Taxpayers claiming that property-related payments were funded by loans must establish receipt and source through confirmations or other reliable evidence. Failure to substantiate loan funding can leave the payment unexplained and support an addition. Expenditure on ground levelling and compound-wall construction requires evidence of its source, invoices, purchased materials, payees and payment trail. Where these elements are not satisfactorily established, section 69C treats the outlay as unexplained expenditure chargeable to tax. Property-improvement claims therefore require documentary proof both of funding and of actual expenditure.

Customs testing of imported furnace oil, fuel oil and waste oil requires screening for acidity, ash content, sediment and water. Where hazardous or non-hazardous status is required, three samples are drawn: one for JNCH testing of other parameters, one for hazardous-status testing at the importer's or owner's cost, and one retained centrally. Assessment may proceed without the hazardous-status report where the JNCH report finds the product is not off-specification; otherwise, it awaits the required test reports.

End-entity digital-signature authentication requires private-key creation, public-key verification, hash functions, contextual date and time, and certificate-based trust validation. Verification recomputes the hash, checks the corresponding key and signing time, follows certificate chains to the Controller's self-signed certificate, and checks revocation status, subject to the exception for certificates valid for less than one hour. Long-term validity requires timestamps covering signed data, certificates and revocation information, with nested timestamps extending validity beyond time-stamping key or algorithm expiry.

Reassessment jurisdiction cannot be validly assumed on recorded reasons founded on the incorrect premise that no return of income was filed when the return was in fact on record. Such inconsistency demonstrates non-application of mind to the assessment record before issuing a notice for reassessment. The notice under Section 148, the reassessment proceedings, and the consequential reassessment order under Sections 147 and 143(3) were therefore invalid and quashed.

Sample-testing arrangements extend the use of two specified external laboratories for covered imported goods other than Chapter 27 goods. Chapter 27 goods must undergo compulsory testing at the DYCC/JNCH laboratory from 18 November 2019, while external laboratory testing for other covered goods continues until 31 December 2019. The arrangement operates as a standing order across the specified Customs Commissionerates.

Customs laboratory sampling requirements prescribe commodities eligible for testing, minimum sample quantities, and handling procedures for complete analysis. Samples must be properly labelled, packed and sealed, and each sample must be accompanied by an individual test memo in duplicate. Only one sample may be sent with each memo, while the duplicate is retained by the Central Sampling Cell or investigating unit. Quantity requirements vary by commodity and physical form, including separate requirements for liquids, solids, textiles, ceramics, metals and base-metal articles. Liquid samples must be leak-proof and sealed in plastic containers of prescribed capacities.

Criminal complaints instituted after cheque-dishonour proceedings under the Negotiable Instruments Act require scrutiny for misuse of criminal process. Where the record and surrounding circumstances show that the allegations are absurd, continuation of the prosecution amounts to an abuse of process. On those facts, the criminal complaint and consequential proceedings against the appellant were quashed.

Mandatory inquiry under Section 202 CrPC applies before process is issued against persons residing outside a Magistrate's territorial jurisdiction. Criminal liability cannot be inferred against a manufacturer and its officers where the purchase order, advance payments and dishonoured refund cheque involved an authorised dealer, without material showing entrustment, dishonest inducement, or common design. Issuing process under the Negotiable Instruments Act despite allegations under the IPC indicates non-application of mind. The cognizance and process orders were quashed against the manufacturer and its officers.

Recognition of BSE Clearing Limited as a clearing corporation is renewed for a three-year period, subject to compliance with conditions specified by SEBI from time to time and any further conditions that may be prescribed or imposed. The renewal is granted under statutory powers concerning recognition of clearing corporations and is based on the interests of trade, the securities market, and the public interest.

RoDTEP Scheme availability continues until 31 December 2026 for exports by Domestic Tariff Area units, Advance Authorisation holders, Special Economic Zone units, and Export Oriented Units. Existing rates and value caps under Appendix 4R and Appendix 4RE remain unchanged, and all other scheme terms and conditions continue to apply to eligible exports.

Charitable exemption under Section 11 should not be denied solely because Form 10B was not electronically filed with the return where the audit report was obtained and furnished within the prescribed period or during assessment. Such filing constitutes substantial compliance with the audit-report requirement. Summary processing adjustments that disallow the exemption require prior written or electronic intimation and an opportunity to respond; an adjustment made without that notice is invalid. The exemption remains subject to verification of the audit report in Form 10B.

Special Additional Excise Duty on Aviation Turbine Fuel cleared for export is amended by substituting the rate specified against serial number 1 in the applicable exemption table with Rs. 10.5 per litre. The substitution takes effect from 1 October 2026 and applies to the existing framework governing duty on Aviation Turbine Fuel export clearances.

Organisations operating Protected Systems must establish an Information Security Steering Committee and designate a senior-management Chief Information Security Officer. They must maintain an Information Security Management System, documented network architecture, access and asset inventories, annual Vulnerability/Threat/Risk Analysis, a Cyber Crisis Management Plan, periodic security audits, IT security service-level agreement processes, and monitoring through Cyber Security and Network Operation Centers. The Chief Information Security Officer must share specified security information, logs, monitoring records and cyber-incident communications with the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre.

Special additional excise duty on exports of petrol and diesel is revised by substituting the duty-rate entry in column (4) of the table against serial number 2. Exercising powers under the Central Excise Act, 1944, read with the Finance Act, 2002, the Central Government prescribes a rate of Rs. 16 per litre, effective from 1 October 2026.

Proportionate GST pre-deposit refund may be claimed for an issue resolved in the assessee's favour at the first appellate stage, even where a further appeal continues on another issue. The refund is limited to the pre-deposit attributable to the resolved issue, provided the relief has attained finality and is not under departmental challenge. The remaining pre-deposit stays linked to the surviving dispute. The claim should include the appellate order, pre-deposit proof, and an issue-wise computation.

Customs tariff values under section 14(2) of the Customs Act, 1962 are revised through substitution of Tables 1, 2 and 3 in the tariff-value framework. The revised values apply from 1 October 2026 and cover specified edible oils, brass scrap, gold, silver and areca nuts. Areca nuts retain a tariff value of US$ 11,574 per metric tonne without change.

Paragraph 7(1) of the Employees' Pension Scheme, 2026 receives a new eligibility category for persons who were members of the Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 2026 but were not members of the pension scheme. Coverage depends on wages, on the date the new wage ceiling is notified, being less than or equal to the wage ceiling notified by the Central Government. The amendment takes effect from 17 September 2026.

Employees' State Insurance coverage extends from 1 October 2026 to establishments throughout Niwari district and designated areas of 24 partially implemented districts in Madhya Pradesh. Employers and employees of covered establishments become liable to pay contributions under section 29 of the Code on Social Security, 2020. Employees of these establishments become entitled to benefits under Chapter IV relating to the Employees' State Insurance Corporation, subject to the applicable statutory framework.

Joint Commissioners of Income-tax (Appeals) and Additional Commissioners of Income-tax (Appeals) are placed under the control of the Principal Chief Commissioners of Income-tax or Chief Commissioners of Income-tax within whose jurisdiction they perform their functions. This substitutes the existing clause governing their subordination under the 1988 notification and takes effect from 30 September 2026, the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

Minimum Import Price condition of USD 111 per kg on the CIF value of ATS-8 imports under specified Chapter 29 ITC (HS) codes is extended until 30 November 2026. All other terms and conditions imposed under the earlier MIP measure continue unchanged, so imports of the specified chemical remain subject to the existing minimum-price requirement through that date.