Virtual personal hearings are mandatory for appellate, original adjudication and compounding proceedings under indirect tax laws, with hearing details and secure video-conference links communicated through official email. Parties must submit authorisation and identification documents electronically. Hearing submissions are recorded and emailed as a record of personal hearing, which may be corrected and returned within three days and is treated as an electronic document. Additional self-attested submissions may be emailed within three days. Exceptions to virtual hearing require written approval and recorded reasons.

Federal Bank's Core Banking Solution, payment-system switches and associated computer-resource dependencies are declared protected systems as Critical Information Infrastructure under section 70 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Access is limited to persons authorised in writing by the bank, including designated employees, need-based managed-service-provider and vendor personnel, and case-specific consultants, regulators, Government officials, auditors and stakeholders. The designation takes effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

Central Government designates the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Kolkata, as an Examiner of Electronic Evidence within India under section 79A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Its examination authority is confined to computer-media forensics and mobile-device forensics, establishing its electronic-evidence examination remit within those specified technical areas.

eOffice is launched to conduct office work electronically and promote paperless administration, with the objective of improving efficiency, transparency, accountability, taxpayer services, data security and integrity. Taxpayers are encouraged to use electronic communications, provide mobile numbers and email addresses for acknowledgements, and use diary numbers for future reference. Electronic letters should preferably be submitted in searchable PDF format to facilitate faster processing.

Validity of the assessment framed under sections 153A and 143(3) was determinative. A related appeal had already quashed that assessment because of foundational legal infirmities concerning the statutory approval required under section 153D. Since the underlying assessment no longer survived, the Revenue's challenge to the reduction of an addition for cash deposits made during demonetisation was dismissed in limine, without examining the merits of the disputed addition.

eOffice is introduced in the NS-I Commissionerate at Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House to conduct office work electronically and create a paperless administrative environment. Taxpayers are encouraged to include mobile numbers and email addresses for email and SMS acknowledgements and Diary Number allocation. Electronic communications should preferably be sent in searchable PDF format to facilitate faster processing.

Under the CGST Act, a Commissioner-authorised appeal against a refund-sanction order must be filed within six months of communication, with condonation limited to one additional month. For internal departmental purposes, communication occurs when the refund order is issued; delay in transmitting it to the reviewing authority does not defer limitation. Portal-based service, online review procedures and post-audit timelines support a definite filing period. Separate recovery proceedings for an erroneous refund do not extend the appeal limitation, so delay beyond the condonable period precludes appellate reversal of the refund.

Limitation for Revenue appeals against refund sanction orders under Section 107(2) of the CGST Act runs from communication of the adjudicating order, construed for intra-departmental purposes as the date of its issuance. Online transmission of refund orders to the review module and their availability on the common portal constitutes service; internal administrative transmission cannot create an indefinite extension. The six-month appeal period may be extended by only one further month under Section 107(4). Post-audit dates and the separate recovery mechanism for erroneous refunds do not enlarge appellate limitation. Appeals filed beyond this period are time-barred and cannot be condoned.

Section 115BBE applies only after income is validly classified under the specified deeming provisions; a survey surrender alone is insufficient. Excess stock inseparable from regular inventory and credibly linked to unrecorded business receipts may be assessed as business income under Section 28 at normal rates. Excess cash may receive the same treatment where its business source is satisfactorily explained; otherwise, the statutory conditions for deemed income must be met. Classification requires a holistic assessment of statements and contemporaneous evidence. The substituted enhanced rate applies prospectively from financial year 2017-18, while financial year 2016-17 is governed by the earlier rate.

Section 67 of the CGST Act limits retention of seized articles through necessity-based and time-bound safeguards. Documents, books and things may be retained only while necessary for examination, inquiry or proceedings, and material not relied upon for a notice must be returned within the statutory period. The High Court applied the six-month return rule to seized mobile phones and bank debit cards and required their return because no extension order existed. Continued investigation alone cannot replace an extension based on sufficient cause by the proper officer, for no more than a further six months. Written authorisation, seizure orders and inventories remain central to assessing whether retention is lawful.

RFSL, Surat, Gujarat, is designated as an Examiner of Electronic Evidence under section 79A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Its authorised scope within India is limited to computer media forensics, excluding floppy disk drives, and mobile devices forensics. Authority to examine electronic evidence is confined to these specified technical domains.

Cross-segment price manipulation may arise where aggressive futures orders alter the last traded price or visible order-book conditions so that larger, sentimentally opposite options orders obtain favourable execution. The relevant inquiry considers the integrated sequence of resting orders, aggressive executions, cancellations, timing, concentration, price impact and delta-adjusted exposure. Anti-fraud prohibitions cover manipulative devices, false appearances of trading and price manipulation, while opposite futures and options positions alone do not establish misconduct. Director liability requires responsibility for business conduct, or consent, connivance or neglect.

Classification of disposable analytical cartridges depends on objective characteristics, functional integration and sole or principal suitability, rather than plastic content or single-use status. The Tribunal classified micro-cuvettes containing magnetically controlled steel balls, designed exclusively for a coagulation analyser, under CTI 9027 9090 as parts or accessories of analytical apparatus, not under residual CTI 3926 9099 for plastic articles. Chapter 90 Note 2 requires first testing whether the item has an independent specified heading under Note 2(a); otherwise, Note 2(b) classifies a dedicated component with the relevant instrument. Residual plastics treatment cannot displace that result.

Section 107(12) requires a GST appellate order to identify points for determination, decide each material ground, and give reasons showing independent application of mind. Formulaic confirmation of an original order does not satisfy this duty where jurisdiction, notice, evidence, quantification, taxability, suppression, interest, or penalty objections remain unresolved. Procedural fairness also requires a clear show-cause notice, access to relied-upon material, an effective hearing, and reasons confined to the notice's grounds. Where defects affect original adjudication as well as appeal, fresh original adjudication may be required; remand cannot expand the case beyond the notice.

Rule 138 requires an e-way bill, including necessary transport particulars, before road movement of goods above the prescribed threshold, while Section 31 requires the invoice at or before removal. Rule 138A cumulatively requires the person in charge to carry the invoice, bill of supply or delivery challan and the e-way bill or permitted electronic equivalent. Goods moved without both records may be detained under Section 129, and later-created documents do not establish pre-movement compliance. Later documents may support an explanation on genuineness, proportionality or intent, but a credible contemporaneous evidentiary trail is required. Technical defects, short expiry or incomplete records with existing documentation require fact-specific assessment and should not be equated with wholly undocumented movement.

Temporary injunction pending specific performance of a proposed fresh lease requires a prima facie enforceable right under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Expiry of the earlier lease and unresolved negotiations on rent, premium, security deposit and escalation do not create a concluded contract; courts cannot formulate and impose lease terms. The statutory authority may prima facie charge rent above the scheduled rate, and the blue pencil rule cannot sever an allegedly invalid term where no concluded agreement exists. Continued possession after lease expiry constitutes unauthorised occupation, and part performance is unavailable where possession was not obtained under the alleged lease agreement. Consequently, no prima facie basis exists for protective injunctive relief.

Regulation 28B authorises the Board, either suo motu or on a Vault Manager's application, to relax strict compliance where the matter is procedural or technical, or non-compliance resulted from factors beyond the entity's control. The Board must record its reasons in writing and may impose conditions in the interests of investors and the securities market. An application must set out the relevant details and grounds and be accompanied by a non-refundable fee through prescribed payment modes.

Regulation 28A empowers the Board to prescribe, through circulars, norms, procedures, processes, methods and guidelines required for implementation of the regulatory framework and matters incidental to it. The provision takes effect on the ninetieth day following its publication.

Paragraph 4.49 of FTP 2023 now permits eligible foreign entities to import rough diamonds into a Special Notified Zone and auction, sell or re-export them on a consignment or outright basis. Eligible entities include foreign diamond-mining companies, their sightholders, and brokers, aggregators, tender entities or auction entities connected with rough-diamond sales, where covered by and subject to conditions applicable under Entry 13F of Schedule IV to the Income-tax Act, 2025. SNZ operations remain administered by the SNZ operator under Customs supervision, and CBIC procedures govern import, auction, sale and re-export of unsold rough diamonds. The amendment takes immediate effect.

The Income-tax (Sixth Amendment) Rules, 2026 amend rule 231 to cover applications seeking waiver, as well as imposition, of penalty and substitute Form No. 161 for waiver applications. The prescribed form requires taxpayer and assessment or reassessment details, assessed and under-reported income, tax and interest payable, additional income-tax payable in lieu of penalty, and payment particulars. Additional income-tax is computed at 100% or 120% of tax on specified under-reported income categories. Applicants must verify that no appeal has been filed against the relevant order and undertake not to file one within the statutory period. The rules take effect upon Official Gazette publication.