Government loan-guarantee services supplied by the Central Government, State Government or Union Territory to their undertakings or public sector undertakings are exempt from GST. The exemption applies where the guarantees relate to loans taken by those undertakings or PSUs from banking companies or financial institutions and is covered by Entry 34A of Notification No. 12/2017-State Tax (Rate).

Sugar price-control measures combine authorised raw-sugar imports, stockholding limits for dealers and bulk consumers, and an existing export prohibition to address elevated domestic prices. Imports are permitted within the specified period, while stockholding restrictions seek to curb speculation and hoarding. Retail prices continued to rise despite lower ex-mill prices, and the regulatory approach focuses on augmenting supply, limiting stock accumulation, and preventing export-related pressure on domestic availability.

Appellate Tribunal procedure is revised through a two-part FORM GST APL-02A for provisional acknowledgement and final communication on appeals or applications. Appeals not involving a question of law may be transferred to a Single Member Bench, while matters involving a legal question or an identical issue previously heard by a Technical and Judicial Member Bench require reconsideration by the appropriate Bench. Revised forms prescribe detailed appeal, cross-objection, order-summary, demand, pre-deposit, and payment reporting requirements.

Legal developments include resolution of long-pending tenancy, commercial and property disputes through a special Lok Adalat mechanism, including a digitally signed international settlement. Other matters concern a challenge to a riot-related murder conviction, allegations of administrative irregularities and selective case listing, fast-track court pendency, cancellation of a recruitment process following suspected examination malpractice, fraudulent identity documents used to claim citizenship, medical-qualification standards, and opposition to uranium exploration and mining.

Catering services supplied to educational institutions, including pre-schools and schools, are exempt from GST, with the exemption expressly covering mid-day meal services. Anganwadis are treated as educational institutions because they provide pre-school non-formal education. Accordingly, food-serving and catering services supplied to Anganwadis, including mid-day meals, are exempt irrespective of whether funding comes from government grants or corporate donations.

SIDBI-RRB MSME co-lending arrangement is proposed for expansion to increase credit access for micro, small and medium enterprises in rural and semi-urban areas. The arrangement combines SIDBI's understanding of MSME credit requirements with Regional Rural Banks' local reach. SIDBI's Co-Lending Origination Platform provides an end-to-end digital credit process intended to enable faster, paperless loan processing, in-principle sanction communication, documentation and direct account disbursement without branch visits.

Section 74 GST demand proceedings require the assessing officer's independent satisfaction of fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression of facts. An input tax credit mismatch or alleged short payment alone cannot establish these conditions. Unsupported assertions of suppression for invoking extended limitation are insufficient, and audit objections cannot replace the assessing officer's satisfaction. A show cause-cum-demand notice lacking factual allegations of a deliberate device to evade tax or avail excess input tax credit is vulnerable.

Income-tax appeals for specified assessment years were withdrawn at the appellant's request. The CIT(A) was directed to dispose of the pending appeals expeditiously by the prescribed date, after providing a personal hearing and at least five working days' prior notice to the appellant. The appeals were dismissed as withdrawn.

Voluntary Aadhaar authentication may be used to establish identity for employment-related assistance, including job matching, counselling, vocational guidance, skilling information, apprenticeships and career events. Yes/No and/or eKYC authentication may support de-duplication, fraud prevention and timely verification. Consent is mandatory, authentication remains voluntary, and services cannot be denied to persons who refuse or cannot authenticate through Aadhaar. Alternate identification includes PAN, passport, voter identity card, driving licence, Employment Exchange ID and specified universal account identifiers.

Composite milling of wheat into flour, including fortification, or paddy into rice for the Public Distribution System is exempt where the value of supplied goods, including fortification inputs and packing material, does not exceed 25 per cent of the composite-supply value. Eligibility requires factual determination in each case. Where the goods component exceeds that threshold, the supply is taxable at 5 per cent if provided as job-work service to a registered person, including a person registered solely for tax deduction purposes.

Recipients of deemed export supplies may avail input tax credit and claim refund, subject to debit of the corresponding credit from the electronic credit ledger and declarations preventing duplicate refund claims. Refund relaxation applies where zero-rated supplies were mistakenly reported in Table 3.1(a) of FORM GSTR-3B, subject to the aggregate tax or cess reported in Tables 3.1(a), 3.1(b), and 3.1(c). For unutilised input tax credit refunds, the capped value of zero-rated export goods must be used consistently in both zero-rated turnover and Adjusted Total Turnover.

GST Practitioner registration under Rule 83(2) of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 is entrusted to Shri Pankaj Kumar Sinha, Additional Commissioner of State Tax-cum-Joint Secretary, Headquarters, Bihar, Patna. He is authorised to register eligible applicants as Goods and Services Tax Practitioners.

Bonus payable to an employee eligible under section 26 of the Code on Wages, 2019, whose monthly wage exceeds seven thousand rupees, must be calculated on seven thousand rupees per month or the minimum wage fixed by the Central Government, whichever is higher. The determination is deemed effective from 21 November 2025.

Fraudulent procurement of Aadhaar and other identity documents by foreign nationals who infiltrate borders may undermine identity verification, immigration control and national security. Coordinated action is required to trace and deport such persons, prevent re-entry, strengthen document verification, and complete investigations without delay. Amendments to the Aadhaar Act are to be considered to assist investigating agencies, while a dedicated procedure is required to address border infiltration and human trafficking. Aadhaar enrolment records are to be supplied to police, followed by timely deportation proceedings.

Proposed foreign-investment liberalisation, including treatment of stakes below 10 per cent and a greater role for market forces in valuation, is welcomed. Preservation of the existing treatment of Alternative Investment Funds under the IOCC framework is emphasised, together with grandfathering of transactions and funds undertaken under the current regulatory position. Newly introduced requirements should operate prospectively to support a simpler, predictable and investment-friendly foreign-investment framework.

Bonus entitlement under section 26(1) of the Code on Wages, 2019 applies to every employee whose monthly wages do not exceed twenty-one thousand rupees. Payment of bonus is required in accordance with that provision. The wage-based eligibility determination is deemed effective from 21 November 2025.

Central and State Educational Boards are treated as educational institutions only for conducting examinations for students, including entrance examinations. GST is exempt on examination services and fees charged for those examinations. Input services relating to admission or examination conduct, such as online testing, result publication, and printing examination materials, are also exempt when supplied to such Boards. Other services, including accreditation or registration of institutions or professionals for authorisation purposes, remain taxable at 18%.

Penalty orders for concealment or inaccurate particulars require a reasoned factual adjudication of each underlying disallowance or addition. Where the appellate order does not discuss the factual basis of alleged unexplained expenditure, administrative expenses, payments to doctors, enhanced unexplained expenditure and other disallowances, the penalty cannot be examined on merits. The penalty orders were set aside and remitted for fresh issue-wise adjudication through speaking orders.

Cash-credit additions for share capital, share premium and unsecured loans are unsustainable where the assessee establishes the identity and creditworthiness of investors or lenders and the genuineness of banking-channel transactions through confirmations, PAN details, tax returns, financial statements and bank records. The evidentiary burden then shifts to the Revenue, which must conduct meaningful enquiry and produce contrary material before treating the sums as undisclosed income. A separate show-cause notice before completing an assessment under Section 143(3) is not mandatory where prior notices and questionnaires identified the transactions and the assessee had an adequate opportunity to respond.

Nestle 's India strategy focuses on volume-led growth, wider consumer reach, portfolio development, efficiency improvements and sustained long-term investment. Growth is intended to combine increased household penetration with pricing, premiumisation, affordability and value offerings. India is also intended to develop further as a production and export hub for global markets, supported by manufacturing capacity and expanding overseas supplies. Product quality and consumer interests remain constraints on the pace of expansion.