Jurisdiction over appeals concerning an appellant's alleged role in smuggling gold imported as baggage is governed by the proviso to Section 129A(1). That proviso routes the appeal to the Revisionary Authority rather than the Tribunal. The Tribunal therefore did not examine the allegations or undertake any merits adjudication; the appeal's proper forum was the Revisionary Authority.

Odisha GST exemption treatment excludes agricultural farm produce supplied in packages containing quantities exceeding 25 kilograms or 25 litres from the expression "pre-packaged and labelled", notwithstanding the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and rules made under it. The exclusion modifies the interpretive scope of that expression for the exemption notification and is deemed effective from 15 July 2024.

Clause (a) of the first proviso to Section 129A of the Customs Act excludes Tribunal appellate jurisdiction over matters relating to baggage. Gold brought into India as baggage and seized at an airport falls within that exclusion, including where confiscation is disputed. The appellate order is therefore challengeable by a revision application before the Government of India rather than by an appeal to the Tribunal.

Natural justice requires notice before delay is condoned where expiry of limitation has created an accrued right; after substituted service, delay may be reconsidered and condoned where sufficient cause exists and no objection is raised. Seizure of goods under taxing law requires objective, contemporaneous material indicating an irregularity. Alleged use of a non-prevalent route, immaterial weight variation, and a bill-size difference discovered only after seizure do not independently establish a valid basis, particularly where recorded transactions remain reflected in both parties' account books. Unjustified enforcement action may warrant an impartial investigation and action against responsible officers.

Registered persons whose aggregate turnover for financial year 2023-24 does not exceed two crore rupees are exempted from filing the annual return in Form GSTR-9 for that financial year. The exemption operates under the first proviso to section 44 of the Odisha Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, upon the Council's recommendation.

Eligibility for Technical Member (State) appointment in GST Appellate Tribunal State Benches is relaxed for Odisha Finance Service officers. Completion of fifteen years of Group A or equivalent service now suffices, provided the officer has completed an overall twenty-five years of Government service as a Gazetted Officer. The relaxation applies for ten years from publication in the Odisha Gazette, while all other appointment conditions remain applicable.

Biometric Authentication Officers at mapped GST registration facilitation centres conduct biometric-based Aadhaar authentication, take photographs of registration applicants, and verify original copies of uploaded documents. Head Biometric Authentication Officers supervise these functions for applicants within specified territorial jurisdictions. Territorial Range Heads of CT & GST map future deployment of the specified officers to respective facilitation centres or GSKs whenever required.

Full-rate depreciation on windmill machinery requires reliable proof that the asset reached the project site and was installed and commissioned by the relevant date. A commissioning certificate and electricity-generation material were insufficient where invoices reflected ex-works supply and no transport records, delivery proof, octroi receipts, insurance evidence, or other installation evidence established movement from the supplier's factory to the site. In the absence of proof of timely installation and commissioning, depreciation was restricted to 50% of the prescribed rate.

Facilitation Centres are designated under the proviso to sub-rule (4A) of rule 8 of the Odisha Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, for biometric-based Aadhaar authentication, photographing applicants, and verification of original copies of documents uploaded with GST registration applications. Applicants falling under the listed jurisdictional offices are mapped to a centre by district or area and jurisdiction code.

Biometric-based Aadhaar authentication for GST registration applicants is facilitated through designated centres for authentication, applicant photographs, and verification of original documents uploaded with registration applications. The Rourkela centre serves jurisdiction codes OD040 and OD041 for Rourkela-I and II Divisions, while the Sambalpur centre serves jurisdiction codes OD042 and OD043 for Sambalpur Division. The arrangement takes effect on 27 September 2024.

Biometric-based Aadhaar authentication for GST registration requires attendance at designated Facilitation Centres for applicants within specified Odisha SGST jurisdiction codes. The process includes capturing the applicant's photograph and verifying original documents corresponding to uploaded registration documents. The Bhubaneswar centre serves codes OD007 to OD010, while the Cuttack centre serves codes OD014 to OD016. The designated centres take effect on 27 September 2024.

Taxability of interest on excess levy price retained in fixed deposits requires fresh determination from the settlement terms and their final effect, since receipt occurred after the relevant year and earlier-year facts differed. Deletion of the molasses storage fund addition remains sustainable where materially similar facts follow the earlier favourable position. Excise duty relating to closing stock is not disallowable where no corresponding expenditure was claimed: applying the same duty-inclusive basis to opening and closing stock produces no profit effect, and the duty liability may arise only when goods leave the factory or bonded warehouse.

Biometric-based Aadhaar authentication for GST registration is implemented through revised facilitation-centre mapping under sub-rule (4A) of rule 8 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017. Jurisdiction-name and jurisdiction-code columns are interchanged, and an additional column identifies the relevant SGST circle. Specified Khordha and Cuttack applicants are mapped to the respective biometric centres, CGST jurisdictions, SGST jurisdiction codes, and SGST circles. All remaining conditions continue unchanged.

Accepted Revenue Audit objection falls within the exception to the monetary-limit instruction in CBDT Circular No. 3/2018. Accordingly, a departmental appeal previously dismissed for low tax effect may be recalled and restored for hearing on merits where that exception applies. The earlier dismissal was recalled and the departmental appeal was restored for merits hearing, with no opposition to recall from the assessee.

Odisha applies four central GST clarifications mutatis mutandis under the OGST Act, 2017. They address input tax credit for electronic commerce operators where specified services are supplied through their platforms, input tax credit on Ex-Works goods delivered at the supplier's premises, place of supply of online services to unregistered recipients, and GST treatment of vouchers. The guidance is clarificatory and intended for uniform administration.

Section 2(f) of the Right to Information Act confines disclosure obligations to recorded material held by or accessible to a public authority. A Public Information Officer cannot be penalised for stating that a seniority list is unavailable unless material shows the record was accessible when the response was given. Requests for reasons why a post was unfilled or a person was not considered for promotion seek administrative justification, not existing information. A PIO need not create information or supply explanations; findings of false, incomplete, or misleading disclosure and consequential penalty are unsustainable in these circumstances.

GST adjudication and appellate proceedings require personal hearings in scrutiny and demand proceedings, reasoned show-cause notices, and speaking adjudication orders addressing taxpayers' issues. Return scrutiny for each financial year must be comprehensive and should avoid multiple orders unless tax evasion is involved. Input tax credit blocking requires timely enquiry and adjudication. Penalties following goods interception require speaking orders in FORM GST MOV-09, while appellate orders must address every ground raised in appeal.

Post-registration physical verification of GST registrants' places of business need not be conducted in every case following biometric-based Aadhaar authentication, applicant photographs, and verification of original registration documents. Verification should be undertaken where credible information or leads indicate revenue risk. Staff may be deployed for assessment, collection, non-filer management, return scrutiny, audit, adjudication, TDS monitoring, and arrear recovery, while surveys of unregistered persons may be kept in abeyance.

Cancellation of charitable registration requires proof that a trust's activities are not genuine or depart from its stated objects. Alleged collection of capitation fees, though potentially contrary to separate regulatory requirements, is insufficient where receipts are applied to infrastructure and educational institutions advancing charitable objects and there is no finding of non-charitable application. Alleged diversion also requires evidence of personal appropriation or benefit. Cash held at a registered office, personal admission payments, and refundable lease advances recorded for educational premises do not establish diversion without such proof.

Range and Circle Heads must assess the workload for registration, cancellation, including suo motu cancellation, and revocation functions in each Circle or Unit office. Depending on that workload, they must exclusively assign one or two proper officers in Circle offices to registration-related functions. Those officers must not receive return-scrutiny, audit, adjudication, or recovery work until they are divested of their exclusive registration assignment, and their registration-function assignment must rotate every six months.