Refund of accumulated input tax credit for supplier invoices is restricted to credit supported by details uploaded in FORM GSTR-1 and reflected in FORM GSTR-2A. This replaces the earlier treatment of invoices absent from FORM GSTR-2A where invoice copies could be uploaded with the refund application. The restriction does not apply to ITC relating to imports, Input Service Distributor invoices, or inward supplies subject to the reverse charge mechanism. Refund treatment for these categories continues on the pre-existing basis.

Pre-CIRP GST dues constitute operational debt, to be claimed before the NCLT, and coercive recovery cannot proceed during the IBC moratorium. Existing GST registration should not be cancelled, while a corporate debtor under CIRP must obtain fresh registration in each previously registered State or Union territory. The IRP/RP is responsible for post-insolvency GST compliance and the first return. Transitional input tax credit may be claimed on qualifying post-appointment supplies invoiced to the erstwhile GSTIN, subject to applicable conditions and specified exceptions.

Personal-search safeguards under Section 50 of the NDPS Act require that a person be informed of the right to be searched before a Gazetted Officer or Magistrate. Prima facie non-compliance arose because the search panchnama, complaint, and witness statements did not record this information, while the purported notice conflicted with contemporaneous records, lacked panch signatures, and appeared to be an afterthought. Together with the absence of antecedents, these circumstances supported bail subject to conditions.

Share-capital additions under Section 68 require evidence beyond a retracted search statement, which cannot independently justify an addition without a nexus to incriminating search material. Documentary proof of investors' identity, creditworthiness and genuineness supported deletion of specified additions, while the identified unexplained credit remained taxable. Investments examined in a settlement order were conclusively covered under Section 245I. Share-premium valuation under Section 56(2)(viib) must follow Rule 11UA(2): an undisputed NAV or discounted cash-flow valuation cannot be rejected merely for an alternative view of share value. Accordingly, the share-premium additions were deleted.

Goa GST return non-filer procedure requires a notice in FORM GSTR-3A, allowing fifteen days to furnish the return. Continued non-filing of returns under sections 39 or 45 permits best judgment assessment under section 62 without a separate assessment notice. The proper officer may use return data, auto-populated supply details, e-way bill information, inspection material, and other available information to issue FORM GST ASMT-13. A valid return filed within thirty days of service of the assessment order results in deemed withdrawal; continued default may trigger recovery and registration cancellation.

Statutory commencement of the Information Technology Act, 2000 was effected through the Central Government's exercise of power under section 1(3). Appointment of 17 October 2000 as the operative date brought the Act's provisions into force across the legislation through its prescribed commencement mechanism, fixing the legal point at which the statutory information-technology regime became enforceable.

Toffee falls within "mithai" or "sweetmeat" and is also a commodity of like nature to reori and gazak for the excluded-goods entry governing trade-tax exemptions. The common parlance test treats mithai and sweetmeat as synonymous generic terms encompassing sugar-based confectionery. The reference to reori, gazak and like commodities expands rather than narrows the exclusion, and ejusdem generis does not limit it to traditional Indian sweets. Strict construction of tax exemptions does not support an artificial distinction between indigenous sweets and toffee of foreign origin. Manufacturers of toffee are therefore excluded from exemption eligibility and cannot obtain an eligibility certificate.

Special Purpose Vehicles incorporated or administered by authorised Trust and Company Service Providers may undertake leasing or financing activities where permitted by the Authority. Such SPVs must maintain minimum owned funds or paid-up share capital equivalent to the amount prescribed under the Companies Act, 2013, or another amount specified by the Authority. Leasing or financing activity by an SPV is exempted from regulations 4 and 8 of the Finance Company framework.

NDPS Act bail assessment focused on compliance with Section 50 and the reliability of seizure documentation. A contemporaneous panchnama and Section 67 notice bearing a CR number before formal case registration raised doubt over the stated sequence of seizure and registration. The absence of panch signatures on the Section 50 notice and recovery described as green leafy material, rather than material meeting the statutory definition of ganja, were further evidentiary concerns reserved for trial. Prolonged pre-trial custody, absence of charge framing, unlikely timely trial completion, and absence of antecedents were material to the bail assessment.

Registration, regulation and supervision of Pension Funds in the IFSC require a certificate of registration from the Authority and are directed to long-term retirement savings, subscriber protection, transparency, and pension-system integrity. Applicants must be IFSC-incorporated companies or qualifying foreign-company branches, permitted only where the Pension Fund is already regulated for comparable activities in India or another jurisdiction. They must have a board of at least four directors with at least half independent, demonstrate at least ten years' relevant institutional experience, and maintain minimum net worth of USD 1 million. At least two qualified Key Managerial Personnel and a Board-reporting Compliance Officer are required.

Electronic-signature recognition replaces the digital-signature-only framework, permitting prescribed reliable authentication techniques and supporting Electronic Signature Certificates, secure signatures, electronic contracts, electronic audits, and authorised e-service delivery. The amendments impose compensation liability on body corporates negligent in safeguarding sensitive personal data, expand computer-related and online-content offences, regulate interception, blocking, traffic-data monitoring, and critical-infrastructure protection, and condition intermediary immunity on limited functions, due diligence, and expeditious action against unlawful material. Electronic evidence may be supported by notified expert opinion.

NCLT approval of a corporate insolvency resolution plan, coupled with the resulting moratorium, prevents pending Revenue appellate proceedings from continuing. Where financial creditors have initiated insolvency resolution proceedings and the resolution plan receives approval, further prosecution of Revenue appeals serves no purpose. The operative effect is that such tax appeals cannot continue after plan approval.

Classification of ductless split-system air conditioners with two-ton capacity remains disputed between the tariff item for ductless split systems and the specific entry for split air conditioners of two tonnes and above. Harmonized System Explanatory Notes describe split systems as ductless installations using a separate evaporator for each area. Conflicting coordinate-bench views classified such systems respectively under the ductless-system entry and the capacity-based entry. The classification issue was referred to a Larger Bench for resolution of the conflicting interpretations.

Appellate enhancement is confined to income sources examined in assessment and cannot introduce sale consideration as a new taxable source where only related expenditure was scrutinised. Advance rental receipts already offered in later years are not taxable again absent accrual in the relevant year, preventing double taxation. Recorded bank credits, loans and advances supported by ledgers, confirmations and banking evidence cannot be treated as unexplained without adverse material. Likewise, no unexplained-investment addition arises for shareholdings acquired in earlier years, while documentary proof of disclosed cash sources and individual-to-HUF transfers shifts the evidentiary burden to the Revenue.

Rental advances already offered to tax in subsequent years should not be taxed again in an earlier year where bank reconciliation establishes lower actual receipts, applying accrual, real-income and anti-double-taxation principles. Appellate enhancement may address an issue or source considered in assessment but cannot introduce a new source of income, such as sale consideration not examined during assessment. Money recorded in books and supported by confirmations, ledgers, PAN details and banking records cannot be treated as unexplained under Section 69A once identity, genuineness and creditworthiness are established. Carried-forward loans, advances, investments, cash deposits and bank transfers remain explained where financial records establish their source and no contrary material is produced.

Regulation 12 is omitted from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (Book-keeping, Accounting, Taxation and Financial Crime Compliance Services) Regulations, 2024. Item 5 of the Second Schedule is correspondingly revised by deleting its reference to regulation 12, leaving only the reference to regulation 11. The amendments take effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

The Commissioner of State Tax, Goa, withdraws ab initio the GST clarification concerning doubts relating to the supply of Information Technology enabled Services (ITeS). Representations had expressed apprehensions about its implications. The withdrawal is exercised under the power to issue directions for uniform implementation and seeks consistent application of GST provisions across field formations.

Service Companies of Lloyd's IFSC are redefined as service companies registered in India and promoted by Lloyd's Managing Agents, permitted group entities of Managing Agents or Members of Lloyd's, or Indian companies meeting applicable regulatory criteria. The revised definition applies to insurance-business registration in International Financial Services Centres and took effect upon Official Gazette publication on 8 January 2026.

Performance Review Committee composition is amended to require at least two independent experts from relevant fields, replacing the earlier provision permitting up to two such experts. The amendment modifies the International Financial Services Centres Authority (Performance Review Committee) Regulations, 2022 and takes effect upon Official Gazette publication.

Setting aside an assessment without an express remand or direction to make a fresh assessment wipes out the original assessment rather than merely reopening it. Appellate power to require fresh adjudication must be exercised through a clear direction authorising reassessment. Where an assessment was set aside on the basis of Form 26AS but no fresh-assessment direction accompanied the order, the assessment stood annulled, and the Assessing Officer had no jurisdiction to issue a fresh assessment order on that issue.