HON'BLE MEMBER (JUDICIAL), MR. RAMESH NAIR AND HON'BLE MEMBER (TECHNICAL), MR. RAJU For the Appellant : Shri Devan Parikh Sr. Advocate with Shri Dhaval K Shah & Shri Nisarg Desai, Advocates For the Respondent : Shri Rajesh Nathan, Assistant Commissioner (AR) ORDER RAMESH NAIR The appellant are engaged in the manufacture of Drug Intermediate falling under Chapter 28 and 29 of the first schedule to Central Excise Tariff Act 1985 and they were also granted permission to funct... ... ...

DR. S. SEETHALAKSHMI, JUDICIAL MEMBER AND SHRI RATHOD KAMLESH JAYANTBHAI, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER For the Appellant : Sh. Yogesh Pokharna, CA For the Respondent : Ms. Nidhi Nair, Sr. DR ORDER PER: RATHOD KAMLESH JAYANTBHAI, AM: This appeal is preferred by the revenue, which is arising out of the order of the National Faceless Appeal Centre, Delhi dated 21.08.2023 [here in after 'NFAC'] for assessment year 2017-18 which in turn arise from the order dated 20.12.2019 passed under section 1... ... ...

Hon'ble Judges P. Sathasivam and B.S. Chauhan, JJ. For Appellant : Basava Prabhu S. Patil, Sr. Adv., B. Subrahmanya Prasad, Ajay Kumar Mishra, Rajendra Prasad B. and V.N. Raghupathy, Advs. For Respondents : Party-in-person ORDER 1. Leave granted. 2. Heard learned senior counsel for the appellants and respondent appearing in person. 3. The impugned judgment passed by the High Court arose out of regular first appeal filed under Section 96 CPC. It is the grievance of the appel... ... ...

Upfront lease premiums for land may be exempt from GST under Entry 41 where a lease runs for at least thirty years, the lessor has the prescribed government ownership status, and the plot is used for industrial operations or recognised financial-services infrastructure. Industrial use requires actual manufacturing or comparable physical operations, while financial-business infrastructure requires market-facing financial services rather than internal corporate accounting. Exclusive allotted use is mandatory, and a change of land use may result in tax, interest, and penalty liability. Procedural omissions may be excused, but substantive eligibility conditions require strict compliance.

Rectification provisions are treated as requiring the competent income-tax authority to issue a written order making an amendment or refusing an application by an assessee, deductor, collector, or specified appellate applicant. The order must be passed within six months from the end of the month of receipt, subject to the four-year amendment limitation and statutory exceptions. Adverse amendment requires notice and a reasonable hearing. By analogy with deemed registration following non-disposal of a statutory application, non-disposal of a rectification application without objection or rejection is argued to permit deemed allowance.

Validity of GST portal-based service is under examination where a show-cause notice and adjudication order were uploaded under less visible portal tabs. Section 169 of the CGST Act includes making communications available on the Common Portal among permitted service modes. Competing interpretations treat portal availability either as insufficient without effective communication or as an independent, complete mode of service. The issue bears on ex parte adjudication, recovery action, appeal limitation, and principles of natural justice.

Section 5 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 substantially retains the scope-of-total-income framework under the Income-tax Act, 1961. Residents are taxable on Indian receipts, Indian accruals, and foreign accruals, subject to the restricted inclusion of foreign income for persons who are not ordinarily resident. Non-residents are taxable on Indian receipts and Indian accruals. Foreign income is not deemed received merely because it appears in an Indian balance sheet, and income included on accrual cannot be included again on receipt.

Seriousness of purpose need not become heaviness of personality. Constructive humour allows professionals to view mistakes, pressure and disagreement in proportion, respond with judgment rather than impulse, and prevent confidence from becoming ego or responsibility from becoming emotional strain. In leadership, respectful humour can encourage early disclosure of problems, candid feedback, trust and morale without weakening standards. Humour must remain context-sensitive, inclusive and non-humiliating; sarcasm, personal ridicule and jokes based on personal traits or mistakes undermine dignity, particularly where power is unequal. Achievement is best accompanied by humility, gratitude and sustained human connection.

The PCT provides a unified international patent-filing route that preserves foreign filing options while deferring many country-specific decisions and expenses. It does not grant an international patent; enforceable rights arise only after national or regional examination and grant. Indian corporates should file within the priority period, ensure ownership, confidentiality and inventor details, and comply with Section 39 requirements before foreign filing where applicable. International search results and written opinions provide non-binding patentability information, while national-phase entry, freedom-to-operate analysis and portfolio management remain necessary.

Inverted-duty GST refund eligibility under Section 54(3)(ii) depends on whether unutilised input tax credit arises because eligible inputs bear higher tax rates than outward supplies. Higher-taxed chemicals, dyes, reagents and consumables used in processing lower-taxed fabric must be considered; a common HSN classification or the status of an input as non-principal does not negate rate inversion. Circular No. 135/05/2020-GST concerns identical goods sold at lower rates after a rate reduction, not multi-input processing. Once appellate eligibility is finally decided, verification and calculation under Rule 89(5) are consequential, not a remand.

Registrability depends substantially on novelty or originality, visual character, application to a relevant article, and absence of excluded subject matter. Prior publication or disclosure can affect registration, including disclosure through existing products, catalogues, websites, e-commerce platforms, trade fairs, advertisements, social-media posts, databases, and earlier commercial activity. Businesses should conduct prior-design searches, maintain confidentiality, restrict prototype access, use appropriate confidentiality arrangements, and file before public disclosure. Companies using employee, consultant, or external designer contributions should secure ownership, assignment, confidentiality, registration, and prototype-use rights through clear written arrangements.

Trademark registration requires selection of a distinctive and adequately represented mark, a search for identical or deceptively similar earlier marks, and precise identification of goods or services under the appropriate Nice class or classes. The proprietor files Form TM-A with applicant, mark, specification, use and supporting details as applicable. Registry examination may lead to objections, replies and a hearing. Accepted applications are published for a four-month opposition period; registration then remains subject to statutory conditions, renewal every 10 years and restrictions on using the (r) symbol before registration.

A subsequent departmental circular concerning imports by export-oriented units may resolve the controversy underlying an impugned show-cause notice. A prima facie view indicated that the notice's continued validity depends on the circular's applicability. The respondents were directed to file an affidavit explaining how the notice could survive despite the circular, and the matter was listed for further hearing.

Standard operating procedure for cargo movement between JNPT port terminals and GDL's designated ICD/CFS facilities permits movement of domestic containers/customs-cleared cargo with EXIM cargo, subject to the Customs Act, 1962, HCCAR, 2009 and applicable instructions. Domestic and EXIM cargo require segregation, prior intimation, container and seal verification, restricted processing after discrepancies, and weekly reconciliation. At least 50% of outbound cargo must be EXIM cargo, with Customs retaining powers of random verification and examination.

Approval under section 45(4)(b) is granted to Jai Research Foundation for scientific research as a Research Association for tax years 2026-2027 through 2030-2031. The approval is subject to compliance with rule 33. For each tax year in which donations are received, the Foundation must submit a Form No. 15 statement by 31 May immediately following that tax year and furnish donors Form No. 16 certificates specifying donation amounts.

Eligibility for an inverted duty structure refund on cotton yarn depends on factual verification of whether the claimant manufactured yarn using cotton fibre, packing materials and consumables, or merely traded in yarn. Documentary examination must establish the nature of the activity before refund eligibility is determined. Refund-rejection and appellate orders were quashed, with the claims remitted for factual verification and fresh final orders.

Reliance on a previously quashed departmental circular could not sustain rejection of an inverted-duty refund claim for cotton-yarn clearances. High Court quashed the appellate order because it rested on that circular and required fresh examination of the inputs procured and their use in manufacturing and clearing cotton yarn before refund eligibility could be determined. The refund claims were remitted for fresh examination, with refund to be granted if eligibility is established.

Transitional input tax credit claimants could file or revise Form GST TRAN-1 and TRAN-2 within the extended window available to aggrieved registered assessees. Claims filed or revised through that facility remain subject to verification on merits after a reasonable opportunity is provided. The extended mechanism therefore preserves access to transitional credit claims while requiring substantive verification before credit is granted.

Statutory personal hearing under GST requires a real and effective opportunity where a taxable person requests a hearing before an adverse adjudication. Failure to provide a post-reply hearing vitiates the original adjudication and requires fresh consideration. A reasoned order must address the taxpayer's explanation, relevant facts, evidentiary basis, and grounds for inferring an additional taxable supply; a bare rejection of the reply is insufficient. Non-cancellation of a duplicate e-way bill is a material but non-conclusive circumstance, requiring cumulative assessment with primary evidence and surrounding facts. Following amendment, pre-show-cause intimation is enabling, so its non-issuance does not independently require remand.

Reasoned and speaking appellate orders require consideration of the appellants' material grounds and cited authorities; a bare affirmation of original orders in identical terms fails to exercise appellate jurisdiction. Where original adjudication proceeded ex parte and objections concerning notice, relied-upon documents, and personal hearing remain unexamined, remand preserves the effective appellate remedy rather than a merits decision at the appellate stage. The appellate and original orders were set aside, with fresh adjudication requiring identification and availability of relied-upon documents, reasonable time to reply, an effective personal hearing, and reasoned orders.