfare scheme on terms comparable to residents, credited to the borrower's NRO account, not used for specified prohibited purposes, and that repayment is permitted only by remittance from abroad or by debit to the borrower's NRE, NRO or FCNR account.

Cenvat credit restriction: inputs used exclusively for exempted goods are ineligible; payment or separate accounting applies only to common inputs.
No CENVAT credit is admissible on inputs clearly and exclusively used in the manufacture of exempted finished goods. The rules allow either maintenance of separate accounts for inputs used for exempted and dutiable goods or the alternative payment mechanism, but that option applies only to common inputs used for both kinds of manufacture and does not authorize credit for inputs used exclusively for exempted products. Recovery action should be taken where credit was wrongly claimed.