The Samudra Manthan National Offshore Exploration Scheme provides direct budgetary support for high-risk deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploratory drilling, subject to cost-sharing and per-well limits. Support is available to eligible operators holding or securing exploration acreage. The scheme also funds offshore data acquisition and shared subsea, receipt and processing infrastructure through a Common Hub Infrastructure model. It is intended to promote risk exploration, improve commercialisation of offshore discoveries and strengthen domestic hydrocarbon production potential within the existing exploration and licensing framework.

Residence status under the Foreign Exchange Management Act depended on completing the 182-day stay requirement in India. Applying the General Clauses Act principle, the day of arrival was excluded when calculating the respondent's effective period of stay. The computation showed that the respondent had not completed 182 days in India and therefore was not a person resident in India under Section 2(v). On that basis, the order declining endorsement of seizure of the shares required no interference.

Directors cannot be criminally prosecuted merely by virtue of office where the company is not arraigned, no statutory vicarious liability applies, and no material shows their active role, criminal intent, or participation in making forged laboratory reports. Forgery requires material connecting an accused with preparation of the false document. A subsequent FIR concerning overlapping export transactions and alleged forged reports already covered by an earlier FIR is impermissible where it concerns the same transaction rather than a genuine cross-case. Additional evidence or participants must be addressed through further investigation and a supplementary report in the original crime.

Reassessment jurisdictional conditions are mandatory, and a challenge to inherent jurisdiction is not defeated by waiver, acquiescence or estoppel. Accepted repayment of unsecured loans through banking channels, supported by transaction evidence, precludes an unexplained cash-credit addition where the applicable evidentiary requirements are met. Mere non-repayment of outstanding loans over several years does not independently justify an unexplained cash-credit addition; identity, creditworthiness and genuineness require examination. Possible application of cessation-of-liability provisions must also be considered when determining the tax treatment of unpaid loans.

Additional evidence under Rule 29 may be admitted for substantial cause where necessary to secure substantial justice, despite earlier opportunities to produce it. For purchase-related credits, the assessee must establish the creditor's identity and creditworthiness and the genuineness of the underlying transaction. Supplier confirmation, evidence of actual receipt and movement of goods, stock records, and corresponding sales may be required to corroborate the claim. Banking-channel payments alone do not prove actual supply or validate a purchase credit. Where official verification and surrounding facts undermine the supplier's existence or transactions, the credit balance may be treated as unexplained cash credit under Section 68.

Revisionary jurisdiction under Section 263 requires the Commissioner to establish cumulatively that an assessment order is both erroneous and prejudicial to the interests of the Revenue. Where the Assessing Officer has raised relevant queries, obtained and considered written explanations, and accepted them, the lack of detailed discussion in the assessment order does not by itself prove inadequate enquiry or error. Before alleging inadequate enquiry, the Commissioner must undertake verification and record a clear finding that the assessment is erroneous and unsustainable. Revision cannot be used merely to order further enquiries to determine whether an error exists; on the stated facts, the revision order was unsustainable.

Reassessment based solely on unverified suspicious information and a desire to conduct inquiry lacks a direct nexus between the information and alleged income escapement. Where no addition is made for the transaction forming the recorded basis for reopening, reassessment jurisdiction cannot be retained to assess separate income detected during the proceedings. The Section 148 notice and consequent reassessment were void from inception and quashed in favour of the assessee.

Section 54F exemption for a residential house constructed within the prescribed period includes the cost of land on which it is built, even where the land was acquired more than one year before the transfer. Construction may commence before transfer, and sale proceeds need not be directly used for construction; the full investment therefore qualified for exemption. Land gifted to unauthorised occupants to obtain vacant possession and enable sale was allowable as cost of improvement because gift deeds, revenue records, encumbrance certificates and other evidence substantiated the relocation, with no adverse remand finding.

Long-term capital gains from transfer of immovable property cannot be assessed in the legal titleholder's hands where another person held beneficial ownership and possession, received the entire sale consideration, and was already assessed on that gain. The purchaser paid consideration to the beneficial owner and spouse, deducted tax at source in the beneficial owner's PAN, and the Revenue accepted that the consideration belonged to that person. As the legal titleholder neither received consideration nor beneficially owned the property, taxing the same gain again would result in unjustified multiple taxation. The capital-gains addition was directed to be deleted.

Reassessment notices issued after the Finance Act, 2021 substituted regime took effect must comply with the revised limitation provisions. Notices issued under the former Section 148 after 1 April 2021 were to be treated as Section 148A show-cause notices while preserving statutory defences under the new framework. Reopening beyond three years was restricted to cases satisfying the prescribed condition concerning income represented in the form of an asset. The analysis rejects the CBDT Instruction's travel-back approach where it would permit reassessment contrary to the substituted limitation regime, rendering notices for AYs 2016-17 and 2017-18 time-barred.

Foreign tax credit cannot be denied solely because Form 67 was furnished after the prescribed due date, as Rule 128(9) treats the filing requirement as procedural and directory and does not prescribe disallowance for delay. Where Form 67 lacks the foreign tax credit amount or adequate verification material, the claim should not be rejected without giving the taxpayer a reasonable opportunity to rectify deficiencies and provide supporting particulars. Entitlement to, and the quantum of, foreign tax credit remains subject to fresh verification after the requisite information is furnished.

Arm's length pricing for back-office support services requires exclusion of functionally dissimilar comparables, including entities performing business-process, engineering or design functions and those with abnormal employee-cost ratios; the adjustment must be recomputed. A letter of comfort supporting an associated enterprise's liquidity warrants a reduced arm's length charge of 0.04%. Mark-to-market derivative losses arising in banking and treasury operations, depreciation on previously leased assets, written-off bad debts, proportionate bond expenses, and ordinary banking losses are allowable. Interest-free funds support deletion of interest disallowance relating to exempt income, while administrative expenditure requires verification. Notional interest on tenant security deposits cannot increase annual value. Reasonably estimated year-end liabilities are deductible, while depreciation on assets capitalised at year-end depends on proof of use.

Punjab attributed increased GST collections to voluntary compliance, intelligence-based enforcement and technology-driven tax administration, while facilitating compliant taxpayers through timely GST refunds. Data analytics, risk profiling and field verification were used to identify tax evasion, bogus billing, fake input tax credit networks and misuse of the GST registration framework. Measures included penalties, cancellation of fraudulent registrations and recovery of long-pending VAT arrears through attachment and auction of defaulters' properties.

Cross-border barter trade through Shipki La between India and Tibet resumed after a six-year interruption. Traders may exchange specified goods under a barter arrangement and must return within 72 hours. Traders are required to comply strictly with import-export regulations prescribed by the Union Ministry of Commerce, emphasising transparency and regulatory compliance. Expansion of permitted goods may be pursued through prescribed governmental and external-affairs channels.

Export growth projections for Odisha set out base, optimistic and ambitious scenarios through FY 2029-30, based respectively on historical growth, envisaged national export growth, and a larger share of national exports. Odisha's export basket remains concentrated in metals and minerals, led by aluminium products, with China as the principal export destination. Odisha Vision 2047 identifies exports, including MSME contributions, as an economic transformation driver, while export-financing and risk-mitigation initiatives aim to address financing gaps for exporters and MSMEs.

GST revenue mobilisation in Andhra Pradesh showed year-on-year growth in net GST and total commercial tax collections through July 2026, despite rate-rationalisation reforms. Revenue growth was attributed to AI-based scrutiny and analytics, machine-learning risk scoring, AI-driven IGST reversals, UPI-based enforcement analytics, data sharing, predictive analytics, registration verification, and Aadhaar-integrated expansion of the professional-tax base. These measures were stated to strengthen compliance, curb wrongful input tax credit claims, broaden taxpayer coverage, and improve revenue mobilisation.

Economic-offences chargesheets were filed in separate alleged bank and insurance fraud matters. The bank investigation alleged fictitious loan sanctions and overdrafts beyond delegated authority, involving cheating, forgery, use of forged documents and criminal conspiracy. The insurance investigation alleged that duplicate policy records and forged surrender documents were used to open a fraudulent account in a policyholder's name and divert policy proceeds. Records, witness statements, documentary evidence and forensic examination were cited in support of the allegations.

Electronic commerce operators liable to pay tax on specified services supplied through their platforms under Section 9(5) of the Rajasthan Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 need not reverse input tax credit proportionately under Sections 17(1) or 17(2). This principle applies to all services notified under Section 9(5). The tax liability on such specified services must be paid entirely through the electronic cash ledger. Input tax credit relating to inputs and input services used to facilitate those supplies cannot be used for that liability, but may be utilised against tax payable on the operator's own platform-related supplies.

HAM highway concession agreements for construction, operation and maintenance constitute a single continuous supply of services and cannot be split based on staggered payment terms. Where invoices are issued by the specified contractual date or event-completion date, tax liability arises on the earlier of invoice issuance or receipt of payment. If invoices are not timely issued, liability arises on the earlier of the contractual payment due date, treated as the service-provision date, or receipt of payment. Interest included in annuity instalments is includible in taxable value.

PM Vishwakarma Scheme implementation in Delhi facilitated artisan enrolment, application processing, skill training, toolkit distribution, loan access, e-commerce onboarding and export-related support. Awareness workshops and tele-calling campaigns were used to promote participation and follow up on benefits. Key implementation challenges concerned outreach to informal clusters, digital literacy, delays in Aadhaar and IEC documentation, and additional support for Divyang artisans. Planned action includes expanding workshops, scaling e-commerce onboarding, strengthening export facilitation and coordination with implementing agencies.