Mandatory equal penalty under Section 11AC upheld; must be imposed even if duty paid before show cause notice.
When the statutory conditions for imposition of the equal penalty provision are fulfilled, there is no discretion to reduce or remit the mandatory equal penalty even if the duty has been paid prior to the issue of a show cause notice; the Board has directed circulation of this clarification to field formations, tribunals and courts for consistent application.

Delay condonation in High Court restricted; statutory limitation governs appeals and references with limited procedural recourse.
The Supreme Court's Larger Bench held that the High Court has no power to condone delay beyond the statutory limitation for a reference application under unamended Section 35H(1) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, and made analogous observations concerning unamended Section 35G appeals. The Board will seek to file a review petition. Under the amended Section 35G, appeals must be filed within the stipulated period, but subsection (9) allows application of the Code of Civil Procedure provisions to High Court appeals. Sections 130 and 130A of the Customs Act are pari materia and require similar treatment.

Mandatory electronic filing required for companies and audit-liable firms; returns processed centrally and attachments not accepted.
Electronic filing is mandatory for companies (except those exempt under charitable provisions) and for firms liable to audit; other taxpayers may choose the mode. Returns (except specified Form ITR-7) must not be accompanied by attachments or annexures; taxpayers must retain supporting documents and produce them on demand. Electronically filed returns under digital signature or filed by an intermediary using digital signature require no Form ITR-V; otherwise a bar-coded Form ITR-V must be mailed to the Centralised Processing Centre within thirty days. Pre-paid tax credit depends on UTN/CIN matching with departmental records.

TDS/TCS payment and reporting: claims allowed only where payment, reporting and UTN matching requirements are met.
The Board redesigns the TDS and TCS payment and information reporting system so that credit for TDS/TCS is allowed only if the deductor/collector has deposited the amount, has electronically furnished deductee particulars to the TIN with an income tax challan in Form 17, and the assessee's claim matches the deductor's reported information; each successful remittance and upload is assigned a Unique Transaction Number (UTN) to be quoted on certificates and used for reconciliation.

PAN requirement: transferees must submit PAN copy for registration of physical share transfers affecting listed-company transactions.
Transferees must furnish a copy of their PAN card to the Company or Registrar and Transfer Agent as a mandatory condition for registration of transfers of physical shares of listed companies, covering securities market transactions and off-market/private transfers. Stock exchanges are required to amend bye-laws and the Listing Agreement, notify listed companies, publish the requirement online, and report implementation; RTAs must implement and disseminate the circular. The measure is issued under section 11 of the SEBI Act and section 55A of the Companies Act to protect investors and regulate the market.

Authorized signatory identification required: submissions must state signatory name and designation; noncompliant letters will not be taken.
Applications, requests and covering letters must state the name and designation of the authorized signatory; submissions without this information will not be taken cognizance of, and where the authorized signatory is not the Proprietor, Director or Partner, a copy of the Power of Attorney in his favour must be submitted.

SEZ service tax exemption allows in SEZ consumption to be exempt; refund process and documentary conditions apply for out of SEZ use.
Notification 15/2009 exempts services consumed within an SEZ from service tax, limiting refunds to services consumed outside the SEZ. Refund claims must include the Approval Committee-approved list of specified services and documents evidencing payment of service tax. The Assistant/Deputy Commissioner must verify actual end use and may conduct further verification for significant claims. Existing Board circulars on sanction, pre audit, jurisdiction, STC codes and payment evidence apply. An ad hoc interim payment mechanism is available for complete claims, and refund claims must be finalised within prescribed expedited timeframes. Commissioners must monitor disposal and report implementation difficulties.

Transshipment procedure for courier imports enables transfer to air cargo complex with CTM, customs sealing and electronic IGM processing.
Interim procedure permits courier-imported consignments to be transferred from the Courier Cell to Air Cargo Complex upon consignee or authorized CHA request via a quadruplicate Cargo Transfer Manifest (CTM), noted and numbered by the Courier Cell noter. Shipments are sealed with customs punch seal, moved to MIAL import warehouse with Batch Officer and custodian acknowledgments, and the authorized courier must file an electronic IGM corresponding to the CTM to enable EDI/Batch processing and subsequent standard bill of entry clearance.

Designation of CPIO under RTI Act: change of officer in Service Tax commissionerate updates official RTI point of contact.
The Trade Notice amends a prior notice by designating Dr. Shobhit Jain as the Central Public Information Officer for the Service Tax Commissionerate, New Delhi, replacing the previous CPIO for Headquarters and thereby updating the official point of contact for processing RTI Act requests and managing related information responsibilities.

Administrative transfer and posting: Commissioner (Trade & Taxes) reassigned; successor appointed following central government posting order.
Order directs the transfer of Ms. Archna Arora from Commissioner (Trade & Taxes) to Secretary, Education and Art, Culture & Languages, and the posting of Shri Jalaj Srivastava as Commissioner (Trade & Taxes) to fill the vacancy, pursuant to a central government posting order, with the reassignments effective as directed.

Password security: Officers personally liable for breaches and subject to disciplinary action, including possible dismissal from service.
Recurring frauds from compromised passwords in Customs EDI installations are a primary security risk despite Directorate of Systems instructions. The Board directs strict compliance with those instructions, thorough investigation of each compromise, and prompt initiation and conclusion of disciplinary proceedings under the civil-service disciplinary framework. It emphasizes that password security is the individual responsibility of each officer, that sharing passwords amounts to collusion in fraud, and that violations should attract disciplinary action up to dismissal, with supervising officers accountable for enforcement.

Nexus with exported products required for specified agricultural imports under Target Plus Scheme; duty credit scrips will be endorsed accordingly.
Imports of specified agricultural products under the Target Plus Scheme are allowed only when a nexus with exported products is clearly established; all Duty Credit Scrips issued under the Scheme shall be automatically endorsed to state that Sr. No. 6 is permitted to be imported only when such nexus is established, and Regional Authorities and Customs must ensure endorsement and verification respectively.

Permitted imports under duty credit scrips: automatic endorsement with mandatory nexus to exported product group required.
Automatic endorsement is prescribed for permitted imports on duty credit scrips under the DFCE Status Holders Scheme, allowing Capital Goods (with nexus to exported product group), Office Equipment, Inputs (with nexus), and certain Agricultural Products subject to enumerated exclusions. Import of the agricultural category is permitted only when a nexus with the exported product group is clearly established. Regional Authorities must endorse the nexus condition on scrips at issuance or revalidation, and Customs must ensure the nexus is satisfied before permitting imports, as mandated by the Handbook of Procedures provisions cited.

Correction to Standard Input-Output Norms updates SION number to A-3638 under Foreign Trade Policy procedural authority.
Correction to the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. II) pursuant to Paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy and Paragraph 1.1 of the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I) replaces the previously published SION number A-3636 with the corrected SION number A-3638 for the Chemical & Allied Products group as an administrative corrigendum issued in the public interest.

Designation of Mentor to supervise local implementation of the Service Tax Return Preparer Scheme and address practitioner issues.
Designation of a zone-level Mentor to supervise local implementation and smooth functioning of the Service Tax Return Preparer Scheme, responsible for addressing issues raised by return preparers and assessees and coordinating with the DGST-designated Resource Centre; the notice names the officer appointed for the Bhopal zone and provides contact details to facilitate communication and grievance resolution.

Import entitlement for raw cotton clarifies permitted packing and strapping inputs and requires computation based on actual use.
Adds entries to Standard Input Output Norms (SION) specifying permitted import inputs and quantities against export of raw cotton (Product Code J 373), listing grey cotton fabrics, plastic woven fabrics from polymer granules, mild steel coils and PVC straps. Computation rules require that packing be treated as either grey fabric or plastic woven fabric and strapping as either steel coil or PVC strap, and import entitlement for each input be calculated according to the portion of export product actually packed or strapped with that input.

Foreign investment limits in commodity exchanges: deadline extended for divestment; non-compliance treated as FEMA violation.
Guidelines reaffirm a composite foreign investment ceiling for commodity exchanges with specified allocations between portfolio and direct investment and a restriction on any single foreign investor's equity share. Existing exchanges exceeding the prescribed foreign share must divest the excess and were granted an extended transition period to comply. All commodity exchanges must submit a compliance report disclosing foreign investment and equity structure to specified government departments and regulators. Non-compliance after the deadline will constitute a violation under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

Debt investment allocation: unutilised government debt limits reallocated and a single-entity allocation cap imposed for FIIs.
The circular mandates that unutilised investment limits for government debt shall be allocated using the same allocation methodology previously prescribed for debt limits, and it amends the prior provision to impose a maximum allocation per single entity for government debt; custodians are required to inform their FII clients and the circular is posted on the regulator's FII webpage.

Interest under Section 47(2) not applicable to ex-bond clearances; warehousing interest governed by Section 61.
Interest under Section 47(2) applies to delayed payment of duty where goods are entered for home consumption under Section 47(1); it does not apply to clearances made under Section 68 for warehoused goods. Interest on warehoused goods is governed by Section 61(2) and is chargeable only when goods remain in the warehouse beyond the permitted warehousing period, from expiry of that period until payment of duty.

Simplified listing for debt securities streamlines disclosure and imposes ongoing security cover and reporting obligations.
The Listing Agreement for Debt Securities establishes a two part regime: Part A imposes incremental disclosures where the issuer's equity is listed (including forwarding statutory reports to debenture trustees, half yearly certification of 100% security cover, disclosure of coverage ratios, timely demat credits, prescribed electronic payments, and prompt notification of expected defaults); Part B requires broader disclosures and affirmative duties for non equity listed issuers (including creation and registration of charges, transfer of unclaimed interest to the Investor Education and Protection Fund, detailed event and price sensitive notifications to the Exchange, and specified reporting and allotment timelines).