Foreign Trade Policy transitional arrangements for restricted gold imports may protect bona fide pre-notification transactions even where no irrevocable commercial letter of credit was established. An irrevocable commercial letter of credit secures payment through an independent banking mechanism upon shipping documents, but advance payment exceeding 90% of invoice value may provide the foreign seller with greater security. Mechanical insistence on a letter of credit can defeat the protective purpose of the transitional arrangement where traders and transactions are genuine. Notifications issued as delegated legislation ordinarily operate prospectively unless retrospective operation is statutorily authorised. Transitional benefits were extended to the specified import transactions.

Reasonable belief based on definite material existing at seizure is a precondition to seizing gold outside a Customs station and to shifting the statutory burden of proving its non-smuggled character. The absence of foreign markings, the gold's purity, and lack of evidence of foreign origin, illicit importation, or the manner of smuggling cannot support that belief; domestic-procurement documents must be rebutted through investigation. On these principles, confiscation was set aside and related penalties did not survive. Reliance on witness statements under Section 138B did not invalidate adjudication where no specific request for cross-examination had been made before the adjudicating authority.

Strict interpretation of the customs exemption required Disc Brake Units and Pole Wheels to fall clearly within the recognised railway-engineering meaning of a Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS). As components of a mechanical or pneumatic axle-mounted braking system, rather than signal-based TPWS equipment, they did not qualify for concessional duty. Official railway specifications prevailed over contrary technical opinions. Differential customs duty could be demanded only for Bills of Entry within the normal limitation period invoked under section 28(1); extending the demand beyond that period under section 28(4) exceeded the show cause notice. The exemption claim failed, while the demand was restricted accordingly.

Third-party standing extends to a holder of railway-underpass rights whose infrastructure may suffer adverse civil consequences from revived pipeline works. Way Leave Permission for overhead construction requires consideration of safety impacts, a due safety audit, and an opportunity to be heard where objections affect existing underpasses; non-compliance renders the grant irregular and illegal. An expired railway-land permission cannot be retrospectively renewed or preserved through a corporate insolvency resolution plan, as renewal requires fresh permission from the competent authority. Findings of fraud or collusion require proper material meeting the beyond-reasonable-doubt standard and cannot rest on the balance of probabilities.

Section 96 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code imposes an interim moratorium on civil debt-recovery actions, not on criminal prosecution for cheque dishonour under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Cheque-dishonour proceedings protect the credibility of negotiable instruments and commercial discipline and therefore continue despite insolvency proceedings against the accused. On that basis, the stay of the cheque-dishonour complaint was set aside and the complaint was restored to the Trial Court for continuation in accordance with law.

Limitation for appeals under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code requires filing within 30 days of the impugned order. The appellate forum may condone delay only for a further period not exceeding 15 days on sufficient cause and has no jurisdiction to entertain an appeal beyond that maximum period. Availability of the order in the public domain on the date of pronouncement defeats a contrary assertion of delayed upload, while unsupported claims regarding delayed receipt of a certified copy do not establish sufficient cause. Knowledge of the order is not an independent basis for extending limitation under the insolvency regime. An appeal filed beyond the maximum condonable period against revival of the corporate insolvency resolution process is therefore not maintainable.

Discharge-stage scrutiny in a money-laundering prosecution is confined to whether the available material creates a strong suspicion reasonably connecting the accused with the alleged offence; it does not permit a roving enquiry or trial-level weighing of evidence. Statements indicating that funds were arranged and delivered at a co-accused's request, rather than through ordinary business, together with the absence of contemporaneous proof of goods supplied, supported the allegation. Bank records and statements from persons involved in arranging and delivering cash provided prima facie corroboration that the accused knowingly assisted a process connected with proceeds of crime. The High Court upheld refusal of discharge and dismissed the criminal revision.

Recipient-funded renovation and development expenditure is excluded from the taxable value of renting of immovable property where it is incurred independently, is neither routed through nor controlled by the service provider, and lacks a nexus with the renting service. Service tax remains payable only on the actual rental consideration received. Where tax on that actual consideration and applicable interest are paid before issuance of a show-cause notice, penalties for failure to self-assess and for suppression under sections 77(2) and 78 of the Finance Act, 1994 are not sustained.

Rupee depreciation continued for a seventh consecutive session, with the currency closing weaker against the US dollar amid overseas dollar strength and foreign fund outflows. Elevated crude oil prices and rising US Treasury yields increased pressure by raising importers' demand for dollars, while positive domestic equity markets limited the decline. Dollar strength reflected expectations of a US interest-rate increase, while domestic equity gains contrasted with net foreign institutional investor equity sales.

Challenges concern termination of Delhi Gymkhana Club's perpetual lease and a show-cause notice seeking eviction. The Government maintains that a member who is not party or privy to the bilateral lease has no personal estate in the land or right to restrain contractual resumption. It also contends that the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act bars civil-court eviction proceedings and injunctions against estate-officer action. The challengers seek a stay or status quo, arguing that the notice prematurely assumes valid lease termination.

Vehicle repossession by banks and non-banking financial companies must be lawful and fair despite contractual self-help repossession rights. Lenders and recovery agents must not use force, stealth, intimidation, harassment, or arbitrary methods. Legally valid repossession clauses must provide notice periods, lawful possession procedures, a final repayment opportunity, and sale or auction processes. Financial institutions must ensure recovery-agent compliance and prevent unlawful dispossession of borrowers from hypothecated vehicles.

Rental-income arrears received in a later tax year raise issues concerning their treatment for GST and income-tax return purposes. The inquiry concerns how both arrears and current-year receipts should be reported in GST and income-tax returns for the year of receipt, and the corresponding tax-payment procedure, given the difference between the relevant rental periods and later receipt.

Section 16(2)(c) of the CGST Act makes actual payment of tax to the Government a substantive condition for input tax credit. The conditions under Section 16(2) operate cumulatively, and invoice reflection, receipt of supplies, or supplier return filing do not independently establish tax payment. Section 41 requires reversal of credit where the supplier has not paid tax, with re-availment allowed after payment. Rule 37A prescribes reversal and re-availment where the supplier fails to furnish the corresponding GSTR-3B within the prescribed period.

Service of a show-cause notice under section 37C(1)(a) requires evidence of actual delivery, not merely proof that it was dispatched by speed post. Where receipt is disputed, a dispatch register without an acknowledgment, delivery record, or comparable tangible proof does not establish effective service. Absence of proven service prevents valid continuation of proceedings, breaches principles of natural justice, and renders a service-tax demand time-barred and unsustainable.

Petitioner challenged provisional attachment orders affecting several bank accounts under the Customs Act, alleging unreasonableness, excessiveness, arbitrariness, and infringement of equality and trade-freedom guarantees. The relief sought included disclosure of attachment details, quashing of related show-cause notices, release of frozen accounts, and restraint on further coercive recovery action. The dispute concerned the scope and effect of customs-related provisional attachments and associated enforcement measures.

Weighted deduction for research and development expenditure in a recognised, certified facility is available where the expenditure is approved and genuine. Before 1 July 2016, the absence of a prescribed format to quantify the eligible deduction meant that Form 3CL could not govern quantification; digital expenditure-wise ledgers could suffice, and objections over separate books, staff use, or technicalities did not warrant denial. Disallowance of expenditure relating to exempt income may be computed under section 14A and Rule 8D where the Assessing Officer records satisfaction, investments generate exempt income, and administrative or managerial investment activity establishes indirect expenditure, particularly where the taxpayer has made no compliant computation.

Gains from shares and debt-oriented mutual funds held in an investment portfolio retain their character as capital gains notwithstanding separate trading in similar instruments. Long-term capital gains from such investments qualify for exemption under Section 10(38), while long-term and short-term gains cannot be recharacterised as business income solely because the taxpayer also carries on trading activities. Consistent treatment of the investment portfolio, supported by prior comparable determinations, sustains the distinction between investment holdings and trading stock.

Employees' ESIC and EPF contributions deposited after due dates prescribed by applicable welfare statutes are not allowable deductions in processing under section 143(1). Applying the binding requirement of timely deposit under the respective statutes, late payments are disallowed against the assessee. The disallowance applies where amounts were admittedly paid after the relevant statutory due dates.

Arm's length price of intra-group technical and stewardship service payments was sustained at nil because the taxpayer did not establish actual receipt or commercial benefit from the services. A broadly worded service agreement, without defined deliverables, cost-allocation methodology, performance benchmarks or validation mechanisms, did not substantiate the charges. General or post-period emails, brief managerial visits, and unsupported presentations or meeting notes were insufficient. Contemporaneous, verifiable evidence such as meeting records, training material, project documentation and identifiable service deliverables was required to demonstrate rendition and benefit of the intra-group services.

Cash-payment disallowance under section 40A(3) requires evidence that an impugned cash payment was claimed as expenditure in the profit and loss account. Where audited books and the tax-audit report remain unrejected, incomplete rough cash records alone do not establish such a claim, particularly without verification from alleged recipients. Cash deposits during demonetisation are not unexplained income when unrejected books record sufficient cash balances and bank evidence identifies the specified bank notes deposited. Additions based only on doubts, surmises, or conjecture cannot displace a recorded and credible source of deposits.