The Commission conducts selection processes for vacancies of Chairpersons and Members of specified Tribunals through Search-cum-Selection Committees. Its functions also include reviewing Tribunal performance, preparing an annual report for submission to the Central Government, overseeing inquiries into complaints against Chairpersons and Members, and developing and maintaining the National Tribunals Data Grid.

National Tribunals Commission is to be established from a date appointed by the Central Government through Official Gazette notification, to exercise statutory powers and perform assigned functions. The Commission shall comprise a Chairperson and four Members, including two Judicial Members and two Technical Members. Eligibility requires prior service as a Supreme Court Judge or Chief Justice of a High Court for the Chairperson, prior High Court judicial service for Judicial Members, and at least twenty-five years' specialised experience for Technical Members.

Section 2 establishes the definitional framework for the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2026. It gives an inclusive meaning to Chairperson and Member across Tribunals, while separately defining the Chairperson and members of the National Tribunals Commission. It also defines the Commission, Secretariat, Search-cum-Selection Committee, National Tribunals Data Grid, prescribed rules, regulations, Schedules, and Tribunal.

Late fee applies for delay in furnishing a complete annual return where FORM GSTR-9C is required. FORM GSTR-9 alone does not complete the annual-return obligation if the reconciliation statement is mandatory. Late fee is calculated from the annual-return due date until both FORM GSTR-9 and FORM GSTR-9C are furnished, and is not separately levied for each form. For annual returns up to financial year 2022-23, excess late fee is waived if the required FORM GSTR-9C is furnished by 31 March 2025, while late fee already paid is not refundable.

The Tribunals Reforms Act, 2026 seeks to improve tribunal efficiency, independence, transparency and uniformity in qualifications, appointments, service conditions, administration and functioning. It provides for a National Tribunals Commission and consequential amendments to related enactments. Section 1 permits commencement by Official Gazette notification, including different dates for different provisions; commencement references apply to the effective date of the relevant provision. Commencement took effect from 25 August 2026.

Gujarat SGST rate classification is amended from 1 January 2022. The earlier notification relating to textile products is superseded, and the entry for specified textile products in the 2.5% Schedule is omitted. Footwear of sale value not exceeding Rs. 1,000 per pair is inserted in the 6% Schedule.

Gujarat amended classification entries in the GST exemption table issued under section 11 of the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, following changes in Harmonised System codes under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. The tariff entries against serial numbers 4 and 29 were substituted with "4414" and "7419 80" respectively, effective 1 January 2022.

Insurance-company profits are computed under section 44 read with rule 2 of the First Schedule, a special mechanism that operates notwithstanding other Income-tax Act computation provisions. On the stated consistent Tribunal view, this mechanism excludes disallowance of expenditure relating to exempt income under section 14A read with rule 8D for life-insurance companies. Consequently, no such disallowance can be made, and deletion of the disallowance is sustained.

Interim protection from arrest is ancillary to anticipatory bail proceedings and cannot continue after a pre-arrest bail application is dismissed as not maintainable. Protection granted after such dismissal was therefore set aside. Communication of the Commissioner's arrest authorisation under the CGST Act is necessary to enable the affected person to seek anticipatory bail or challenge the recorded reasons through judicial review. The authorisation must be communicated electronically, in addition to other legally permissible modes; without prior communication, arrest cannot proceed. The affected person may pursue available legal remedies after communication, while the investigation continues independently of these observations.

Transitional applicability of the appellate pre-deposit requirement depends on the law in force when adjudicatory proceedings commenced through issuance of the show-cause notice. Appeals against penalty orders arising from notices issued before substitution of the proviso to Section 107(6) of the CGST Act remain governed by the earlier pre-deposit provision. Petitioners must pursue the statutory appellate remedy, with physical filing accepted where electronic filing is unavailable because no individual registration or temporary identification exists. The merits, including whether penalty provisions apply to a person who is not taxable, remain open for determination in accordance with the Supreme Court's ultimate decision.

Service of GST notices after cancellation of registration must be effective, and an adverse adjudication requires a meaningful opportunity to reply and a personal hearing. Where registration had been cancelled and the taxpayer was not effectively served or heard, the adjudication order was quashed. The taxpayer was permitted to file a reply to the show-cause notice, and the Department could undertake fresh adjudication in accordance with law after granting a personal hearing.

Alternative statutory remedy under GST did not prevent protective writ intervention where an ex parte adjudication was linked to partners' medical exigencies and substantial tax, interest and penalty exposure. The input tax credit dispute remained undecided on merits. Recourse to the statutory appeal was permitted subject to payment of the prescribed pre-deposit and imposed costs, with the appellate authority required to entertain the appeal and determine it independently in accordance with law. The writ proceedings therefore preserved access to the appellate remedy without deciding the underlying input tax credit demand.

Assessment orders passed after non-response to portal-issued show-cause notices were quashed after the assessee agreed to make the stipulated deposit in instalments and appear before the assessing authority. The assessee may file replies and supporting documents, with the impugned assessment orders treated as addenda to the respective show-cause notices. Fresh adjudication on merits is conditional on compliance with the deposit and reply-filing requirements. If those conditions are not met, recovery proceedings may continue as though the writ petitions had been dismissed in limine.

Fresh adjudication of a confirmed tax demand may proceed only after verification that the entire disputed tax has been recovered or after deposit of any unrecovered balance. The demand was remitted for a final decision on merits, conditional on verification or payment of the disputed tax and submission of a reply to the show-cause notice with supporting documents. If those conditions were not met, recovery could continue in accordance with law after due notice.

Article 22(1) requires written communication of arrest grounds within a reasonable time and at least two hours before production for remand. Written grounds identifying the accused's alleged role, wrongful input tax credit, entities involved and particulars of fraud were treated as sufficiently specific; refusal to receive them did not render them vague. Conflicting arrest times did not invalidate the arrest where same-day production before the Magistrate caused no prejudice, and recorded reasons to believe were not required to be supplied. Judicial remand was supported by counsel representation, consideration of both sides' submissions, verification of statutory safeguards and recorded satisfaction on the arrest's justification. The criminal writ petition challenging the GST arrest and remand was dismissed without addressing the underlying merits.

GST assessment against a deceased proprietor has no legal efficacy, particularly where it is completed without the statutory personal-hearing opportunity under Section 75(4). The assessment order and consequential appellate rejection were declared invalid because the assessment followed the proprietor's death and did not address the hearing requirement. Fresh assessment proceedings may be initiated by issuing notice and providing a hearing to the legal representative or person carrying on the business. Recovery is limited to the deceased person's available estate, and the intervening period may be excluded when computing limitation for fresh proceedings.

Section 62(2) of the GST law provides that a best-judgment assessment for non-filing of returns is deemed withdrawn when the registered person furnishes a valid return within the prescribed period. Furnishing the relevant GSTR-3B return, together with applicable late fee, additional late fee and interest, removes the assessment while preserving liability for interest and late fees. The provision therefore operates to withdraw the assessment automatically upon compliant post-assessment return filing.

Assessment proceedings and an appellate order against a sole proprietorship were invalid because the proprietor had died before the assessment order was issued and the objection was raised in appeal. Where GST liability is pursued after a sole proprietor's death, the assessing authority must follow the procedure under Section 93(1)(b) of the CGST Act against the legal representative. The common appellate order was set aside, and the matter was remanded for fresh action against the legal representative after an opportunity of hearing.

Burial-ground upkeep and maintenance involving sweeping, cleaning and daily garbage collection is classified under SAC 999424 as general waste collection services, rather than a residuary service category. The municipal-function exemption under Entry 3A requires a composite supply of goods and services. Welfare kits, bins, tools, consumables and equipment used by the service provider to perform cleaning, without transfer of ownership or possession to the Corporation, do not constitute a supply of goods to the recipient. As the arrangement lacked the required composite supply, the Entry 3A exemption does not apply.

Residential housing-unit sweeping, cleaning, collection, segregation and storage of garbage are classified as general waste collection services under SAC 999423, which is more specific than the residuary category for other services not elsewhere specified. The arrangement is not eligible for the exemption available for composite supplies of goods and services to a local authority in relation to municipal functions. Cleaning and garbage removal formed the predominant supply, while welfare kits, bins, tools and consumables merely facilitated service performance and were procured at the service provider's cost. As ownership or possession of those items was not transferred to the local authority, no supply of goods occurred and the composite-supply condition was not met.