Import tariff rate quotas under the India-New Zealand FTA apply from 20 October 2026 to apples, kiwifruit, albumins and New Zealand MPI-certified Manuka honey, subject to specified in-quota duties, CIF conditions, annual quantities and quota windows. New Zealand export certificates must identify the item, permitted quantity and designated Indian importer, with certificate details communicated for electronic TRQ authorisation. Importers must apply through the designated online system and reference the relevant export certificate. Authorisations are transmitted to ICES, and imports are permitted only through electronic quota debiting. Authorisations remain valid only for the applicable quota year, unused quantities lapse, and further authorisations cease once the quota limit is reached.

Custodians must notify importers or authorised Customs Brokers of the Section 49 storage facility where Customs-held goods are likely to remain uncleared beyond prescribed periods, and issue follow-up reminders if clearance remains pending. For delays arising from sample testing, statutory NOCs or discrepancies after open examination, the concerned Customs officer must similarly notify the importer. Custodians, CFSs, shipping lines, shipping agents and other cargo service providers must maintain communications and records. Failure to comply may be treated as breach of cargo-area regulatory obligations and attract action. The facility creates no automatic right to permission, waiver or relief, and does not alter disposal procedures for unclaimed or uncleared goods.

Manual Container Movement Permission for duty-free containers imported under Notification No. 104/94-Cus will no longer be required or accepted. Shipping lines, NVOCCs, agents and importers holding manual Continuity Bonds must register them in ICES and generate National Bond numbers by 31 October 2026, enabling electronic bond debit and credit through IGM/SAM and EGM/SDM messages. Quarterly Annexures A and B reporting container imports, re-exports and pending containers remains required by email until full automation. Containers not re-exported within six months will be identified through ICEGATE reports. Non-compliance may trigger bond enforcement for duty, interest and penalties; bond cancellation requires verified fulfilment of all conditions.

Risk-based selective physical boarding at Karwar Port will determine inspections through advance profiling of vessel compliance history, voyage and cargo details, and declarations concerning crew effects, ship stores, and satellite devices. The Superintendent (Docks) will review advance mandatory documents, approve physical boarding, and report weekly inspection totals and risk justifications. Vessels not selected for boarding may obtain Entry Inward through advance electronic data, but their Masters and Shipping Agents bear full responsibility for accurate and complete declarations, safeguarding declared stores, preventing unmanifested or restricted goods from being unladen or consumed in Indian territorial waters, and promptly reporting operational or documentation changes. Cargo discharge may proceed immediately after Entry Inward and sailing under advance Port Clearance.

ICEGATE 2.0 introduces electronic scheduling for physical examination of imported goods, enabling importers, IEC holders and authorised Customs Brokers to schedule, view and reschedule examinations, with automated notifications to officers, custodians and trade participants. The system automatically allocates examination slots, provides online status visibility and maintains audit trails. Rescheduling, placing an examination on hold, or removing it from the schedule requires recorded and justifiable reasons by the Assistant or Deputy Commissioner. Custodians must place goods according to scheduled slots, while assigned examining officers must conduct examinations through the system-based workflow.

JSW JNPT Liquid Terminal Private Limited's appointment as custodian and Customs Cargo Service Provider for imported liquid cargo at Liquid Berths LB-03 and LB-04 is renewed for five years from 24 October 2026, unless earlier suspended or revoked. Its custody extends until cargo is delivered through approved pipelines to authorised liquid tank farms. The approval is limited to the designated berths and does not permit new pipelines, tank farms, Customs Area alterations, or changes in cargo-handling arrangements without prior Customs permission. Continued approval requires compliance with customs cargo-handling requirements, valid insurance, security and statutory approvals, and a valid port concession.

Section 26(2) of the Competition Act requires sufficient admissible and actionable material before a prima facie view of contravention can justify further inquiry. Electronic evidence must be supported by the required certificate under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Where requested clarifications and that certificate remain unavailable despite repeated opportunities, the evidentiary threshold for proceeding is not met.

Section 153A limits additions in completed assessments to year-specific incriminating material found during search; unsupported statements, accounted data, projections, and unrelated loose papers do not suffice. A single proven on-money sale cannot be extrapolated to other transactions, and only its profit component is taxable. Unsecured loans supported by lender identity, creditworthiness, banking records, and repayment cannot be treated as accommodation entries, while duplicate interest disallowance fails. Uncorroborated messages and loose cash notings cannot establish unexplained money or expenditure, although direct unexplained cash communications and admitted unrecorded commission payments may support additions. Recorded jewellery and prescribed family allowance remain explained, subject to factual verification of silver utensils.

Specified officers serving under the Jharkhand Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 are appointed as officers under the Jharkhand Value Added Tax Act, 2005, with corresponding Commercial Taxes designations. The mapping covers the Commissioner through Assistant Commissioner ranks and appoints a State Tax Officer as a Commercial Taxes Officer. The appointments take effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

SWIFT export clearance for CITES and wildlife items is extended to all Customs EDI locations from 31 July 2017. Shipping Bills filed through ICEGATE or a Service Centre are referred online to the Wild Life Crime Control Bureau for a no-objection certificate where required. Customs EDI locations retain import-side mapping to bureau offices, and assigned officers perform functions in ICES through the SW NOC module.

Registered persons receiving metal scrap supplies classified under Chapters 72 to 81 from other registered persons are added as a covered category under the framework issued pursuant to section 51. The inter-person supply exclusion applicable between specified persons does not extend to these registered metal-scrap recipients. The amendments are deemed effective from 10 October 2024.

State tax on intra-State supplies of goods is fixed through seven tariff-linked Schedules at rates of 2.5 per cent, 9 per cent, 20 per cent, 1.5 per cent, 0.125 per cent, 0.75 per cent and 14 per cent. The Schedules allocate goods by Customs Tariff classification and description, with exclusions and conditions controlling treatment. Separate treatment applies to specified food, agricultural, health-care, renewable-energy, vehicle, precious-metal, tobacco, beverage and actionable-claim categories, while Schedule II also covers goods not allocated to the other Schedules.

Writ petitions seeking eviction of unauthorised occupants from Government land appurtenant to a highway may be classified under Group I of the writ rules. Group I encompasses land-law matters, including tenancy disputes, eviction proceedings and miscellaneous land issues. Unauthorised occupation remains a land-related issue even where the land forms part of, or is appurtenant to, a highway. Where more than one classification may apply, the writ petitioner may select an applicable group according to the case facts.

Article 226 jurisdiction may exceptionally prevent miscarriage of justice or abuse of process, but cannot routinely replace the statutory remedy of anticipatory bail. Where pre-arrest bail is available, an accused must seek relief before the competent Sessions Court. After declining to quash an FIR, a High Court cannot grant blanket protection from arrest until the police report is filed, because such protection is impermissible and prejudices a lawful investigation.

Central Government rescinds the 2007 designation of a 16-hectare Special Economic Zone for Information Technology and Information Technology Enabled Services at Talwade Software Park, Pune, following the developer's proposal to de-notify the entire area. Rescission follows a no-objection certificate, land-use conformity confirmation, and the Development Commissioner's recommendation, while preserving acts done or omissions made before rescission.

Form No. 173A requires claimants seeking exemption on interest income and capital gains from Government securities to provide identification, residence, tax-year and contact details, together with security-wise particulars. Required disclosures include the ISIN, security type and tenor, opening and closing values, purchases, sale consideration, interest received or accrued, and capital gains. Amounts are generally stated in rupees. A principal officer must certify that the information is true and conforms to the applicable exemption provisions.

Income-tax exemption claims under Schedule IV, Table entries 13D and 13E, require an assessee to furnish prescribed information in Form No. 173A. The filing requirement applies to each assessee relying on either specified exemption and makes that form mandatory for furnishing claimant information for the exemption claim. It took effect on 19 October 2026.

Section 14A(2) requires the Assessing Officer to record objective satisfaction, after examining the assessee's accounts, that the assessee's own disallowance of expenditure relating to exempt income is incorrect before applying Rule 8D. General observations about mixed funds, insufficient details, or the amount of exempt income do not establish the required account-based dissatisfaction. Without recorded satisfaction meeting this statutory standard, Rule 8D cannot support a further disallowance and the assessee's suo motu disallowance must be accepted.

Central Government de-notifies 141.8714 hectares from the sector-specific Special Economic Zone for Multi-product at Gopalpur, District Ganjam, Odisha, leaving a resultant SEZ area of 164.0449 hectares. The action follows State Government approval, Development Commissioner recommendation, and satisfaction of requirements under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 and Rules, 2006. The listed parcels are proposed for new industrial units in the DTA.

Jharkhand GST administration extends the time for specified registered persons to furnish outward-supply details in FORM GSTR-1. Monthly return filers for December 2024 may file until 13 January 2025, while persons filing for the October-December 2024 period under the applicable proviso may file until 15 January 2025. The amendment is deemed effective from 10 January 2025.