Rural agricultural land does not constitute a capital asset for income-tax purposes. Compensation received on its compulsory acquisition under the RFCTLARR Act is exempt from income tax, applying Circular No. 36/2016. Accordingly, such compensation cannot be assessed as short-term capital gain, and the addition made on that basis was deleted.

Recorded cash sales deposited during demonetisation cannot be treated as unexplained where books, sale bills, stock records and cash balances are accepted, since this would tax the same receipts twice. Rental income reflected in Form 26AS requires reconciliation and verification, with corresponding relief or tax credit where warranted. Business expenditure remains disallowable where the claim that tax withholding was unnecessary is unsupported. A challenge to penalty initiation before a penalty order is premature. Alleged unexplained receipts in a running account must account for debit entries and repayments rather than aggregate gross receipts. Reversal of overdraft interest is not taxable as cessation of liability when only net interest was debited and the reversed amount was not separately claimed.

Market data charges recovered from Indian associated enterprises were not taxable as royalty under the India-USA DTAA, as the facts and legal position matched earlier Tribunal decisions and no distinction was established. The related addition was deleted. Reimbursements of salary and employee-related costs for seconded employees were likewise not treated as fees for included services or fees for technical services under the India-USA DTAA, following an earlier Tribunal ruling on comparable expense recoveries. The addition for employee-related reimbursements was deleted, while interest was to be levied consequentially in accordance with law.

Embedded profit, rather than the entire value of alleged bogus diamond purchases, is taxable where books of account remain accepted, stock and quantitative records show no adverse discrepancy, and corresponding sales are not disproved. Where accommodation bills cover goods actually sourced from other parties, the addition should be confined to the profit arising from that arrangement. A 3% profit estimate applies where no distinguishing material warrants a different estimate, including for later assessment years involving identical transaction facts.

Reassessment jurisdiction requires recorded reasons to show an independently formed prima facie belief and a rational, live nexus between investigation material and income alleged to have escaped assessment. Information understood as relating to bogus purchases cannot support an assessment of the same amounts as unexplained unsecured loans without transaction-specific application of mind; subsequent findings cannot cure defects in the recorded reasons. For unsecured loans, lender confirmations, banking records, tax documents and affidavits may discharge the initial burden on identity, transaction trail and source. A preceding equivalent bank credit alone does not establish an accommodation entry without verification and cogent rebuttal of the disclosed source.

Rule 11UA(2) permits an assessee issuing unquoted equity shares to choose either the Discounted Cash Flow or Net Asset Value method for determining fair market value under section 56(2)(viib). After a prescribed method is chosen, the Assessing Officer may scrutinise the valuation report but cannot replace it with a formula-based valuation merely because projections, management inputs, or standard disclaimers are questioned. Discounted Cash Flow projections cannot be rejected solely by comparison with subsequent performance. Rejection requires demonstrably incorrect data, a wholly erroneous basis, or a wrong valuation approach; absent such defects, the chosen method governs share-premium valuation.

Regulation 17(1) of the CBLR, 2018 requires a notice proposing revocation of a Customs Broker licence to be issued within ninety days of receipt of the offence report. Where no separate investigation report exists, Customs Act show-cause notices containing the investigation summary, allegations and relied-upon documents constitute the offence report. The limitation period cannot be deferred by later requesting documents already received. A notice issued after the mandatory period leaves no statutory authority to revoke the licence; the revocation was set aside and restoration of the licence directed.

Section 50 requires a suspect to be informed of the right to be searched before an independent Gazetted Officer or Magistrate; notices offering only an officer linked to the search team are deficient. A public-place interception at an airport, including medically necessary continuation at hospital, may fall under Section 43 rather than Section 42. Under the Customs Act, voluntary medical removal of goods admitted to be secreted inside the body may proceed without a fresh Section 50 notice, and recovered capsules can independently evidence possession. Sampling or certification irregularities do not alone vitiate proceedings or justify bail without demonstrated prejudice or tampering. Despite a prima facie NDPS case and Section 37 restrictions, prolonged detention with insufficient trial progress may warrant conditional bail to protect speedy-trial and presumption-of-innocence rights.

Provisional release of imported food consignments may be justified where Customs retains goods without seizure, a seizure memorandum, or recorded reasons establishing liability to confiscation. Sampling of imported food must comply with food-safety legislation and regulations: an authorised food-safety officer must draw the sample in the presence of the Customs Officer and importer. A report based on Customs sampling alone is superseded by a compliant report from an accredited agency confirming conformity with applicable standards. Raw areca nut classification depends on moisture content; consignments with moisture below the stated raw-areca range are prima facie not so classifiable. Release may be secured by a personal bond for differential duty or penalty, while classification and assessment remain open to adjudication.

Extended limitation for customs duty under Section 28(4) requires material showing collusion, wilful misstatement or suppression causing short-payment; a subsequent departmental view on classification or exemption is insufficient. Disclosure of the goods description, classification and exemption claim in the Bill of Entry, accepted by the proper officer, did not establish concealment, false declaration or deliberate suppression to evade differential IGST on imported rice bran. The demand was therefore set aside without determining the correct classification or IGST liability, while preserving timely action permitted by law. Writ jurisdiction remains available despite a statutory appeal where extended-period jurisdictional conditions are unmet.

Abetment of attempted export of prohibited goods requires material proving a Customs Broker's knowledge, conscious involvement or collusion. Filing shipping bills, arranging containers and processing exporter-provided documents, without more, do not establish knowing assistance; a due-diligence duty does not remove that evidentiary requirement. Failure to ascertain the meat's procurement source alone was insufficient, so the penalty was set aside. Article 226 jurisdiction was exercised despite an alternative statutory appeal because the abetment finding lacked evidentiary support, and the writ petition was entertained.

Section 110(5) of the Customs Act limits provisional attachment of a bank account to six months, with a single further extension of up to six months only where reasons are recorded and communicated before the original period expires. Pending adjudication or issuance of a show cause notice under Section 124 does not extend this statutory limit. Once the maximum twelve-month period expires, continued attachment lacks legal authority, and the bank account must be defrozen.

Redemption of confiscated prohibited goods under section 125 of the Customs Act is discretionary, but the discretion must be exercised judicially rather than denied mechanically because goods are prohibited. Redemption may require consideration of the circumstances of the violation, including the absence of serious or previous contraventions and payment of penalty. Redemption fine must remain within the statutory ceiling and be determined on the applicable principles. Upon payment of the properly determined fine, confiscated gold jewellery may be released.

Rule 16 permits recovery of erroneously or excessively paid drawback but, where no limitation period is prescribed, the power must be exercised within a reasonable period. Non-production of proof that export proceeds were realised, without allegations of fraudulent availment or suppression, does not invoke the fraud-based exception to limitation. Unexplained delay after the last drawback payment renders recovery proceedings time-barred. Availability of an alternative statutory appeal does not prevent writ relief against recovery action taken without statutory authority. The recovery order, consequential action, account freeze and recovered amount were set aside or reversed accordingly.

Orthopaedic surgical tools used by surgeons, rather than appliances implanted in or strapped to patients, fall under CTH 9018 as surgical instruments; CTH 9021, read with Chapter Note 6, applies to appliances used by patients to prevent or correct deformities or support or hold body parts. Classification under CTH 9018 was sustained. Tools specifically designed for spinal surgery qualified as spinal instruments under List 30, preserving the basic customs duty exemption for the specified period. Schedule I IGST treatment also continued because, although the corresponding customs entry was later restricted, the identical IGST entry was not amended. The classification challenge failed, while challenges to the customs-duty and IGST benefits failed.

Classification of specialised diagnostic microcuvettes turns on Chapter 90 Note 2(b): articles suitable solely or principally for a particular analytical instrument are classified with that instrument, without requiring permanent physical attachment. Dimensions, configuration, material and optical properties enabling calibration and spectrophotometric analysis establish their specialised analytical function. Disposable use does not prevent treatment as parts or accessories. Where no practical use with other instruments or as general-purpose plastic articles is established, microcuvettes designed for the Cobas c111 Analyser fall under CTI 9027 9090 rather than CTI 3926 9099. The corresponding interest, confiscation and penalty consequences therefore do not apply.

Customs duty exemptions apply according to the notification in force when Bills of Entry are filed. Carbon Less Paper Black Image classifiable under CTH 48099000 was not covered after Notification No. 46/2011-Cus. ceased to operate, while Notification No. 127/2011-Cus. extended the effective rate only to CTH 470790. Notification No. 35/2013-Cus. took effect prospectively upon Gazette publication and did not restore concessional duty for earlier imports; the exemption claim therefore failed. Claiming exemption under a superseded notification supported invocation of the extended limitation period for duty recovery, as importers are presumed to know applicable amendments.

Customs Broker licensing action founded solely on an offence report could not survive after the related customs penalty was set aside for lack of evidence of knowing or intentional involvement in attempted smuggling. Receipt of export documents through an intermediary did not breach the authorisation obligation where the exporter had authorised the Customs Broker and no evidence showed that authority was absent. Concealment detected only on physical examination did not establish a duty to advise the exporter or report non-compliance. KYC requirements were met through the prescribed identity and existence documents. The licence revocation, security-deposit forfeiture and penalty were set aside.

Electronic records relied on in customs penalty proceedings require prescribed certification, and an uncertified text-message printout has no evidentiary value where no forensic material links it to the alleged user. Such material cannot implicate a Customs officer in attempted illegal export of foreign currency. Abetment further requires proof of intentional aiding and active complicity; an uncorroborated co-noticee statement, absent recovery, CCTV, or independent-witness support, does not establish it. Failure to detect concealed currency during routine examination is insufficient. On these grounds, the penalty for abetment was set aside with consequential relief.

Tariff classification of imported two-ton ductless split air conditioners incorporating a refrigerating unit follows the specific entry under CTH 84158210. Under GRI 1 and GRI 3(a), classification is determined by the tariff terms, with a specific description prevailing over a generic description. The goods matched the description of split air conditioners of two tons and above incorporating a refrigerating unit; therefore, the generic split-system entry under CTH 84151010 did not apply. CTH 84158310 was also inapplicable because it covers air conditioners not incorporating a refrigerating unit. The classification issue was answered accordingly and remitted for final decision.