Recovery of unpaid contractual consideration under a business purchase agreement falls within liquidation where the amount is a receivable of the corporate debtor and has a direct nexus with realisation of the liquidation estate. A payment mechanism requiring discharge of liabilities from business income does not extinguish the purchaser's primary payment obligation. Where directors exercise managerial, financial and operational control, obtain the transaction's benefits, and use the purchaser-company as an alter ego or corporate fac ade, separate corporate personality and privity of contract do not protect them from recovery liability. Liability extends to the purchaser-company and controlling directors, but not to persons lacking that controlling role.

Section 35 compensation for an investor who subscribed to securities on the basis of a fraudulent prospectus is ordinarily a personal claim against liable persons, including a statutory auditor. Where the company is undergoing insolvency and the alleged fraudulent conduct is addressed through Section 66 proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, recoveries form part of the collective insolvency process for creditors. The claim consequently assumes an action-in-rem character and cannot be pursued through a separate civil suit for the exclusive benefit of one investor. Recourse lies through the collective Section 66 process.

Interim moratorium triggered by an insolvency application does not affect an auction concluded and confirmed before that application. Issuance of the sale certificate after filing does not disturb the completed sale where the insolvency proceedings are later dismissed. The dismissed proceedings create no continuing bar to delivery of possession, and the auction purchaser remains entitled to possession under the sale certificate.

Contractual requirement for a three-member arbitral tribunal may be waived where parties consent to sole arbitrators, participate without timely objection, accept extensions, and advance counterclaims. Corporate insolvency moratorium does not bar a corporate debtor from pursuing recovery claims that may improve its financial position; an authorised special purpose vehicle may continue arbitration and seek mandate extension. Extension of an arbitral mandate in domestic arbitration lies exclusively with the court defined for that purpose, not with a High Court or designate exercising arbitrator-appointment powers. Sole-arbitrator proceedings consequently remain valid, and the award may be pronounced after proceedings conclude within the stipulated period.

Wrongful withholding under section 452 of the Companies Act was alleged against a director who contended that continued directorship precluded the offence. The challenge also asserted non-application of mind in framing notice and breach of natural justice. The Supreme Court dismissed the special leave petition, finding no ground to interfere with the High Court order, leaving the notice order and pending proceedings undisturbed.

Customs circulars addressing agency commission and foreign bank charges govern only the FOB-value base for specified export incentives; they neither cap overseas agency commission nor regulate remittances under FEMA, RBI directions, or foreign trade law. Under the statutory export-valuation framework, commission paid from export proceeds to an overseas agent is a selling expense and does not reduce an otherwise acceptable transaction or FOB value merely because it exceeds 12.5%. For Duty Drawback, RoDTEP and RoSCTL, commission and bank charges above the aggregate 12.5% threshold are deducted from FOB value only to the extent of the excess when calculating benefits. The circulars cannot amend transaction-value rules or impose an independent commission cap.

Customs advance-ruling jurisdiction covers customs valuation and related export-benefit questions, not the permissibility of overseas agency-commission remittances under foreign-trade, FEMA or RBI frameworks. The 12.5% threshold in specified CBIC circulars governs deduction of agency commission and foreign bank charges solely in calculating duty drawback, RoDTEP and RoSCTL benefits; only the excess is deductible from the FOB basis. It neither caps commission nor regulates remittances. Under Section 14 and the export valuation rules, commission paid from sale proceeds is a selling expense and does not reduce an accepted transaction value unless the declared value is rejected. Administrative circulars cannot amend statutory valuation rules.

Sale or transfer of a customs broker licence requires evidence beyond handling an import transaction referred by a clearing and forwarding agent. Dealings with transaction stakeholders alone do not establish unauthorised conduct of business. Material inconsistency between alleged and attributed over-debiting, combined with the broker's limited role, undermines the allegation. Verification of debit entries was assigned to customs officers at the designated service centre and at out-of-charge. In the absence of forged or invalid licences, or evidence of failure to advise the importer or exercise due diligence, the alleged regulatory contraventions were not established. Licence revocation, security forfeiture, and penalty were therefore legally unsustainable.

Dismissal for non-prosecution under Rule 20 applies where appellants do not appear and demonstrate no intention to pursue their appeals. An appeal called for hearing in the appellant's absence must be dismissed for non-prosecution rather than decided on its merits. The appeals were accordingly dismissed for non-prosecution due to the appellants' lack of representation.

Classification of liquid glucose concentrate under SION Entry E22 is proper where starch slurry is its immediate manufacturing input; maize, as an earlier-stage original material, does not require classification under Entry E76. Valid, unrevoked DFIA authorisations accepting Entry E22 remain effective despite its subsequent deletion. Without wilful misstatement or suppression in obtaining those authorisations, duty recovery under Section 28AAA cannot be invoked. The same absence of misdeclaration precludes confiscation under Section 113(i) and penalties under Section 114(iii), sustaining the setting aside of the duty demand, confiscation and penalties.

Classification of Joss Powder under tariff headings 1211 or 4405 remained unresolved because the civil appeals were dismissed on account of tax effect below the prescribed monetary limit. The legal issues concerned application of Chapter 44 Note 1(a), invocation of the extended limitation period for differential duty, penalty liability, eligibility for Notification No. 46/2011, and the requirements of a show-cause notice and personal hearing. No determination was made on the classification question.

Treatment of receipts reflected in property-sale information and GST returns as business turnover requires verification of their nature, including any duplication or overlap, before deleting an unexplained cash-credit addition. Additional evidence admitted under Rule 46A must be examined through a remand report and with the assessee's response. Reconstructed books and financial statements cannot support turnover treatment where they are unreliable, and a 15 per cent profit estimate requires comparable cases, past results, or other specific supporting material. Fresh factual determination is required after those verification steps.

Penalty under Section 271(1)(c) of the Income-tax Act is not leviable merely because an addition for alleged bogus purchases survives on an estimated basis. Where the original disallowance is reduced in quantum proceedings to an ad hoc percentage of purchases, the remaining addition does not conclusively establish concealed income or furnishing of inaccurate particulars. Consistent coordinate-bench treatment of materially identical facts supports deletion of penalty unless distinguishing facts or contrary subsequent authority justify a different result.

Sub-letting receipts from commercial premises are assessable as business income where the tenant, rather than the owner or deemed owner, systematically exploits the premises by sub-letting them with maintenance, security, cleaning, water and repair services. Income from house property applies to the annual value of property only in the hands of its owner under section 22. The taxpayer's separate salary income does not prevent the conduct of an independent commercial activity. Accordingly, receipts from the integrated sub-letting and ancillary-service arrangement fall under profits and gains of business or profession rather than income from house property.

Foreign tax credit otherwise available under Section 90 remains admissible where Form No. 67 is furnished after the prescribed due date. Rule 128(9)'s filing timeline is directory because it does not prescribe denial of credit as a consequence of delay. The credit may be allowed after verification where substantive eligibility is established and the prescribed form has subsequently been furnished. Delay alone does not extinguish the foreign tax credit claim.

Commission paid to a Managing Director qualifies as deductible remuneration where it is authorised by a board resolution, forms part of agreed remuneration, reflects services and performance, and is subject to tax deduction at source. Its connection with increased profitability does not alone make it a distribution of profits. An independent dividend declaration negates treatment as payment in lieu of dividend. Prior acceptance of comparable commission payments supports consistency, uniformity and certainty where no distinguishing circumstances exist; the disallowance was therefore deleted.

Foreign tax credit under Section 90 cannot be denied solely because Form No. 67 was filed after the prescribed due date. Rule 128(9) does not prescribe disallowance for delayed filing; the requirement to furnish the form within time is procedural and directory rather than mandatory. Where Form No. 67 has been furnished and the foreign tax credit claim is otherwise eligible, delayed filing does not extinguish the substantive entitlement. The credit remains allowable, subject to verification of the claim and the form.

Section 14(1) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 bars initiation or continuation of assessment proceedings during an operative corporate insolvency resolution process moratorium. An approved resolution plan may also prohibit government authorities from continuing proceedings against the corporate debtor. By virtue of the IBC's overriding effect over inconsistent provisions of the Income-tax Act, assessment orders passed during the moratorium are unsustainable and liable to be set aside.

Uncorroborated third-party statements recorded during search proceedings cannot establish undisclosed cash consideration paid by a flat purchaser unless they specifically link the purchaser to the payment and are supported by independent evidence. The recorded consideration was explained through banking channels, provident-fund withdrawal, loans and accumulated savings. Denial of cross-examination further weakened reliance on the statement. Consequently, the Section 69A addition for alleged on-money payment was deleted.

Section 56(2)(x) may tax immovable property received for inadequate consideration only when its statutory conditions are established. Where a registered plot is claimed as a compensatory allotment for acquired land, rather than a new purchase, factual verification is required because the allotment may relate to a transaction preceding the provision's introduction. The assessment requires reconsideration after verification. A penalty for under-reporting cannot be retained while taxability of the property-value differential remains unresolved; the existing penalty is deleted, subject to any fresh statutory action following reassessment.