Interest paid on import duty due to ICEGATE technical glitches was refundable despite Bills of Entry being filed after the cut-off under the Customs (Waiver of Interest) 3rd Order. The Tribunal applied a High Court ruling that an advisory acknowledged glitches continuing beyond the stipulated cut-off. Because the refund denials relied solely on late filing, the rejection orders were set aside and consequential relief was granted according to law.

Provisional release of used digital multifunction print and copying machines was considered where a model-wise import cap was allegedly breached. Without an all-India centralised mechanism to monitor the cap, withholding any part of consignments lacked a valid basis where security for the full consignments had been furnished through a provisional duty bond and bank guarantee. The applicable precedent on identical imports supported release against the stipulated security, and the orders permitting provisional release were sustained.

The proviso to Section 223(1) of the BNSS requires an accused to be heard before cognizance is taken of an offence on a complaint. Enforcement Directorate complaints under the PMLA filed after the BNSS commenced are subject to the complaint procedure in Chapter XVI of the BNSS. Applying the repealed procedural code on authorities based on different facts was not appropriate. Cognizance taken without prior hearing was treated as illegal, so the cognizance and consequent rejection of discharge were set aside and the complaint restored for lawful proceedings.

Rule 26(2) personal penalty for invoices issued without delivery of goods requires proof that the individual issued, or abetted the issue of, such invoices. Penalty against a director was unsustainable where the company received no show-cause notice, the director was not an authorised signatory, and no finding established issuance, connivance, or abetment. Purchasers' reversal of credit did not independently establish liability. Truck-owner statements could not be relied upon without compliance with the mandatory procedure for admitting statements under section 9D. The penalty was set aside with consequential relief.

Pre-scheme voluntary tax payments attributable to undisclosed income declared under the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 may be credited against Scheme liability. Although section 187 requires full payment by the notified date, it does not prohibit adjustment of earlier self-assessment tax where the payment is linked to the declared income, recorded in the declaration, and supported by proof of payment. Relatable prepaid tax retains its character as tax and must be adjusted against tax, surcharge and penalty payable under the Scheme. Declarations were therefore to be treated as fully paid, with Form No. 4 to issue.

Section 250(6) requires an appellate authority to determine the points in appeal on merits and record reasons for its decision. Non-compliance with hearing notices does not permit a cryptic ex parte affirmation of reassessment additions without addressing the issues, undertaking necessary enquiries, or obtaining assessment records. Although the assessee must comply with notices, any ex parte disposal must remain a reasoned decision on merits. The non-speaking appellate order was set aside and remanded for fresh adjudication after opportunity to both parties; continued non-compliance permits ex parte adjudication on merits.

Public charitable trusts are irrevocable by operation of law unless the trust deed expressly reserves a power of revocation. Absence of an express irrevocability clause or a dissolution clause governing application of net assets therefore does not alone justify refusing renewal registration under section 12AB where voluntary charitable activities are undertaken. Denial of approval under section 80G solely because registration was refused cannot survive when the registration refusal is set aside. The registration and approval refusals were quashed, and registration was directed in accordance with law.

Unutilised capital gains claiming section 54 exemption must be deposited in the Capital Gains Account Scheme by the section 139(1) return-filing date where they have not been used for eligible residential investment. Exemption remains available only for gains utilised by that date; later payments do not qualify. This limitation applies even where two adjacent residential units are treated as one residential unit. The exemption was restricted to timely utilised gains, and interest under sections 234B and 234D was sustained as consequential and mandatory.

Section 263 revision of a limited-scrutiny assessment requires conversion to complete scrutiny under applicable instructions before wider issues may be revised. Revision also requires the Principal Commissioner independently to call for and examine the assessment record and form the statutory opinion; an Assessing Officer's proposal responding to an audit objection does not itself meet that jurisdictional condition. Interest awarded on enhanced compensation under section 28 of the Land Acquisition Act is an accretion to land value and forms part of enhanced compensation, unlike interest for delayed payment under section 34. Later provisions taxing interest on receipt do not alter that character, and a debatable issue cannot render an assessment erroneous and prejudicial.

For non-notified betel nuts, the burden under Section 123 remains on Revenue to prove their smuggled character and cannot be discharged by assumptions, presumptions or uncorroborated statements. Transport documents identifying consignors in Mizoram and consignees in West Bengal do not establish cross-border movement. An expert opinion that samples merely appear to originate from the North-East, including the Myanmar region, is inconclusive of Myanmar origin. Without reliable proof of foreign origin and illicit importation, absolute confiscation of the goods and consequential penalties cannot be sustained.

Proceedings against a Customs Broker under the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations were invalid because the mandatory ninety-day period for issuing notice was breached. Where no date of receipt of the offence report was disclosed, the Department's knowledge of the alleged contraventions through its own customs notice, and at the latest their adjudication, constituted the relevant starting point. The regulatory notice was issued beyond the prescribed period even from the later event. The breach vitiated the proceedings, requiring the penalty order to be set aside; the merits of the alleged contraventions remained unexamined.

Composite car radio-DVD receivers combining radio reception and video reproduction are composite machines governed by the principal-function test under Note 3 to Section XVI. Revenue must establish a proposed tariff reclassification through cogent technical or trade evidence; promotional descriptions alone cannot prove that video reproduction is the principal function. Where no principal function can be determined, General Interpretative Rule 3(c) places the goods under the heading occurring last in numerical order among those equally meriting consideration. As video reproduction was not established as the principal function, classification under CTI 8527 29 00 prevailed and the linked customs-notification benefit followed.

Stamp duty on a sale certificate issued following an insolvency liquidation e-auction is determined by the auction value where the process establishes the assets' true market value. The expression "Civil Court" in Article 16 extends to an auction conducted by a liquidator appointed under the insolvency framework, following independent valuation, reserve-price fixation, public e-auction and reporting to the Tribunal. An ASR-based valuation cannot displace the realised auction value without a valid basis to find intentional suppression or reduction of value to evade stamp duty. Registration is consequently to proceed on the auction value recorded in the liquidator's sale certificate.

Judicial review of the administrative write-down must assess legality against the facts and law existing when it occurred; subsequent financial developments cannot alter that inquiry. Omission from the final Reconstruction Scheme of an express AT-1 bond write-down provision meant that a general savings clause could not imply authority for the Administrator to alter the bonds. The Master Circular required conversion or write-down before the Scheme took effect, and the power at the point of non-viability lay with RBI rather than an Administrator exercising board powers. The post-scheme write-down was therefore ultra vires, was set aside, and coupon payments remained governed by the Information Memoranda.

A domestic company may claim an inter-corporate dividend deduction for qualifying dividends received from domestic or foreign companies or business trusts, limited to dividends distributed within the prescribed period. Under the 2025 Act, distribution must be made at least one month before the return-filing due date. The corrected safe distribution date identified for an audit-case return due on 21 November 2026 is 20 October 2026. The same distributed dividend cannot generate a deduction in another tax or previous year.

Retrospective cancellation of a supplier's GST registration warrants inquiry but does not alone prove invalid invoices, non-receipt of goods, non-payment of tax, or ITC ineligibility. Invoice-related eligibility must be assessed on the date of issuance and under the statutory conditions applicable to the relevant tax period. A show-cause notice must identify the actual ground for denying credit; cancellation alone cannot later be supplemented by unalleged claims of fictitious supply, non-receipt, or supplier tax default. Administrative scrutiny flags may prompt verification but cannot create a disqualification beyond statutory ITC conditions.

Rectification under section 154 requires an Assessing Officer to identify a self-evident mistake from the record through independent application of mind. The record includes materials and documents available when the order proposed for rectification was passed. Errors requiring prolonged reasoning, complicated arguments, or resolution of two reasonably possible views do not qualify. Accepted revenue audit objections must be addressed through the appropriate statutory mechanism, including revision or reassessment where applicable, with sufficient reasons for invoking section 154.

Service of a Section 8 demand notice upon the Key Managerial Personnel of a corporate debtor at its registered office, in their official capacity, may constitute deemed service on the corporate debtor. The statutory purpose is satisfied where the corporate debtor receives an effective opportunity to pay the operational debt or raise a dispute. A procedural irregularity in addressing the notice should not defeat substantive rights where the corporate debtor suffers no substantial prejudice.

GST treatment of road-restoration charges turns on the payment's legal character rather than its label. Charges paid under a prior arrangement granting excavation permission and requiring identified restoration may be consideration for a taxable service, unlike genuine compensation for damage or breach without reciprocal obligations. Government involvement and a connection with public roads do not alone establish non-supply or exemption. Reverse charge applies only after taxable supply and notification coverage are established, and any refund claim must show that tax was not legally payable.

GST appellate pre-deposit is calculated on the tax actually disputed before the Tribunal. An eligible earlier payment, verified, linked to the relevant demand and available for adjustment, may satisfy the aggregate first-appeal and Tribunal components without a fresh challan when it covers the recalculated requirement. A remanded component remains separate rather than being treated as deleted; deposits must be specifically allocated and cannot be reused. Recognition of an existing deposit remains subject to admitted-tax payment, applicable limits, demand mapping, filing fees and other appeal conditions.