NCLT has launched e-Inspection and e-Certified Copy Services for faster and more convenient access to judicial records and certified copies by advocates, litigants and other stakeholders. The services support a technology-enabled Registry framework and transparent, efficient justice delivery. Pendency monitoring, workload redistribution, Special Benches, maximisation of court time, and registration and listing guidelines are intended to improve case management, optimise limited judicial resources and reduce avoidable delays.

CBDC-based Direct Benefit Transfer under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana will credit eligible beneficiaries' food subsidies as programmable Digital Rupee tokens directly into CBDC wallets. Beneficiaries may use these credits to purchase foodgrains from empanelled merchants through secure, real-time and traceable payments, replacing conventional bank-account transfers. The model is intended to improve traceability, reduce leakages and cash handling, enable real-time monitoring of subsidy use, and provide a scalable framework for CBDC integration with welfare schemes.

India and the Southern African Customs Union have signed Terms of Reference to commence negotiations for a Preferential Trade Agreement. Negotiations are envisaged on trade in goods and market access, rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, trade remedies including bilateral safeguards, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, dispute settlement, and legal and horizontal provisions. The Terms of Reference establish the negotiating framework only; preferential tariff treatment and other operative commitments depend on conclusion of a final agreement.

Vicarious criminal liability for cheque dishonour requires clear factual averments that each accused was, at the relevant time, in charge of and responsible for the entity's business conduct. Mere status as a director, executive member, committee member or other office-holder does not create presumed liability. A complaint need not repeat statutory language verbatim if, read as a whole, it discloses the factual basis for liability. A cheque signatory is ordinarily connected with the incriminating act, whereas liability of other officers requires material linking them to the transaction and business affairs.

Early enablement of GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C filing utilities for FY 2025-26 is sought to facilitate reconciliation of GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, books of account and income-tax data before income-tax returns are finalised. Delayed availability may increase inconsistencies between GST and income-tax reporting, with consequential notices and litigation. A predictable annual release schedule before income-tax return due dates would support meaningful reconciliation, accurate statutory disclosures and compliance planning.

GST enforcement in mining is strengthened through coordination between State Mining Departments and CGST field formations, including nodal officers, information sharing, joint reviews, and action where evasion is indicated. Illegal mining, suppressed supplies, non-registration, undervaluation, and short payment may invite GST scrutiny and related Income Tax proceedings. Royalty is contractual consideration under mining leases, and mine leasing with royalty is treated as licensing of rights to use minerals, taxable under the Reverse Charge Mechanism with liability on the mining lessee.

GST interest may arise automatically under section 50, but a disputed interest base, period or quantum must be determined before coercive recovery. Recovery under section 79, including garnishee notices through Form GST DRC-13, can enforce only an amount that has become payable and cannot adjudicate an unresolved dispute. Admitted interest may be recovered without unnecessary proceedings. Payments during investigation require assessment of genuine voluntariness. Conversely, delayed refunds attract statutory interest under section 56 after the prescribed period, without requiring a separate claim.

Interest on wrongly availed input tax credit under Section 50(3) arises only when the credit is both wrongly availed and utilised. Under Rule 88B(3), utilisation is determined by the extent to which the Electronic Credit Ledger balance falls below the wrongly availed amount before reversal or payment. For IGST credit, IGST, CGST and SGST balances are considered together, while Compensation Cess credit is excluded where it was not legally usable for the relevant liability. Reversal before utilisation may prevent interest; ledger records must establish the usable balance throughout the relevant period.

Delayed-payment interest under Section 50 of the CGST Act is computed on the net cash component of tax liability, subject to the statutory exception for returns furnished after commencement of specified proceedings. Deposit into the Electronic Cash Ledger is distinct from formal discharge of tax through ledger debit, but Rule 88B recognises that eligible cash credited by the return due date may be excluded from interest computation. Determination requires review of the cash liability, ledger deposits, available balance, balance movements and final appropriation date.

Corporate resilience requires governance that tests the legality, accounting and tax treatment, economic substance, and ethical defensibility of significant transactions. Controls should identify fraud indicators through data analytics and timely scrutiny of unexplained anomalies. Tax risk registers, documented reasoning, exposure assessment, and independent review should support material transactions. Circular trades and third-party dealings require beneficial-ownership mapping, commercial-purpose assessment, verification of actual performance and funding, and counterparty due diligence. Management override requires independent review, while effective speak-up mechanisms and Board oversight support early risk identification and remediation.

Deep-fried onion exports require verification of the applicable HSN classification based on product composition and processing, compliance with food-safety and buyer specifications, and completion of registration, Customs and documentation requirements. Exporters generally need PAN and GST registration, an Import Export Code and APEDA registration where applicable, followed by Shipping Bill filing, Customs clearance and receipt of export proceeds through authorised banks. Documentation may include commercial and GST invoices, packing list, transport document, certificate of origin, inspection certificate and transaction-specific phytosanitary or fumigation certificates. Incentive, refund, insurance and export-finance facilities may apply subject to conditions.

Transaction value is the primary basis for customs valuation, subject to a genuine export sale, sole consideration, absence of prohibited restrictions, unaffected related-party pricing, and reliable documentary support. Prescribed additions include relevant commissions, packing, containers, royalties, buyer-supplied assists, resale proceeds, freight, handling, and insurance. Declared value may be rejected only on legally sustainable grounds supported by procedure, evidence, reasoned findings, and an opportunity for the importer. If unavailable, valuation must proceed sequentially through identical goods, similar goods, deductive value, computed value, and finally residual valuation without arbitrary or fictitious values.

Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act extends liability for cheque dishonour beyond the cheque signatory to persons in charge of and responsible for the company's business when the offence occurred. Foundational averments regarding a director's responsibility, coupled with directorship during the relevant period, can provide a prima facie basis for summons under Sections 138 and 141. At the summoning stage, material need establish grounds to proceed rather than grounds for conviction. Claims of non-involvement in day-to-day affairs require evidentiary assessment at trial and ordinarily do not justify quashing under the inherent jurisdiction.

Inter-State movement of vehicles to regional sales offices constituted taxable inter-State sales where dealer orders, advance payments and advance-planning optimisation directly led to manufacture and despatch. The continuous causal nexus between pre-existing dealer demand and vehicle movement determined the commercial character of the transactions, regardless of whether planning records were described as rolling plans or sales forecasts. Form F declarations created only a rebuttable presumption of branch stock transfer and did not prevail over evidence of movement pursuant to existing sale arrangements. The transactions fell within Section 3(a) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, and exemption as branch stock transfers was unavailable.

Taxability of special drought relief paid to paddy farmers was raised where the relief component was included in sale invoices and charged to the purchaser through procurement agencies. The Supreme Court found no ground to interfere with the High Court's order concerning inclusion of that component in gross turnover. The High Court's order therefore remained undisturbed.

Interest on a refundable investigation deposit is addressed as payable from the date of deposit where no pre-existing duty liability is established. The discussion treats prolonged retention of the amount as supporting interest at 12% per annum and identifies a jurisdictional High Court ruling on materially identical facts as governing that approach. It further records disagreement with the view that such interest was unavailable, with the issue referred to a Regular Division Bench for determination by majority view.

CENVAT credit exclusively attributable to trading activity was treated as inadmissible and subject to re-quantification under the prescribed trading formula, while proportionate credit for rented premises used to provide taxable services was considered admissible. The Members differed on whether the extended limitation period applied to reversal of trading-related credit: one view relied on the Supreme Court-approved position, while the other treated the issue as interpretational, with disclosed records and conflicting authorities precluding extended limitation and penalties. They also differed on the relevance of the doctrine of demurrer. The disputed questions were referred for resolution through a Third Member mechanism.

Time-share arrangements granting only contractual accommodation rights, without shareholding, voting, management or genuine membership privileges, fall outside Club or Association Service. Customers described contractually as members do not become company members unless recognised under company law and recorded in the register of members. The later introduction of Short Term Accommodation Service supports the view that time-share accommodation was not taxable under the earlier club-service entry. Where tax and interest for other taxable services are paid before a show-cause notice and fraud, collusion or wilful suppression is not established, Section 73(3) protects against further proceedings and penalties. Penalties for suppression-based defaults are unsustainable where the dispute is interpretational and transactions are regularly recorded.

Service tax cannot be demanded under Section 73 on job-work activity that amounts to manufacture merely because an amount was collected as service tax; Section 73A requires deposit of the collection but does not create a taxable service. Reimbursable labour expenses received before the valuation amendment, including wages and statutory contributions, were not includible in taxable value, and erroneous self-assessment on some invoices did not validate further demands. Claimed unreflected and excess tax payments require record verification and consequential recalculation. An investigation deposit cannot be appropriated where the show-cause notice contained no demand or appropriation proposal and the relevant period was time-barred; the deposit must be refunded with interest according to law.

Show cause notices identifying imported service categories, aggregate foreign-currency expenditure and tax computation remain valid where the assessee could identify transactions and provide service-wise replies; detailed adjudication findings do not exceed the notices' scope. Extended limitation cannot apply without pleaded facts showing fraud, collusion, wilful misstatement or suppression with intent to evade tax, particularly after an earlier audit-based notice and where secondment involves legal interpretation; demands beyond the normal period are excluded. Employee secondment from overseas entities constitutes receipt of manpower recruitment or supply service, but service tax liability survives only within the normal limitation period. Remaining service-tax liabilities require fresh reasoned determination after considering the assessee's evidence and relevant legal authorities.