Section 153D prior approval for search assessments requires the approving authority to independently examine draft assessment orders, assessment records and relevant search material for each assessment year. A composite approval issued without evidence of record movement, separate year-wise consideration, reasons or verification indicates a routine and mechanical exercise rather than informed statutory approval. Approval granted in this manner is invalid for want of application of mind, and assessment orders founded on it are vitiated and liable to be quashed.

In an unabated assessment under Section 153A, additions require incriminating material found during the search and a link between that material and the proposed addition. An unsecured-loan addition lacking that nexus is unsustainable. Alleged unexplained-expense additions are likewise unsustainable where seized entries are reconciled with agreements and books, verification reveals no adverse discrepancy, and the transactions represent genuine accounted business dealings. These principles support deletion of additions founded on recorded expenses or loans unconnected with incriminating search material.

TP Adjustment - Reasoned selection of transfer-pricing comparables - Delayed receivables as separate international transactions - Arm's length interest on delayed receivables TP comparability analysis - Functional, asset and risk analysis - Selection of comparable companies for the distribution/marketing support, software development and technical support service segments, together with related working-capital and risk adjustments - HELD THAT: - The selection and exclusion of comparables ... ... ...

Brand development expenditure - Premium on zero coupon non-convertible debentures - Arm's length corporate guarantee fee - Depreciation on aircraft as aeroplane - Capital gains on sale of investment shares Brand development expenditure incurred in the course of the existing business - Revenue expenditure Allowability - HELD THAT: - Following the earlier decision in the assessee's case [2022 (6) TMI 1572 - ITAT NAGPUR] the Tribunal held that expenditure on advertisement, brand building... ... ...

Exemption of international shipping profits under Article 8 of the India-Singapore DTAA - Tax treaty relief claimed under section 90 Entitlement to tax treaty relief for freight income from operation of ships in international traffic, where income was offered under section 44B and the corresponding tax was claimed as relief u/s 90 - HELD THAT: - The assessee's eligibility for exemption of its international shipping income under Article 8 of the India-Singapore DTAA was undisputed. The cla... ... ...

Penalty u/s 271B for failure to obtain tax audit - reasonable cause Levy of penalty for failure to obtain audit of accounts, where the assessee pleaded reasonable cause arising from personal circumstances and the death of the person handling business compliances - HELD THAT: - For purposes of the statutory protection against penalty, reasonable cause is a cause which would prevent a person of ordinary prudence from complying, without negligence, inaction or lack of bona fides. The assessee ha... ... ...

Belated furnishing of Form No. 10B for charitable exemption - Appellate remedy notwithstanding rejection of condonation application Denial of exemption under section 11 to a charitable trust solely because the audit report in Form No. 10B was filed belatedly, though it was available when the return was processed - HELD THAT: - The audit report, intended to assist determination of the correct taxable income and support the exemption claim, was available on the record before the intimation was ... ... ...

Jurisdictional challenge to reassessment in revision proceedings - Competent sanctioning authority for reassessment beyond three years Maintainability of a challenge to the jurisdictional validity of reassessment in an appeal against revision under section 263 - HELD THAT: - A jurisdictional defect renders the reassessment order a nullity and may be raised whenever that order is relied upon. Failure to appeal against the reassessment or to object earlier does not cure such a defect. Examinati... ... ...

Reassessment proceedings initiated against a deceased assessee - Jurisdictional defect not curable u/s 292B Validity of reassessment notice, order u/s 148A(d), and consequential assessment issued in the name of a deceased assessee without initiating proceedings against the legal representatives - HELD THAT: - A reassessment notice issued after the assessee's death in the name of the deceased person is unenforceable. The legal representatives' failure to intimate the death does not val... ... ...

Ex parte appellate order - opportunity of hearing - Setting aside of the ex parte appellate order where the assessee's non-appearance during the Covid-19 pandemic was genuinely explained HELD THAT: - The explanation for non-appearance before the Tribunal was found genuine. Without entering into the merits, the Court held that the matter should be heard by the Tribunal, being the final authority for adjudication on facts and law. [Paras 7, 8, 10] The ex parte order was quashed and the m... ... ...

Priority of secured creditors over subsequent income-tax attachments - Contra entry in encumbrance records - Recording of a subsequent income-tax attachment in respect of property subject to a prior registered mortgage and later sold in a SARFAESI auction Whether the Registration Authority has power to delete the arbitration award entry based on the bank's representation? - HELD THAT: - Where the bank's mortgage preceded the income-tax attachments, the secured creditor had priority an... ... ...

Revision u/s 263 - erroneous and prejudicial assessment order - Adequate inquiry and legally plausible view Validity of revision of the assessment concerning the bogus steel-scrap trading loss, where the Assessing Officer had examined the transactions and disallowed the loss - HELD THAT: - Exercise of revisional jurisdiction requires the assessment order to be both erroneous and prejudicial to the interests of the Revenue. The factual finding that the Assessing Officer had conducted inquiry a... ... ...

Rule 3(d) is amended by replacing "State Government/Union Territories" with "Central Government/State Government/Union Territories." The change adds the Central Government to the governmental entities expressly named in the provision while retaining State Governments and Union Territories. The amendment is confined to the institutional description in rule 3(d).

JUSTICE TARUN AGARWALA, PRESIDING OFFICER, JUSTICE M.T. JOSHI, JUDICIAL MEMBER AND MS. MEERA SWARUP, TECHNICAL MEMBER For the Appellant : Mr. Vedchetan Patil, Advocate with Ms. Sunayana Kashid, Advocate i/b MJ Juris For the Respondent : Mr. Sumit Rai, Advocate with Mr. Manish Chhangani, Mr. Ravishekhar Pandey and Ms. Samreen Fatima, Advocates i/b The Law Point ORDER Per : Ms. Meera Swarup, Technical Member 1. Three appeals were filed by the Appellants challenging the common order ... ... ...

Interception, monitoring and decryption safeguards are amended by replacing "security agency" in rule 23(1) with "competent authority and the security agency". The provision therefore covers the competent authority alongside the security agency. The amendment takes effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

Interception, monitoring and decryption of information in computer resources require a reasoned direction by the competent authority, issued only where other reasonable means cannot obtain the information. Emergency action requires written intimation and competent-authority approval, failing which the activity must cease. Directions must identify the targeted information or persons, name the officer authorised to receive the information, remain time-bound, and be subject to review. Authorised agencies, intermediaries, persons in charge of computer resources and decryption key holders must provide specified assistance, maintain records and preserve secrecy; use and disclosure are confined to investigation, authorised security-agency sharing and judicial proceedings.

Statutory appeals must be filed within the prescribed two-month limitation period, with delay condonable only for a further 30 days. An appeal filed after both periods is time-barred and may be declined. Acknowledged service of the original order, a reply to the show-cause notice, and participation in the personal hearing support the conclusion that procedural opportunity was available. A substantially delayed writ petition does not ordinarily warrant discretionary relief against rejection of such an appeal.

GST refund claims may bundle successive tax periods across financial years. Accumulated input tax credit refunds under an inverted duty structure exclude identical input and output goods affected only by a later rate reduction. For non-zero-rated and non-deemed-export tax refunds, cash and electronic credit ledger components must be returned in their original proportions, with the credit component re-credited through FORM GST PMT-03. Accumulated input tax credit refunds are restricted to supplier-furnished invoices reflected in FORM GSTR-2A, and Annexure B requires HSN/SAC details where stated on inward invoices.

Foreign-currency loans advanced to overseas associated enterprises require an economically comparable arm's-length benchmark; LIBOR-linked rates are appropriate where the loans are received and used abroad, unlike Indian corporate-bond yields. A royalty CUP comparison requires materially comparable uncontrolled transactions, including comparable territories, trademarks, products and market conditions; an undisplaced TNMM analysis supports the existing royalty treatment. Recurring market research for established products remains revenue expenditure where it creates no identifiable capital asset, and unsupported ad hoc expense disallowances are not sustainable. For industrial-undertaking deductions, manufacturing by-product and scrap sales satisfy the direct-nexus requirement, whereas machinery lease rent does not.

Jurisdiction covers Chapter IX contraventions within the officer's State or Union Territory, with the location of the computer system or network determining where a complaint is made. Complaints use the prescribed form and a fee linked to compensation claimed. Respondents may plead guilty or show cause, while the officer may dismiss the matter or conduct inquiry after considering reports, evidence and submissions. Electronic records may be relied upon, and matters disclosing offences requiring punishment rather than financial consequences must be transferred for criminal jurisdiction.