Interest on delayed IGST payment under the Advance Authorisation Scheme for the period preceding legislative amendment lacked a specific statutory basis. The applicable High Court view is to be followed under judicial discipline despite contrary Tribunal views and a pending Larger Bench reference. Interest paid without statutory authority is characterised as a deposit rather than duty. Accordingly, the two-year limitation applicable to duty-refund claims does not govern recovery of that deposit.

Regulation 7 requires project-import finalisation documents to be filed within three months from clearance of the last consignment, unless the proper officer allows additional time. An undisposed extension application may, in appropriate circumstances, permit the importer to proceed on the basis that the requested extension was granted, particularly where the required documents were filed before show-cause notices. Entitlement to nil-duty project-import treatment also requires proper consideration of the clearance date, the extension request, reconciliation documents, and any applicable Board circular relaxing plant-related requirements for public sector undertakings.

Disputed valuation-based shareholder buy-out directions were stayed on an interim basis after the Appellate Tribunal found prima facie concerns that the valuation report relied on earlier reports already challenged. It also regarded a direction permitting share transfer either at the valuer-determined price or a mutually agreed price as controversial because both alternatives could not operate together. Directions to remove a director and appoint the minority shareholder's nominee director were retained, reflecting the shareholder's exclusion from meaningful participation in management; however, their implementation was deferred until the next listing. The impugned order therefore remains stayed except for those limited board-representation directions.

Individual shop owners intervening in representative oppression and mismanagement proceedings cannot independently challenge a final order where their grievances must be pursued in a representative capacity and the order establishes a class-wide mechanism. An intervenor who does not use the permitted representative route, while failing to disclose the order disposing of the intervention request, lacks a continuing individual right to appeal. After hearings conclude and written submissions are filed, additional material is not receivable as of right because other parties must have an opportunity to respond. Substantial relief also cannot be sought through a later individual intervention in proceedings instituted by others. The individual appeal was dismissed as non-maintainable, with exemplary costs.

Former director liability for refunding funds raised through Redeemable Preference Shares continued despite resignation because the director served throughout the financial years in which the company issued the shares and collected investor funds. Final directions required the company and named directors to refund investors, permitted recovery upon non-compliance, and had been affirmed on appeal. Recovery proceedings and remittance of funds from the former director's attached bank accounts were therefore valid, and the writ petition was dismissed.

Inspection rights in regulatory adjudication extend to documents relied upon and forming part of the regulator's record, not blanket access to a bank's internal portal or electronic data outside that record. The prior rejection of inspection of non-record material had attained finality. Where the regulator confirmed it neither possessed nor would rely upon the requested data, and no specific documents were identified, unrestricted access risked disclosing confidential third-party information. The access direction was set aside, while the remaining directions continued.

Under the IBC clean slate principle, approval of a resolution plan extinguishes claims against the corporate debtor and successful resolution applicant, including claims not lodged in CIRP, but preserves the corporate debtor's claims against its debtors. A former promoter's status as successful resolution applicant under the MSME exception does not change that effect. The CIRP moratorium is excluded when computing limitation for an arbitral claim arising from contract termination after CIRP commencement. An extinguished operational creditor's claim cannot support affirmative recovery but may be used as a defensive set-off against amounts payable on the corporate debtor's surviving claim, limited to the claim lodged in CIRP.

Additional contractual compensation requires proof that work fell outside the agreed scope and that the parties agreed to pay separately for it. A comprehensive scope covering architectural, structural and building-services coordination, together with an augmentation purchase order that identified no distinct extra work, did not establish such entitlement. Unpaid milestone payments require proof of completion of the contractual deliverables triggering each payment stage. The consultant did not produce CAD files, finished or GFC drawings, or evidence of dispatch of complete multidisciplinary drawings; an unsupported list of drawings was insufficient. The recovery claim therefore lacked proof of both contractual entitlement and performance conditions.

Penalty for under-reporting or misreporting income does not apply where an assessee gives a bona fide explanation and fully discloses all material facts substantiating it. A gratuity provision disallowable under Section 40A(7) had been expressly disclosed in Form 3CD, but was inadvertently not added back in the return. This disclosure established that no material facts were concealed or withheld. The omitted disallowance therefore fell within the Section 270A(6)(a) exception, and no penalty under Section 270A was leviable.

Opting for the Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme, 2024, after filing the required application removes the need to keep a pending tax appeal alive. The appeal may be dismissed where the taxpayer intends to avail Scheme benefits, while preserving liberty to seek recall if the Revenue does not accept the taxpayer's declaration. This approach enables resolution under the Scheme without permanently prejudicing the taxpayer's position if the declaration fails acceptance.

Prior approval for search assessments must be validly granted. A common approval covering multiple assessment years was treated as incapable of satisfying the approval requirement. Characterising approval as administrative, without examining its contents, did not cure the defect. The resulting search assessment was invalid and quashed for lack of valid approval under the Income-tax Act.

Foreign tax credit remains available despite delayed furnishing of the prescribed supporting form where the governing rule fixes a filing time but does not expressly deny credit for non-compliance. The filing requirement is procedural and directory, and cannot extinguish substantive entitlement to credit for foreign taxes paid or treaty-based relief. The claim must therefore be assessed on its merits after verification of supporting evidence. Delay in filing an appeal may be condoned where sufficient cause is established, no mala fide intent is shown, and refusal would prevent consideration on merits.

Rejection of audited books of account requires a prima facie basis for disbelieving declared financial results; without that basis, estimated profit cannot be sustained and the audited loss is accepted. Outstanding liabilities may be treated as unexplained cash credits where the taxpayer fails to produce supporting records or otherwise discharge the evidentiary burden. Audit disclosures of accounting irregularities, missing documentation and unreconciled liabilities support taxation of unsupported liabilities.

Commission income from alleged accommodation entries was estimated at 0.15% of the entry amounts. Consistent estimates at that rate in the taxpayer's immediately succeeding assessment years were applied under the principle of judicial discipline, rather than the proposed 1% rate. The income was therefore assessed using the 0.15% commission rate.

Reopening of assessment under section 147 based on client code modification information requires recorded reasons identifying the assessee's transactions and showing independent evaluation. Mere reproduction of investigation-wing information and an assertion of escaped income are cryptic and vague, indicating non-application of mind. On that basis, the section 147 reopening and consequential assessment under section 143(3) were quashed.

Reassessment after a completed scrutiny assessment requires fresh tangible material and the Assessing Officer's independently formed belief that income escaped assessment. Reopening based solely on an audit objection regarding tax deduction on rent payments, where the original scrutiny had considered the financial statements, tax audit report and relevant expense claim, amounts to an impermissible review of an issue already examined. In the absence of new material or independent satisfaction, the reassessment is invalid and the consequential assessment is liable to be quashed.

Additional income arising from shortages of finished goods and raw materials detected during survey requires corroborative material; a survey admission alone is not conclusive. In footwear manufacturing, stock valuation is inherently approximate because of varied raw materials, work-in-progress, wastage and excess consumption. These factors support estimating income from shortages using a reduced gross-profit rate. The applicable gross-profit rate for the retained shortages is 10% rather than 20.91%.

Commission paid to non-resident export agents is not disallowable for failure to withhold tax where the agents have no permanent establishment in India and render no services in India. In those circumstances, the commission is not taxable in India and no withholding obligation arises. Sample design and development charges paid to foreign parties are likewise not disallowable where the amendment to the taxability provision relied upon was not in force when payment was made. A later amendment cannot impose a withholding obligation for an earlier period when compliance was impossible at the time of payment.

Profit estimation where books are not produced should account for the declared net-profit rate and comparable statutory presumptive benchmarks. A 12% rate was considered excessive where the declared rate exceeded preceding years; taxable income was recomputed at 6.5% of declared turnover. Contractual receipts that include closing work-in-progress cannot replace declared turnover for income estimation merely because the contractor deducted tax at source on those receipts. Income should therefore be computed by applying the revised profit rate to declared turnover rather than to receipts inclusive of work-in-progress.

Construction expenditure for Section 54 includes costs that make a residential unit livable and form an integral part of its construction. Expenditure on lift installation, CCTV and air-conditioning services met this test and qualified for the Section 54 claim. Consequently, excluding an estimated portion of those expenses was unsustainable, and the disallowance of the construction expenses was deleted.