Parallel criminal acquittal for failure to prove penal ingredients does not by itself negate an independently acknowledged financial liability supporting cheque dishonour proceedings. A notarized agreement and written declaration may establish a legally enforceable debt. Once foundational facts are proved, presumptions of consideration and discharge arise and require a probable, material-supported defence; an uncorroborated snatched-cheque assertion without a contemporaneous police complaint or bank intimation is insufficient. Registered dispatch to the drawer's correct address supports due service of the statutory demand notice, while revisional review remains limited to perversity, lack of evidence, or material legal or procedural error.

Availability of an efficacious statutory GST appeal generally weighs against writ adjudication of challenges to a consolidated show-cause notice. Objections that the notice is barred by limitation, issued without jurisdiction, or impermissibly combines separate financial years may involve disputed questions of fact and law suitable for appellate examination. The statutory appeal under Section 107 of the CGST Act preserves those objections for determination. The writ petition was relegated to that remedy, subject to an adjusted pre-deposit, with no coercive action until the appeal attains finality.

Anticipatory bail following a CGST summons is not premature merely because no arrest order exists: summons alone neither establishes arrest nor makes a person an accused, but tangible circumstances may create a real and reasonable apprehension of arrest. Such apprehension only engages anticipatory-bail jurisdiction; it does not establish entitlement to pre-arrest protection. In an investigation concerning alleged clandestine manufacture and clearance, outstanding inquiries, a co-accused's arrest, and alleged non-cooperation supported the need for possible further interrogation. The application was therefore refused, as investigation requirements outweighed the requested extraordinary protection.

Service of the show-cause notice through the GST portal, registered post, or e-mail is essential before an ex parte GST demand may be sustained. Where the record contains no material establishing such service and the taxpayer received no opportunity to submit a defence or be heard, the adjudication breaches the required process. The adjudication and appellate orders were set aside, and the matter was remitted for fresh adjudication after furnishing the show-cause notice, permitting objections, and granting a hearing.

Natural justice in ex parte GST adjudication required fresh consideration where medical records substantiated the proprietor's pregnancy and consequent inability to participate. Expiry of the statutory appellate limitation left no appellate remedy. The ex parte GST demand was set aside subject to deposit of 10% of the tax demanded and remitted from the reply-and-document-production stage, with a reasonable opportunity of hearing. Non-appearance as directed would automatically revive the earlier order.

Compulsory acquisition of land and buildings under the State's eminent-domain power is an expropriation, not a supply of goods or services for GST purposes. Land and buildings attached to land are immovable property, and landowners do not sell goods or provide services merely by surrendering property pursuant to statutory acquisition. GST deducted from compensation for such acquisition therefore lacks statutory basis. The deduction was treated as exceeding legal authority, with the affected compensation notice quashed to that extent and refund of the deducted GST with interest directed.

Statutory outer limits on condonation of delay in GST registration-cancellation appeals confine the First Appellate Authority to the power expressly granted. Constitutional-court directions issued in extraordinary jurisdiction cannot enlarge that statutory power, and equity or substantial justice cannot displace the prescribed limit; appeals entertained after that limit are without jurisdiction. Where the Department has implemented appellate orders by restoring cancelled registrations, its own challenge becomes infructuous because the restored legal and commercial position cannot be unsettled without affecting intervening transactions. Such departmental appeals are not maintainable after implementation of the impugned orders.

Notional rental income under Section 23(1)(a) is not chargeable on unsold flats during a period in which they are legally unoccupiable because no occupancy certificate has been issued. A completion certificate alone does not establish legal occupiability for this purpose. Consequently, notional rental income cannot form the basis for revision of an assessment for that period, and the Revenue's appeal was dismissed.

Use of a company's disclosed income to purchase jewellery on its behalf does not, without more, constitute acceptance by its managing director of a cash loan or deposit. Storage of company jewellery at the managing director's residence or in his locker for safekeeping does not alter that character. Characterising the arrangement as a cash loan or deposit on assumptions, presumptions or surmise renders the related penalty unsustainable; the penalty was deleted.

Jurisdiction over an amalgamating company ends when it ceases to exist following amalgamation. A section 201 order issued and served in the former company's name, despite prior notification to the TDS authority, suffers a jurisdictional defect; referring to the successor company in the body of the order does not cure it. The order was void ab initio and quashed, while the issue of interest under section 201(1A) remained academic.

Interest under section 244A on a refund claimed through a return filed after the statutory deadline depends on the return's validity and prior condonation of delay. A return filed late without a preceding condonation application is treated as invalid for this purpose. Clause (ii) of paragraph 6 of the CBDT circular applies generally to belated refund claims, rather than only to supplementary refund claims, when read with the circular's preceding provisions. Statutory interest is therefore unavailable on refunds claimed through such belated returns.

Reassessment of a loan credit previously examined in scrutiny cannot rest on the same confirmation, bank statements and balance sheet without fresh information or tangible material; adopting a different view is an impermissible change of opinion. Separately, an electronic notice served on or after 1 April 2021 must follow section 148A: a show-cause notice, supply of material, consideration of the taxpayer's reply, and an order before issuing a notice under section 148. Failure to follow this sequence invalidates reassessment. On these independent grounds, the reassessment notice and consequential order were quashed, without deciding the loan-credit addition on merits.

Foreign tax credit for Australian employment income cannot be denied solely because a belated return and Form No. 67 were filed late where substantive entitlement and compliance with other required formalities are undisputed. Rule 128's timing requirement is treated as a directory procedural condition in subordinate legislation and cannot curtail substantive entitlement to foreign tax credit. The credit claim was consequently required to be accepted, and the denial was set aside.

Deletion of reassessment additions through an appeal-effect order removed the basis for concealment penalty, as no concealed income remained when the penalty order was passed. The Tribunal therefore deleted the concealment penalty. Penalty for non-compliance with statutory notices was also deleted where the assessee had stated, through affidavits, unfamiliarity with tax law and reliance on a professional for compliance. The Tribunal treated these circumstances as warranting relief in the interest of justice, allowing both appeals and deleting both penalties.

Reassessment proceedings initiated by a notice issued in the name of an assessee already deceased are jurisdictionally defective. A valid reassessment notice must be addressed to a living assessee or, where permitted, to the legal representative. Provisions allowing continuation of existing proceedings against legal representatives do not cure proceedings initiated only after the assessee's death. Where no fresh notice is issued to the legal representatives within the prescribed period, the reassessment lacks jurisdiction. The notice, consequential reassessment proceedings and assessment order are void in law and liable to be quashed.

Royalty and fees for technical services under the India-Germany DTAA are taxable on receipt rather than accrual basis. Consideration for restricted, non-exclusive standard software licences that do not transfer copyright rights is not royalty under the Act or treaty. Separate scopes of work, invoicing, consideration and no profit-and-loss sharing prevent consortium members from constituting an association of persons; joint and several liability and indemnities alone are insufficient. Offshore equipment-supply income is not taxable in India merely because it forms part of a composite project. Transfer-pricing adjustments require a prescribed method and cannot rest on an ad hoc mark-up where transaction differences are reconciled and benchmarking is undisputed.

Termination compensation under a distribution arrangement that is substantively an agency relationship is treated as business income rather than a capital receipt, and taxation is confined to the settlement actually received. A non-compete covenant integral to acquiring and protecting a trademark qualifies as a depreciable intangible asset. For section 80-IB, only costs directly connected with an eligible undertaking should reduce its profit; allocation of finance, research, travel, head-office and export-promotion costs depends on factual nexus. Section 80HHC excludes receipts lacking a direct export nexus, while concurrent 80-IB and 80HHC deductions remain subject to the gross-total-income ceiling. A purely legal additional ground based on the existing record may be considered.

Enhancement of declared customs value during reassessment under section 17(4) requires a speaking order under section 17(5) of the Customs Act, 1962. Failure to issue that order violates the statutory requirement and makes the reassessment unsustainable. The declared value must be accepted, with the assessments and appellate order set aside and consequential relief granted.

PMLA provisional attachment of an NBFC's bank balance requires material establishing that the property constitutes proceeds of crime connected with a scheduled offence. FIR allegations alone were insufficient where final chargesheets did not arraign the NBFC or its lending application, and no material showed that an unauthorised fintech operated under its licence or that the NBFC received identified criminal proceeds. Legitimate lending income and an outstanding contractual loan cannot be characterised as proceeds of crime without supporting evidence. As no nexus was identified between the attached balance and criminal proceeds, confirmation of the attachment was set aside.

Tax classification of GRD Powder and GRD Mix depends on the goods' identity and physical form at the time of supply, not on their subsequent use after mixing with milk or water. Strict construction of taxing statutes requires classification at the taxable event; a purchaser's use cannot convert a powder or biscuit-form product into a beverage. The entry for non-alcoholic drinks and beverages, read ejusdem generis with syrups, cordials, distilled juices, ark and essences, covers liquids or liquid preparations. GRD Powder and GRD Mix therefore fall under the residuary entry rather than the specific entry for non-alcoholic drinks and beverages.