Government grants held by a nodal agency for State infrastructure schemes, remaining under State control and returnable on demand, do not accrue as the agency's taxable income. Interest on compulsory deposits of surplus grant funds likewise retains the grant's character where the agency cannot use it beneficially or earn profit from it. Form 26AS entries do not establish unrecorded income where interest is already recorded or receipts reimburse expenditure incurred for another party. Business expenditure incurred wholly and exclusively for road and bridge projects remains allowable under Section 37(1); absence of corresponding booked project income alone does not justify disallowance.

Statutory associate-company criteria governed whether the group company required consolidation and related-party disclosures. The Tribunal majority found no prescribed voting threshold, agreement, control, or participation in business decisions; accounting standards could supplement but not override the statutory definition. Consolidation and related-party disclosure contraventions therefore failed. The majority also found the real-estate bulk-sale memoranda and underlying projects genuine, with no proof that common personnel, funding arrangements, accounting differences, or weak finances established a sham scheme, market impact, unlawful gain, or PFUTP violation. Securities-enforcement proceedings were further initiated after inordinate, unexplained delay following completed transactions. The appeals succeeded, penalties were set aside and refundable; the Presiding Officer dissented.

Aadhaar authentication exemption under the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax framework is extended by amending Notification No. 03/2021-State Tax with effect from 24 September 2021. The exemption notification is revised to include sub-section (6A), alongside the previously covered provision, of section 25 concerning registration-related Aadhaar authentication requirements.

Service tax on corporate guarantees arises only where consideration is received for rendering a taxable service. Corporate guarantees extended to associated enterprises without commission, fee or other consideration do not create taxable value merely because a notional amount can be computed using prevailing bank-guarantee rates. A precedent involving a corporate guarantee issued for paid consideration does not apply where the guarantee was provided without consideration. The demand for service tax on such guarantees was therefore dropped, and the Revenue's appeal was dismissed.

Consultancy and guidance supplied directly to a foreign client for its Indian business dealings do not constitute intermediary services where the consultant acts on its own account. Intermediary status requires three parties: a supplier of the principal service, its recipient, and a party performing the subsidiary role of arranging or facilitating that supply. Absence of a contractual relationship with Indian Railways and of any go-between function preserved the consultancy as a two-party service. The service therefore fell outside intermediary services, and the dropping of service tax, interest and penalty proceedings was upheld.

Outdoor catering exemption extends to organised pantry and catering arrangements supplying beverages, sandwiches and refreshments where the catering arrangement as a whole provides a substantial and satisfying meal. The expression is not confined to lunch or dinner, and individual menu items cannot be isolated to deny exemption. For composite catering contracts involving food and beverages subject to VAT, the taxable service value must be separately identified under the contract and valuation provisions; service tax cannot be demanded on the entire consideration by assumption. Extended limitation does not apply where registration, returns, agreements, invoices and VAT records disclose all primary facts and the dispute concerns only interpretation of the exemption. The demand, interest and penalties were set aside.

Assessable value of a body-built motor vehicle manufactured on job work includes the chassis value on which duty was paid, including the additional margin applied under Rule 8, together with the job worker's material cost, expenses and profit. The manufacturer's anticipated resale profit and post-receipt expenses remain excluded. Although this valuation component was required to be included, extended limitation for duty recovery requires fraud, collusion, wilful misstatement, wilful suppression, or intent to evade duty. Departmental knowledge that the chassis had been valued at 110% of manufacturing cost precluded treating the job worker's omission as wilful suppression. A notice issued beyond the ordinary limitation period was therefore time-barred, resulting in the demand and penalty being set aside.

Ratification by the competent appointing authority can validate an unauthorised acceptance of resignation retrospectively, relating back to the initial acceptance. An employee who sought waiver of notice, accepted separation benefits and certification, and obtained new employment cannot subsequently challenge the completed resignation on a technical defect in initial acceptance. Under statutory service rules making resignation effective upon acceptance, communication of acceptance and the date of actual relieving do not postpone its legal effect. Although withdrawal before relieving may ordinarily be permitted, the competent authority may refuse it for recorded, communicated and rational reasons. Judicial review does not replace that discretion absent mala fides, perversity or illegality.

Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act does not impose automatic vicarious liability on a director merely because of directorship. A cheque-dishonour complaint must specifically allege that the person was in charge of and responsible for the company's business when the offence occurred, or that it resulted from that person's consent, connivance or neglect. General allegations are inadequate, particularly where the person neither signed the cheques nor remained a director when they were issued and dishonoured. Statutory records establishing resignation before issuance of the cheques negate such liability, and continuation of proceedings in those circumstances constitutes abuse of process.

Mutuality requires examination of complete identity between contributors and participants and of any dealings with outside bodies before determining a charitable institution's exemption entitlement or the taxability of its interest income. As these material factual requirements had not been examined by the lower authorities, the assessment required fresh consideration. The matter was restored for reassessment, with a reasonable opportunity for the assessee to present submissions and supporting documents.

Dual-energy solar cookers, fire water sprinklers, and parts of poultry-keeping machinery attract 12% GST under the stated classifications. Agricultural farm produce in packages exceeding 25 kilogram or 25 litre is excluded from "pre-packaged and labelled" treatment and does not attract 5% GST. Specified past-period issues are regularised on an "as is where is" basis. Regularisation for eligible government-programme supplies of pulses and cereals requires a prescribed certificate and denial or reversal of related input tax credit.

Taxability of an assessee's interest income outside the principle of mutuality depends on factual verification of complete identity between contributors and participants. The inquiry must also establish whether transactions are confined to persons contributing to a common fund, without dealings with outside bodies. Exemption under Section 11 cannot be denied without examining these factual requirements, as they are material to determining whether the income retains its mutual character.

GST input tax credit on demo vehicles used by authorised motor-vehicle dealers is available where the vehicles are used to promote and facilitate the dealer's further supply of similar motor vehicles. Credit is not available where vehicles are used for unrelated purposes or where the dealer merely provides marketing or test-drive facilitation services to a manufacturer without selling vehicles on its own account. Capitalisation does not by itself affect credit, subject to applicable conditions, depreciation restrictions, and the prescribed capital-goods disposal mechanism on subsequent sale.

Data hosting services supplied by an Indian provider to an overseas cloud computing provider are supplied on a principal-to-principal basis and are not intermediary services where the provider does not facilitate supplies to end users. The services are neither in respect of recipient-made-available goods nor directly related to immovable property. Where no specific place-of-supply provision applies, the place of supply is the recipient's overseas location. Such supply may qualify as export of services, subject to the remaining statutory export conditions.

The Prime Minister Internship Scheme provides paid internships with leading companies across India to improve youth employability through practical workplace exposure, industry experience and skills development. It addresses the gap between classroom learning and employers' expectations of workplace readiness. Participation is not confined to academic qualifications, allowing youth to pursue fields of interest and gain hands-on professional learning. Strong internship performance may lead to full-time roles, while the scheme stresses responsible work where errors may affect quality, consumer safety and organisational reputation.

SAFTA preferential duty treatment for areca-nut imports was allegedly misused by falsely declaring goods originating in South-East Asian countries as Bangladeshi origin. Since areca nuts normally attract 100% basic customs duty, the scheme sought to obtain the full SAFTA exemption reserved for qualifying Bangladeshi goods meeting Rules of Origin requirements. The alleged mechanism included routing goods through Bangladesh, changing containers and bags, using improperly obtained Certificates of Origin, and facilitating clearance through importers, Customs Brokers and IEC holders. Investigative findings also indicated cash proceeds, hawala channels and dummy entities.

Customs tariff values are revised for specified edible oils, brass scrap, gold, silver and areca nuts. The revised valuation tables cover crude and refined palm oil and palmolein, crude soya bean oil, brass scrap, specified gold bars, coins and findings, and specified silver forms, medallions, coins and semi-manufactured silver. Silver excludes foreign currency coins, silver jewellery and silver articles. Areca nuts are assigned a revised tariff value. The substituted tariff valuation tables take effect from 15 August 2026.

Where an Indian advertising agency provides an integrated advertising service to a foreign client on its own account, contracts separately with media owners and invoices the foreign client, it is not an intermediary. The foreign client remains the recipient; an Indian representative or target audience is not the recipient. Such services are not performance-based merely because advertisements are displayed in India. The recipient-location rule applies where no special rule governs, so the place of supply is outside India, subject to export conditions. An agency that only facilitates a direct media-owner supply to the foreign client is an intermediary.

IGST refunds on exports may be regularized where inputs were initially imported without payment of IGST and compensation cess under specified customs exemption benefits, provided the importer subsequently pays those taxes with interest. The refund is not treated as contravening rule 96(10) where the relevant bill of entry is reassessed by jurisdictional customs authorities to reflect payment of IGST and compensation cess.

The Reserve Bank of India restricted its concessional swap facility for FCNR(B) deposits to deposits mobilised by August 31, advancing the earlier cut-off date. The facility was intended to encourage foreign-currency inflows, while banks mobilise such deposits through attractive interest rates. Market commentary indicated that existing inflows may support the rupee in the near term, but the curtailed availability of the facility could reduce this temporary cushion and increase depreciation risk.