Municipal employees temporarily suspended their strike after the administration committed to pay two months' pending salaries by September 15 and arrange clearance of remaining salary arrears within 30 days. The employees had sought payment of salary arrears, increased GST grants to the civic body, and release of the outstanding difference in GST grants. A committee is to pursue the pending GST grant proposals at the government level.

Aadhaar-linked OTP information assisted investigators in tracing an adult student missing for more than seven months. A recent Aadhaar-based transaction recorded her husband's mobile number for OTP receipt, allowing police to trace the number and locate her. The CID had assumed investigation pursuant to a High Court order on a habeas corpus petition. The student was produced before the High Court, while tracing efforts continued for her minor companion, who remained missing.

Monetary policy tightening is advocated to counter persistent external shocks, elevated crude oil prices, and expanding inflationary pressures. The proposed response is based on the risk that sustained high oil prices may raise consumer-price inflation and entrench inflation before a complete cost pass-through occurs. Banking-system liquidity has increased through foreign currency deposit inflows, but anticipated strong credit demand is expected to absorb the surplus and normalise liquidity by the end of the financial year.

Enforcement Directorate action in the CMRL-linked matter prompted a request for registration of an FIR based on material recovered during investigation and searches under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. BJP representatives asserted that the material warranted investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act and alleged delay in acting on it. CPI(M) representatives disputed the investigation's neutrality, alleging coercive collection of statements and political misuse of investigative processes. The reported allegations and counter-allegations concern initiation and conduct of a criminal investigation.

India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement implementation is being leveraged through a strategic partnership supporting the Great North Mayor Mission to India. The mission is intended to convert free-trade opportunities into investment, commercial engagement, employment and sustained business relationships. Northern England's regions will combine collective engagement with region-specific market strategies, relationship-building and operational programmes focused on their respective economic strengths.

Rupee depreciation against the US dollar continued amid global risk aversion, elevated crude oil prices, higher bond yields and weak domestic sentiment. Lower crude prices, recovery in domestic equities and suspected Reserve Bank of India intervention supported a partial intraday recovery. Foreign-exchange conditions were also influenced by dollar strength, inflation concerns, anticipated US data, domestic equity declines and net foreign institutional equity sales. India's foreign-exchange reserves rose sharply to a record level despite continuing currency-market volatility.

Retrospective validating legislation must cure the statutory defect or remove the legal basis of an earlier ruling; it cannot merely declare a contrary position or override judicial determinations. Section 147A is analysed as ineffective because it does not amend the continuing requirements under Section 151A and the relevant faceless assessment schemes, including randomized automated allocation. Reassessment notices under Section 148 are required to be issued through the prescribed faceless and automated process. Executive notifications or instructions granting concurrent jurisdiction cannot displace that statutory procedure, and a legally prescribed mode must be followed exclusively.

Section 147A, enacted retrospectively to exclude faceless Assessing Officers from issuing reassessment notices, was declared unconstitutional for violating separation of powers. A validating enactment may neutralise a judicial ruling only by curing the underlying defect or removing its legal basis; Section 147A neither amended the statutory faceless reassessment scheme nor addressed its requirement of randomised automated allocation. Notices under Section 148 must be issued through faceless, randomised automated allocation under the scheme framed under Section 151A. Jurisdictional Assessing Officers therefore lacked concurrent authority to issue such notices, and notices issued outside that process were set aside.

BRICS economic cooperation is advanced through proposed removal of major trade barriers, expanded cross-border investment and business ties, and measurable annual targets for startup expansion and commercial partnerships. Secure sea lanes, open supply routes, freedom of navigation and seafarer safety are treated as necessary for global trade and supply-chain continuity. Infrastructure, strategic technologies, startup innovation and digital public infrastructure are identified as platforms for deeper cooperation, supported by incubator, MSME, startup, agriculture, health care, skills and smart-grid networks.

Nationwide bank employee strike action disrupted cash deposits, withdrawals, cheque clearances and administrative work, principally at public sector bank branches. The principal demand is implementation of a five-day banking week by declaring all Saturdays as holidays. This demand is linked to the 12th Bipartite Settlement but remains pending government notification. Other unresolved demands concern pension updation, a uniform dearness allowance formula for pensioners, and an option for National Pension System employees to shift to the Old Pension Scheme.

Foreign Exchange Management Act investigation into alleged undisclosed overseas investments led to searches of premises connected with a Karnataka public works minister, family members, associates and a private company. The investigation alleges foreign shareholdings, cash investments in a Congo-based entity through unauthorised channels, and bribe payments connected with a public works tender and foreign asset acquisition. Cash, foreign currency, digital devices and records relating to foreign entities and alleged contractor-bribery collections were seized.

Money-laundering prosecution is not rendered infructuous merely because claimant banks recover debts from attached assets restored to them. Restoration under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act enables legitimate claimants to recover losses but does not cancel or require discontinuance of criminal proceedings concerning alleged laundering and misappropriation of bank-loan funds. The Enforcement Directorate also maintains that failure to respond to summons and submit to criminal-court jurisdiction remains material to the proceedings.

Security-interest priority under the SARFAESI Act concerns registration under section 26B and the priority contemplated by section 26E in relation to crown debts, including sales, commercial and income tax dues. Related issues include a Registering Authority's power to register sale certificates despite attachments and remittance of auction-sale surplus to tax departments. The Special Leave Petition was dismissed for uncondoned delay, leaving any question of law open.

Input tax credit under a special rebating scheme is addressed as a concession or right, including the requirement to claim credit through an original or revised return, rectification during reassessment, and refund or adjustment of excess credit with interest. The legal issue concerns the interaction between substantive provisions and machinery provisions, with substantive provisions prevailing. The Supreme Court declined to interfere with the High Court judgment and dismissed the special leave petitions.

Mandatory pre-deposit under Section 35F of the Central Excise Act requires the stipulated duty or penalty amount before an appeal can be entertained. Deposits made through GST DRC-03 must be considered consistently where an earlier deposit through that mode has already been accepted. A subsequent deposit through the same mode cannot be disregarded without a valid basis. On considering both deposits and the remaining prescribed balance deposited before the Tribunal, the mandatory pre-deposit requirement stood satisfied.

Section 35(1) of the Central Excise Act confines the Commissioner (Appeals)' power to condone delay to the prescribed appeal period plus a further 30 days on sufficient cause. Following COVID-period exclusion, limitation commenced on 1 March 2022; the ordinary 60-day period ended on 29 April 2022 and the maximum condonable period ended on 28 May 2022. An appeal filed thereafter could not be entertained, particularly where no condonation application was made, because the appellate authority has no statutory power to extend limitation beyond that outer limit.

Coordinate-bench precedent governed proceedings that stood on the same footing as earlier similarly situated matters. The impugned appellate order and order-in-original required the same treatment prescribed by that precedent, resulting in their quashing in favour of the assessee. The legal focus is the consistent application of a binding coordinate-bench ruling where the relevant controversy is directly covered and no material distinction is identified.

Social Welfare Surcharge on duty credit scrips and MEIS exemptions raised the issue whether the surcharge is chargeable as a percentage of duties levied and collected, including the distinction between levy and collection under Article 265. The Special Leave Petition was disposed of because the tax effect fell below the prescribed threshold. The question of law on surcharge chargeability and the authority to impose tax remains open.

Section 80P(2)(a)(iii) permits deduction for paddy procurement commission where a co-operative society coordinates procurement, logistics and payment of proceeds for agricultural produce grown by its members. Routing the commission through a State agency or tax deduction at source does not alter the activity's character as member-produce marketing, absent material showing procurement from non-members. Section 80P(2)(d) also covers interest on deposits with a district central co-operative bank registered as a co-operative society. Section 80P(4) limits the co-operative bank's own deduction but does not prevent a depositor co-operative society from claiming deduction on such interest.

Section 69A applies only where the source of money is not satisfactorily explained. Cash books, bank records, financial statements and an audit report supporting cash generated from edible-oil trading establish that an entire cash deposit cannot automatically be assessed as unexplained money. Where documentary inconsistencies remain, assessment may be confined to the profit element embedded in the deposit; a 10% estimation was treated as reasonable. Section 250(6) requires an appellate order to state the points for determination, decisions and reasons, rather than dispose of the matter summarily. The balance cash-deposit addition was deleted and the estimated profit was taxable at normal rates.