Area-based exemption admissibility: ownership changes, relocation, and adjacent expansion preserve residual exemption subject to safeguards.
The Board confirms the area-based exemption attaches to the Unit: change of ownership does not forfeit the residual exemption if the new owner opts in writing before first clearance; relocation within specified areas preserves residual exemption subject to inventorisation and Chartered Engineer certification that plant, machinery and manpower have been shifted within the notified area; and expansion by acquiring adjacent land and installing new plant and machinery is treated like on-plot expansion and remains eligible for the residual exemption period.

Doctrine of merger bars tribunal from restoring appeals once orders attain finality; tribunal becomes functus officio.
The High Court held that the doctrine of merger applies so that where a tribunal's order has been finally adjudicated and merged in a higher court's judgment, the tribunal becomes functus officio and lacks jurisdiction to entertain applications for restoration of those appeals, including where the appeals had been dismissed for non-compliance with a pre-deposit condition.

Filing of central excise returns: manufacturers of processed yarn, fabrics and garments must shift to monthly ER-1 filings.
Affected manufacturers of processed yarn, unprocessed fabrics and readymade garments must file a revised ER-3 return for the October-December 2011 quarter and, following omission of the rule proviso, must file Central Excise Returns monthly using the ER-1 form for periods from January 2012 onward, with field formations instructed to provide assistance and inform trade.

Export parity for Nepal: Nepal exports placed at par with other countries, DRP abolished and notifications issued.
Exports to Nepal are placed on the same regulatory footing as exports to other countries (except Bhutan) under the Revised Treaty of Trade; notifications issued on 5 December 2011 amend earlier notifications and rescind a prior notification, abolishing the existing Discriminatory Regulatory Procedure for Nepal-bound exports and aligning them with general export rules, effective 1 March 2012.