Public-employment salary and service benefits depend on a valid statutory appointment. Forged, fraudulent, or appointments made in flagrant breach of mandatory selection procedures are void ab initio, create no enforceable salary right, and cannot support mandamus; disputed claims concerning service, forgery, or compensation must be pursued before the ordinary civil forum. Prospective, non-stigmatic termination of a temporary appointee whose appointment is invalid does not require prior notice or hearing under natural justice or Article 311(2). A fresh writ seeking identical relief after unconditional withdrawal of an earlier writ without liberty is barred.

Customs-port designations for the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands are expanded by adding Campbell Bay and Car Nicobar to the prescribed table. Each location is authorised for the unloading of imported goods and the loading of export goods, including any class of such goods. The additions supplement existing listed locations and specify import-unloading and export-loading functions for both newly inserted entries.

Electronic GST refund administration requires online filing in FORM GST RFD-01, electronic upload of prescribed material, and no physical submission. ARN generation is the filing date and starts the fifteen-day period for electronic acknowledgement or deficiency memo. A deficiency memo requires a fresh claim and automatically restores debited ledger amounts. Refunds may be provisionally sanctioned after excluding prima facie inadmissible amounts, while excess provisional refunds require notice, adjudication and recovery procedures. Assigned officers issue sanction and payment orders for all tax heads, with bank-account validation preceding disbursement. Unutilized ITC refunds are subject to prescribed evidence, formula limits, ledger balances and debit rules.

Basic Customs Duty on crude and refined edible oils is revised through substitutions in specified Table I entries. The amended rates reduce two entries from 10% to 5%, two from 32.5% to 27.5%, one from 10% to Nil, and one from 32.5% to 22.5%. The revised rates apply from 24 September 2026.

Gold-smuggling enforcement involved the seizure of approximately 21 kg of foreign-origin gold in two operations and the arrest of five persons under the Customs Act, 1962. Gold bars were recovered from sophisticated vehicle-chassis cavities, while gold bars and cut pieces were recovered from a passenger's specially designed cotton waist belt. The operations concerned suspected cross-border gold movement and targeted organised smuggling networks using sophisticated concealment methods.

Cross-border smuggling of foreign-origin gold through the Bangladesh route led to coordinated recoveries and seizures under the Customs Act, 1962. Gold recovered near the India-Bangladesh border was taken over for customs proceedings, including a seizure under Section 110. Foreign-origin gold concealed by a train passenger was also recovered and seized, with investigation indicating its smuggling from Bangladesh.

India-led BRICS tax cooperation established standing Working Groups on International Taxation and Transfer Pricing and Revenue Statistics, providing institutional platforms extending beyond individual Chairships. It also institutionalised an annual Young Tax Professionals Capacity Building Programme, launched the BRICS Tax Cross-Learning Lab for peer learning on client-centric administration and human-resources practices, and approved the Terms of Reference for the BRICS Tax Support Network.

Optional FORM GSTR-1A permits registered persons to add or amend current-period outward-supply details after FORM GSTR-1 and before the corresponding FORM GSTR-3B, without late fee. Information furnished in FORM GSTR-1A is combined with FORM GSTR-1 for FORM GSTR-3B and becomes available to recipients through the next open FORM GSTR-2B; amendments changing the recipient GSTIN are barred. The amendments also extend GSTR-1A references across input tax credit, invoice, refund, reversal, scrutiny and demand processes, and reduce the reporting threshold for specified inter-State supplies to unregistered persons.

Wildlife-trafficking enforcement led to interception of two persons and seizure of 86 live Tokay Geckos under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Tokay Geckos receive Schedule I protection under that legislation and are listed in Appendix II of CITES, regulating international trade. The persons and recovered geckos were transferred to the Mariani Range Forest Office for further action.

Punjab SGST reverse-charge table entries are amended. In the entry at serial number 4, the expression "Any person" excludes a body corporate. In the entry at serial number 5AB, the expression "Any registered person" excludes a person who has opted to pay tax under the composition levy. The amendments are deemed effective from 16 January 2025.

Tariff entry 6AA is inserted after entry 6A in the Table governing input tax credit refund treatment. It covers imitation zari thread or yarn made from metallised polyester film or plastic film, classified under heading 5605. Application of the entry concerning refund of input tax credit is confined to polyester film or plastic film, effective from 20 October 2023.

Concealment of restricted firecrackers within an import container declared as bottles and wallpaper resulted in customs seizure under the Customs Act, 1962. Firecracker imports are restricted under the Foreign Trade Policy and require valid Directorate General of Foreign Trade authorisation and a Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation licence under the Explosives Rules, 2008. Investigation into attempted clandestine clearance led to the arrest under the Customs Act of a key syndicate member alleged to have orchestrated the import.

Merger-control approval permits FIHM to acquire certain additional equity share capital of IIFL Capital Services through a preferential issue on a private-placement basis and through shares tendered in a mandatory open offer. FIHM may also buy shares from the target's promoters if its aggregate shareholding with HWIC remains below the Target Shareholding after these steps.

Competition approval covers L'Ore al India Private Limited's acquisition of the entire shareholding in Onesto Labs Private Limited. The proposed combination concerns India's beauty and personal care sector and places the Target under the Acquirer's full ownership. Both entities operate in beauty and personal care products, including skin care and hair care.

Reported litigation results are compared through assessee-favouring and revenue-favouring classifications, with assessee results fixed at one for revenue-to-assessee ratios. Revenue ratios remain below one in overall, Customs, Income Tax, Central Excise, and most GST comparisons, but exceed one at GST advance-ruling levels. Revenue's proportion generally rises from tribunals to High Courts and the Supreme Court. The trend is associated with differences in representation, resources, and the weight of counsel, including persuasiveness, professional standing, expertise, and credibility.

GST search and inspection under section 67 require authorisation by a Joint Commissioner or higher officer on specified grounds, with Form GST INS-01 identifying the applicable ground and premises. Search powers are premise-specific and do not extend to unlisted locations. Liability must be determined through adjudication under section 73 or section 74; on-site recovery is valid only where payment is genuinely voluntary and free from coercion. Seizures must be documented in a panchnama, and cash may be seized only upon a direct and demonstrable nexus with tax evasion.

Section 107 fixes a mandatory appellate timetable: an appeal must be filed within three months, with condonation on sufficient cause for no more than one additional month. The First Appellate Authority has no equitable or inherent jurisdiction beyond that ceiling, and Article 226 relief cannot enlarge its statutory power. Yet, where delayed appeals were implemented, registrations restored, compliance verified, and businesses resumed operations, a later departmental challenge may be incapable of effective relief because reversal could disturb supplies, invoicing, and recipients' input tax credit. Revocation and appeal remain distinct remedies, though an appeal remains subject to statutory limitation.

Employment agreements requiring personal service are service disputes rather than commercial disputes, notwithstanding remuneration, high stakes, sales-related payments, confidentiality obligations, non-compete conditions, or intellectual-property assignments. Claims for salary, reimbursements, incentives, or commission arising from that relationship are outside Commercial Court jurisdiction. Where such a claim is filed before a Commercial Court, the plaint should be returned for presentation before the appropriate court rather than dismissed.

Mandatory pre-deposit in customs appeals requires seven and a half per cent deposit for first appeals and certain Tribunal appeals, and ten per cent for Tribunal appeals against Commissioner (Appeals) orders, subject to an overall cap of rupees ten crores. The post-2014 regime removed appellate discretion to waive or reduce pre-deposit. Restoration of guided discretion is advocated by reference to prima facie merits, applicable precedents, relative case strength, financial capacity, business operations, and hardship affecting continuity and employment.

Section 6(2)(b) of the CGST Act bars parallel action by Central and State GST authorities only where both proceedings concern the same liability, deficiency, or contravention requiring adjudication. Common registered person, financial year, supplier, input tax credit amount, or overlapping factual background does not establish identity. Changing provisions cannot avoid the bar if the underlying contravention is unchanged; however, a later fraud-based input tax credit proceeding involving invoices without actual supply may remain distinct from a general input tax credit eligibility or mismatch proceeding.