SHRI R.K. PANDA, VICE PRESIDENT AND SHRI LALIET KUMAR, JUDICIAL MEMBER For the Assessee : Shri Mohd. Afzal. For the Revenue : Shri Jeevan Lal Lavidiya ORDER PER LALIET KUMAR, J.M. This appeal is filed by the assessee, feeling aggrieved by the order of Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, Hyderabad -1 dt. 26.09.2022 invoking proceedings under section 143(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for the assessment year 2014-15. 2. The grounds raised by the assessee read as under : ... ... ...

Input tax credit is available only where supplier-furnished invoice or debit-note details are reflected in outward-supplies reporting and communicated to the recipient in FORM GSTR-2B. Goods or conveyances detained in transit may be sold through auction where the applicable penalty remains unpaid after the prescribed period, subject to inventory, valuation, notice, bidding, payment, and release procedures. Sale proceeds are applied to recovery costs, penalty or dues, and other GST liabilities before any balance is returned. Provisional attachment orders must be communicated to the affected person, who may file objections in FORM GST DRC-22A.

Sections 69A and 69C require proof of the assessee's ownership of money and actual unexplained expenditure; uncorroborated third-party statements, WhatsApp communications, and diary entries showing third-party cash movement do not alone satisfy those conditions. Where records establish only cash-transportation activity or an integrated receipt-and-payment flow, gross receipts and payments cannot be taxed separately; tax is confined to proven commission income or net receipt. Alleged interest and cash differentials require evidence of an independent unexplained accretion or income attributable to the assessee. By contrast, the stamp-duty differential on immovable property is taxable under Section 56(2)(x)(b) where the adopted value exceeds consideration beyond the prescribed limit and remains unrebutted.

Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 applies to a special statutory appeal through Section 29(2) unless the governing enactment excludes it expressly or by necessary implication. A special limitation period alone is insufficient to exclude condonation. Restrictive language, a defined maximum condonable period, or a complete statutory limitation code may create a non-extendable outer limit. Section 9 of the Chhattisgarh Rajya Suraksha Adhiniyam contains a 30-day appeal period and excludes certified-copy time, but lacks an express bar or outer condonation ceiling; delay may therefore be considered upon proof of sufficient cause.

Ex parte revisionary proceedings warrant reconsideration on merits where, despite the assessee's non-appearance on three scheduled dates, the issues involved and interests of justice justify a further hearing. The revisionary authority is to provide the assessee an opportunity of hearing before fresh adjudication on merits, rather than determining the matter solely through an ex parte process.

Eligible listed issuers regulated by SEBI, RBI, IRDAI or PFRDA may privately place debt securities without appointing a merchant banker if all prescribed conditions are met. The issuer must have been listed for at least one year, have no pending SEBI or stock-exchange fines or penalties for applicable listing-compliance breaches, and have no payment default during the preceding three financial years or current financial year, supported by a statutory auditor's certificate. The debt must generally be senior, secured by a first or pari passu charge, and rated at least AA-, based on the lowest rating where multiple ratings exist. Stock exchanges must prescribe operational disclosures and monitor compliance. The changes apply immediately.

Listed Central Excise and Service Tax appeals filed on or after 1 July 2017 are reassigned, in partial modification of the earlier allocation order, to the designated Commissioners of the Kolkata Appeal-II and Howrah Commissionerates. The reassignment covers the appeals identified in the annexure for disposal through Orders-in-Appeal under the Central Excise Act, 1944 or the Finance Act, 1994, as applicable. It governs pre-GST matters concerning acts or omissions before the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 came into force.

Exporters at Non-EDI Customs locations must furnish physical Export Declaration Forms (EDFs) specifying the full export value at the time of export. Customs Commissioners must ensure that EDFs are authenticated by the specified authority and forwarded to the Authorised Dealer named in the form. Wherever practicable, transmission must occur electronically from a single official Government email address to reduce misuse and forged-document risks, with internal records maintained for all authenticated and forwarded EDFs. EDI-port EDFs remain deemed submitted with the Shipping Bill. Non-EDI locations must implement this mechanism from 1 October 2026.

Chennai Container Terminal's O Yard CFS is declared a customs area under section 8(b) of the Customs Act, 1962, for imported FCL and LCL cargo, including unaccompanied baggage, arriving from Kamarajar Port, and for export cargo until export. Cargo handling must comply with the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009 and applicable customs procedures. The declaration takes effect on 30 September 2026.

Interest disallowance under Section 14A read with Rule 8D requires examination of financial-statement treatment where loans to distribution companies generate corresponding interest charges and receivables. The first appellate finding of no directly attributable expenditure rested on that material. Reversal without addressing the financial statements or identifying perversity, error, or inconsistency in the factual findings cannot sustain the disallowance, leaving the merits for fresh determination.

Chennai Container Terminal Pvt Ltd's O Yard CFS is appointed custodian under section 45(1) for imported goods landed at Kamarajar Port and received at the CFS until clearance for home consumption, warehousing, or transhipment. It is also custodian of export cargo brought into its premises until export from that port. The custodian must comply with section 45, the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009, and applicable rules, regulations, and instructions. The appointment takes effect on 30 September 2026.

Natural justice concerns arise where an appellate order records that written submissions and supporting documents were filed and considered on the hearing date, while the stated position is that only an adjournment request seeking additional time for a written submission and paper book was made. The issue concerns rectification of the appellate order in an income-tax appeal challenging a rectification order issued in response to a processing intimation.

Dabhol Port is specified for unloading machinery and equipment for the Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Limited Power Project, unloading liquefied natural gas and naphtha, and loading for export machinery and equipment imported for that project. It is also specified for Square Port Shipyard Private Limited to unload goods for vessel manufacture and repair, import ships, barges, similar vessels and rigs for repair, and export such vessels and rigs.

Business-loss deductibility for loss on assignment of an inter-corporate debt under Sections 28 and 37(1) depends on the bona fide commercial character of the lending and assignment. Further substantial advances despite the borrower's known financial deterioration and interest-payment default, together with the circumstances of the assignment and entities connected with the assignee, supported a finding that the transaction lacked bona fides. The resulting assignment loss was therefore not allowable as a business loss, with no perversity or legal error in the concurrent factual findings.

Competition Commission of India approval permits BCPE Wellbeing Holdco Two Limited and Integral Investments Asia IV Limited, funds managed or advised by Bain Capital, to acquire sole control over Omega-Meyer Limited and Meyer Organics Private Limited. The target businesses provide nutraceuticals globally and in India, while Meyer Organics Private Limited also produces and supplies certain over-the-counter and prescription finished-dose pharmaceuticals in India.

Competition Commission of India approval covers the acquisition by Concessoc 41 SAS of the entire shareholding in Vishavari Tollway Private Limited and nine special purpose vehicles. The target entities operate designated national-highway stretches in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Gujarat, while Vishavari Tollway Private Limited provides operation and maintenance and engineering, procurement and construction services for those highway assets.

Competition Commission of India approved the proposed combination involving CPP Investment Board Private Holdings (4) Inc.'s acquisition of certain shareholding in Prestige Hospitality Ventures Limited. The target is an Indian public limited company within the Prestige group and owns and develops hospitality assets, including hotels and serviced apartments. The acquirer is incorporated in Canada and is managed by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Merger-control approval covers the proposed internal JSW Group restructuring through amalgamation of BMM Ispat Limited into JSW Steel Limited. The amalgamation would convert the group's majority interest in BMM into full ownership and is intended to enhance operational, financial and organisational efficiencies through economies of scale, resource pooling and capital rationalisation. BMM is commercially integrated in the group's supply chain through intra-group sales and procurements.

Equality before law in public-service pay matters requires consideration of whether employees in the same cadre, governed by the same pay rules and affected by a common anomaly, are identically situated for revised pay-scale fixation. Similar relief should ordinarily follow, subject to verification of eligibility and exceptions such as delay, acquiescence, or party-specific judgments. Pay fixation and arrears require separate consideration, with continuing wrong principles and limitations remaining relevant. Authorities should assess entitlement and issue reasoned orders rather than compel repetitive litigation.

Differential income-tax-return due dates affect the period available to claim deductions for outstanding statutory sums under section 43B and to deposit TDS/TCS. Business taxpayers filing on a presumptive or non-audit basis face an earlier deadline than audit and transfer-pricing cases, creating a shorter payment window. A proposed corrective mechanism would permit an estimated deduction claim for qualifying payments expected by a later specified date, with a corresponding disallowance in the following year for amounts not paid.