Each pension fund Scheme must be constituted as a trust and requires prior approval for a new Scheme or any material modification to an existing Scheme. The filing must include the Scheme Information Document and other required information. Before filing, the Pension Fund must appoint a Trustee meeting fit and proper requirements. Each approved Scheme must be launched within twelve months from communication of approval.

Pension Funds may provide active-choice options allowing subscribers to select asset allocation within specified limits, and auto-choice life cycle funds that automatically shift investments from aggressive to conservative as retirement approaches. Every scheme must clearly define and disclose its investment objective, strategy and risk profile in the Scheme Information Document.

Pension Fund subscribers may determine the frequency and amount of their contributions. A Pension Fund may prescribe a minimum contribution amount only with the Authority's prior approval.

Pension Funds must maintain a fully functional office within the International Financial Service Centre, supported by secure technology, communications and data-storage infrastructure for investment management, risk management, compliance and administration. They must implement and regularly update internal policies on investment decisions, risk management, compliance and grievance redressal; comply with AML/CFT/KYC requirements; maintain defined roles and reporting lines ensuring segregation of duties; and continually comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Registration as a Pension Fund may be granted by the Authority after it is satisfied that the applicant meets the applicable eligibility criteria and requirements and has paid the applicable fee. Where deficiencies prevent registration, they must be communicated and the applicant allowed thirty days to rectify them. Failure permits disposal of the application with reasons. A certificate remains valid unless suspended, cancelled, or surrendered with Authority acceptance.

Furnishing of information for pension fund registration permits the Authority to require an applicant to provide additional information or clarification necessary for considering its application. The Authority may require personal appearance for representation or clarification and may inspect the applicant's office before granting a certificate of registration.

Fit and proper requirements oblige every Pension Fund to ensure that its directors, Key Managerial Personnel and controlling shareholders remain fit and proper at all times under the First Schedule criteria. Persons declared not fit and proper by a regulatory authority cannot seek registration or serve in the relevant capacity until they satisfy that authority's applicable fit and proper criteria.

Applicants must appoint at least two Key Managerial Personnel for Pension Fund functions, including fund and risk management, and a Compliance Officer reporting directly to the Board. These personnel must possess prescribed postgraduate or equivalent professional qualifications and relevant experience in pension, fund management, fund operations, investment banking, or asset management. A relevant bachelor's degree is accepted for individuals with more than ten years' relevant work experience.

Pension Fund registration requires an applicant to be a company incorporated in an International Financial Services Centre or, subject to prior comparable registration or regulation, a branch of an overseas company. The board must have at least four directors, including at least one-half independent directors, and the applicant and promoters must not be from specified high-risk jurisdictions. Applicants or their parent or associate entities require ten years' relevant financial-sector experience and must maintain minimum net worth of USD 1 million, at the parent level where applicable.

Pension fund registration requires prior receipt of a certificate of registration before any person may act as a Pension Fund. An entity seeking certification must file its application through SWIT, with prescribed fees and supporting documents. Applications must disclose corporate structure, audited financial standing, business plans, organisational setup, key personnel, and risk-management arrangements. Incomplete applications are not processed.

Regulation 3 defines the framework for registered Pension Funds, voluntary Schemes, Subscribers and Pension Accounts. A Subscriber must be above 18 years, voluntarily join a Scheme and hold a Pension Account recording contributions, investment returns and withdrawals. Schemes must be Authority-approved and have distinct investment objectives, strategies and risk profiles, disclosed through a Scheme Information Document. The provision also defines governance roles, Trustees, Custodians, Credit Rating Agencies, Systematic Withdrawal Plans and the calculation of Net Worth.

Regulation 2 establishes a framework for registration, regulation and supervision of Pension Funds in India's International Financial Services Centre. The framework supports long-term retirement savings, promotes a secure and transparent environment for subscribers, protects subscriber interests, and maintains the integrity of the pension ecosystem in IFSC.

International Financial Services Centres Authority (Pension Fund) Regulations, 2026 provide the identified regulatory framework for pension funds within International Financial Services Centres. Made under statutory powers relating to regulatory functions and pension-fund matters, the Regulations take legal effect from their publication in the Official Gazette. The operative provisions addressed concern the prescribed short title and commencement date only.

Employee service conditions govern appointments, recruitment, probation, pay, leave, promotion, conduct, discipline, retirement and benefits for whole-time, deputed and contractual employees. Recruitment is generally through competitive selection, while contract and deputation appointments may be used for work exigencies. The framework imposes confidentiality, conflict-of-interest and financial-dealing restrictions, and establishes suspension, penalties, inquiry procedures, appeals, revision and review.

Cancellation of LUT Bond/BG under EPCG authorisations requires compliance with verification and documentation conditions. Specified EPCG licence holders are subject to verification before cancellation of the corresponding security. In listed cases not requiring verification, importers must submit the original EPCG licence, the EODC issued by DGFT, and an installation certificate accepted by the department to the EPCG Monitoring Cell for processing cancellation.

Conviction for murder on circumstantial evidence requires each incriminating circumstance to be conclusively established and the combined chain to exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. Inconsistencies and omissions in prior witness statements undermined allegations concerning the accused's presence, the movement of the child into the house, and a warning during a search. Discovery of the deceased in the house did not by itself prove participation in the killing, while absconding alone did not conclusively establish guilt or guilty conscience. The prosecution evidence therefore failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, attracting the benefit of doubt.

National Assessment Centre (NAC) Portal functions as a centralised digital repository and management information system supporting Faceless Assessment by promoting convergence, consistency and uniformity in Customs assessment. It gives importers, Customs Brokers, trade associations, officers and other stakeholders access to material relevant to classification, valuation and other assessment matters. Searchable repositories include meeting records, advance rulings, legal decisions, advisories, audit objections and issues requiring policy intervention, while authenticated role-based access enables authorised officers to manage, monitor and publish designated records.

Scheduled hearing opportunities must be preserved; disposal of a first appeal before the fixed hearing dates expire deprives the taxpayer of the arranged opportunity to present its case and requires corrective intervention. In a scrutiny assessment, a second disallowance of a gratuity provision where the corresponding amount was already disallowed under section 43B, and an unexplained reduction of a Chapter VI-A deduction, require fresh, reasoned adjudication. Reconsideration is confined to those two computation adjustments, without determining their substantive merits at that stage.

Permission for M/s. All Cargo Terminals Limited, CFS, to handle international transshipment of less-than-container-load containers and shipments, including related operations, is extended for a further two-year period up to 10 September 2028. Operations must comply with prescribed customs transshipment and cargo-handling conditions, the Customs Act, 1962, and applicable public notices. Any lapse may result in withdrawal of the permission without further notice.

Import clearance for cosmetics, drugs and medical devices requires verification of mandatory compliance documents before Out-of-Charge is granted. Proper officers must check applicable licences, permissions, registration certificates and prescribed particulars against the relevant compliance checklist. Importers, Customs Brokers and other stakeholders must upload mandatory records through e-SANCHIT to facilitate expedited clearance.