IIEST Shibpur and Tata Consultancy Services have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to establish an Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence at the Electrical Engineering Department's high-performance computing laboratory. The collaboration supports industry-aligned training, professional certifications, practical projects, supervised internships, startup mentorship, curriculum benchmarking, and applied research in natural language processing, computer vision, image processing, and advanced data analytics.

Risk-based selective physical boarding of vessels is determined through advance profiling based on compliance history, voyage details, crew, cargo and declarations relating to crew effects, ship stores and satellite devices. Terminal Operators must submit tentative vessel lists for assessment and physical-boarding clearance. Where a vessel is not selected, the Master and Shipping Agent remain fully responsible for accurate declarations, safeguarding onboard stores, preventing illegal unlading or consumption of restricted, high-duty or un-manifested goods, and promptly reporting logistical, itinerary or documentation changes.

Enforcement Directorate search and survey operations connected with a money-laundering investigation continued at development authority offices and premises linked with housing administration, a realty company, and private residences. AAP workers protested against the searches, alleging political and administrative pressure through central investigative agencies. The party further alleged that the operations could disrupt the development authority's functioning and impede Punjab government welfare schemes.

A police inquiry, rather than a Vigilance inquiry, was directed following an Enforcement Directorate communication seeking registration of an FIR for cognizable offences. It was contended that FIR registration should be dealt with by the police and that governmental or ministerial intervention would raise concerns where a person facing allegations is involved in deciding the investigative course. A transfer to a federal investigative agency was sought on grounds of investigative independence and perceived conflict of interest.

Legal recognition of electronic records and digital signatures treats electronic writing, authentication, retention, publication, filing, licensing, approvals and payments as legally effective where prescribed requirements are met. Electronic communications are governed by attribution, acknowledgment, dispatch and receipt rules, and secure status depends on applicable security procedures. Licensing and supervision regulate Certifying Authorities and Digital Signature Certificates, including issuance, disclosure, suspension and revocation. Subscribers must safeguard private keys and notify compromise. Unauthorised access, data interference, disruption and related misconduct may attract compensation, penalties, adjudication or criminal liability.

Concessional taxation under Section 115BAA may remain available where a domestic company selected the regime in a timely return but uploaded Form 10IC later. Selection in the return can evidence substantial compliance with exercising the option. Applicable condonation circulars and treatment of the omission as an inadvertent procedural error support reconsideration rather than outright denial. The Assessing Officer must consider the delayed form and grant consequential relief if the remaining statutory conditions are met.

Cash deposits in specified bank notes during demonetisation cannot be assessed as unexplained money where recorded cash balances and business collections establish their source. Section 69A applies only when the source remains unexplained. Books of account, cash book, audited financial statements and tax-audit records supported the deposits and were neither rejected nor found defective. As recorded cash sales had already been offered to tax, a separate addition would result in double taxation. A bank certificate also confirmed that the specified-bank-note deposits were lower than the amount assumed in assessment. The unrebutted evidence rendered the addition under Sections 69A and 115BBE unsustainable.

Arm's-length commission paid to an Indian dependent agent exhausts the profits attributable to the agency permanent establishment under Article 7 of the India-Singapore tax treaty. Where the agent's commission is accepted as arm's length, no additional profits may be attributed to the Indian permanent establishment absent new material facts or a change in law. Applying the approach followed for identical preceding years, the additional attribution of profit was deleted.

Section 68 requires the assessee to establish the identity, creditworthiness and genuineness of credited receipts. Recorded sales supported by ledgers, invoices, inventory and sales records, tax-paid invoices, and banking-channel payments establish their nature and source; unverified third-party statements or unserved purchaser notices alone do not displace such evidence. Share application receipts supported by investor confirmations, PAN details, corporate records, tax returns and audited financial statements similarly establish the investors and the genuineness of investments. An adverse inference based on a later inspection, without further verification or rebuttal of the documentary record, is insufficient for an unexplained-cash-credit addition.

Employees' ESIC contributions paid after the prescribed due date are not deductible merely because payment occurs before the return-filing date. Depreciation at 60% is allowable. Interest on capital funds connected with proposed business expansion is not capitalisable absent an established basis for capitalisation. Commission expenditure remains disallowed where recipient responses do not rebut the disallowance or supporting details are missing. Cash-credit additions for deposits in a minor's bank account are not sustainable when the deposits have been explained. Taxable income is modified by allowing depreciation and deleting the interest-capitalisation and cash-credit additions.

Reassessment notices issued more than three years after the relevant assessment year required prior approval from the senior authorities specified under Section 151(ii) in the reassessment framework effective from 1 April 2021. Approval by a Principal Commissioner was insufficient for a notice issued after that period. The later proviso excluding time allowed under Section 148A(b), effective from 1 April 2023, did not retrospectively cure the applicable approval requirement. Absence of approval from the competent specified authority created a jurisdictional defect, rendering the reassessment void.

Reassessment notices issued more than three years after the relevant assessment year require prior approval from the senior authorities specified in Section 151(ii); approval by a Principal Commissioner is insufficient and deprives the proceedings of jurisdiction. The period for responding under Section 148A(b) cannot be retrospectively excluded from the three-year calculation under a later proviso without express legislative intent. Jurisdictional objections may be admitted as additional grounds where they arise on the existing record and require no new facts. Business disruption, illness and financial hardship can establish sufficient cause for delay.

Post-delivery cancellation of an e-way bill and issuance of a replacement invoice without a fresh e-way bill may create a GST compliance concern, even where no further vehicle movement occurs. Where the original e-way bill was valid during actual movement and the e-invoice or IRN was cancelled within the prescribed period for a genuine correction, complete cancellation, invoice, e-way bill, delivery, and correction records should be retained.

Section 78 assigns investigation of offences under the Information Technology Act, 2000 exclusively to police officers not below the rank of Inspector. Operating notwithstanding anything inconsistent in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, it establishes Inspector rank as the minimum statutory threshold for a police officer empowered to investigate every offence under the Act. This rank restriction governs investigation of any offence created under the Act.

Compensation, penalties and confiscation under the Information Technology Act, 2000 do not exclude liability under other applicable laws. An award of compensation, imposition of a penalty, or confiscation does not prevent additional compensation, penalties, or punishment under any other law in force, preserving the cumulative operation of legal consequences under separate applicable laws.

Computers, computer systems, storage media, tape drives and related accessories connected with a completed or ongoing statutory contravention are liable to confiscation. Where the person having possession, power or control of the property is not responsible for the contravention, the court may decline confiscation and issue another authorised order against the responsible person.

Extra-territorial application extends the Information Technology Act, 2000 to offences and contraventions committed outside India by any person, irrespective of nationality. Application is conditional on the offending act or conduct involving a computer, computer system or computer network located in India.

Fraudulent publication of electronic signature certificates is criminalised where a person knowingly creates, publishes, or otherwise makes an electronic signature certificate available for a fraudulent or unlawful purpose. The offence is punishable with imprisonment, fine, or both.

Section 73 prohibits knowingly publishing or making an electronic signature Certificate available where the named Certifying Authority did not issue it, the named subscriber did not accept it, or it has been revoked or suspended. Publication solely to verify an electronic signature created before suspension or revocation is permitted. Contravention is punishable with imprisonment up to two years, a fine up to one lakh rupees, or both.

Confidentiality and privacy protection imposes a monetary penalty of up to five lakh rupees where a person, while exercising powers under the Information Technology Act, 2000, or its rules or regulations, obtains access to electronic records, information, documents, or other material and discloses it to another person without the concerned person's consent.