Transfer pricing adjustments for the manufacturing segment must be confined to associated-enterprise transactions and cannot be applied to total turnover. The reported decision also treats foreign exchange fluctuation on import purchases as operating cost, goodwill amortisation from an extraordinary acquisition as non-operating expenditure, and permits adjustment for materially higher non-cenvatable customs duty. For capacity utilisation, authorities must obtain unavailable comparable-company data directly and provide a hearing. Software comparables were selected or excluded based on functional similarity, product development, intangibles and segmental data. Royalty was treated as revenue expenditure, while a warranty provision based on historical experience was allowable.

Section 153C jurisdiction for assessment years beyond the six preceding years requires the Assessing Officer to record satisfaction that escaped income is represented by an asset. The six-year period is reckoned from the assessment year relevant to the previous year in which seized material is received by the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over the other person; on that basis, AY 2015-16 fell within the extended period. However, a satisfaction note referring only to alleged cash transactions did not establish the mandatory asset-representation condition. The assessment was therefore treated as void for lack of valid jurisdiction, and the consequential addition could not survive; issues concerning digital evidence, consolidated satisfaction and merits remained open.

Transfer-pricing treatment of corporate guarantees to wholly owned associated enterprises is discussed as requiring an arm's length commission of 0.5%, rather than a bank-guarantee rate of 1.90%. For outstanding foreign-currency receivables from associated enterprises, the relevant benchmark is the market rate for the transaction currency, identified as LIBOR plus 200 basis points rather than domestic lending or deposit rates. A normal interest-free credit period of 60 days is to be allowed before computing interest. The resulting adjustments are confined to the guarantee commission and recomputation of receivables interest on those parameters.

Agricultural land retains its agricultural character at transfer where revenue records and receipts establish agricultural use, and the purchaser obtains non-agricultural-use permission only after sale; the resulting gain is not taxable as capital gains. Agricultural receipts recorded in books and supported by undisputed bills are not unexplained income merely because they were omitted from the return. Profit on sale of shares is assessable as capital gains rather than business income where the shareholder had no control over the company's management or business and the contrary treatment rests solely on an alleged controlling interest.

Interest claimed on unsecured loans admitted to be bogus accommodation entries is treated as non-deductible as a consequential matter. The tax deducted at source component of such interest must be excluded from the disallowance. Estimated commission additions for obtaining accommodation entries require corroborative evidence of payment or a reliable basis for estimation; a presumption alone is insufficient. Accordingly, the interest disallowance is retained after excluding tax deducted at source, while the commission additions are deleted.

For assessment years beginning on or before 1 April 2021, the first proviso to section 149(1) retains the limitation period under the erstwhile reassessment regime as a threshold bar. A reassessment notice for AY 2015-16, issued after the applicable six-year period had expired, was therefore time-barred. Compliance with section 148A and any exclusion or extension under the former third and fourth provisos to section 149(1) could not revive a notice prohibited by the first proviso. The ITAT quashed the reassessment notice and consequential reassessment order; other grounds became academic.

Completed unsold units held as a builder-developer's stock-in-trade may attract deemed annual-value taxation once occupancy or completion certificates have been issued. Notional rental income should be calculated using municipal rateable value, rather than an ad hoc percentage of the units' cost or investment. A unit for which purchaser advances have been received may be treated as sold and excluded from deemed rent where final possession has not been delivered, subject to verification of the claim and supporting material. The discussion notes remand for verification of the advance claim and recomputation of annual letting value on the municipal rateable-value basis.

Under a joint development agreement, delivery of possession solely for development does not trigger a taxable transfer unless it involves title, consideration or part performance under the Transfer of Property Act. For eligible individuals or HUFs, capital gains may instead arise when the completion certificate is issued. Consideration for land transferred is determined by the stamp duty value of the completed built-up area received, not the developer's construction cost. Multiple allotted residential flats may qualify as investment in a residential house for capital-gains exemption. On later sale, the flats' cost corresponds to the value used at initial taxation, and their holding period runs from the occupancy certificate. Deemed annual value applies only to stock-in-trade, not capital assets.

Benami acquisition of shares was established through the alleged benamidar's lack of economic capacity and genuine operations, indirect funding from entities connected to the beneficial owner, unsupported commercial explanations, and the beneficial owner's effective control. Applying indicia including the source of consideration, parties' relationship and surrounding circumstances, the Tribunal confirmed attachment of the identified shares as benami property. However, attachment could extend only to shares specified in the show-cause notice, provisional attachment order and impugned order. Freezing additional shares in the demat account without material linking them to the benami proceedings was impermissible, and their release to the rightful owner was directed.

Section 80 of the Customs Act is the specific mechanism for detention and return or re-export of dutiable or prohibited articles in passenger baggage, available only where the passenger makes a true declaration under Section 77. Section 125 provides a general, discretionary power to allow redemption of confiscated prohibited goods on payment of fine, but does not independently permit re-export or override Section 80. Applying the principle that a special provision prevails over a general provision, undeclared gold intercepted after the passenger crossed the Green Channel could not be re-exported through redemption where no Section 80 detention was sought. Revisional correction of such legally impermissible discretion was within statutory power.

A CESTAT decision states that an importer's letter foregoing SAFTA preferential duty, given while goods were detained and demurrage accrued, was not a voluntary relinquishment under section 28DA(4) and did not bar challenge to reassessment. It further states that a valid, undisputed Bangladesh certificate of origin established entitlement to concessional duty where the prescribed SAFTA verification procedure was not invoked. As no physical mismatch, misdeclaration or fraud was found, the decision records that the differential duty demand, confiscation, redemption fine and penalty were set aside with consequential relief.

Social Welfare Surcharge on imports cleared against MEIS/SEIS duty credit scrips is discussed where Basic Customs Duty is exempt under the relevant customs notifications. The note explains that the surcharge is calculated on the aggregate customs duties payable, rather than on a notional Basic Customs Duty. Accordingly, where the exemption reduces aggregate customs duty payable to nil, no Social Welfare Surcharge arises. It records that this approach was applied to imports of Synthesis Menthol and resulted in the challenged demands being set aside with consequential relief.

For customs valuation, the amended transaction-value regime requires acceptance of the price actually paid or payable in the particular import transaction where buyer and seller are unrelated and price is the sole consideration. Where the original consignee defaulted without payment, bill of entry, title, or delivery, its initial contract did not establish the relevant sale value. The subsequent importer's renegotiated price paid to the overseas supplier was treated as transaction value because no relationship, additional consideration, or excess payment was alleged. Earlier deemed-value rulings under the pre-amendment regime were inapplicable. The majority view sustained the declared value and dismissed Revenue's appeal.

Related-party customs valuation is addressed through rejection of the declared transaction value where undisclosed funding discounts and dual invoicing created reasonable doubt. The notes state that value should then be redetermined sequentially using deductive-value principles, flexibly applied through residual valuation, with the local list price treated as deemed resale price where contemporaneous sales data is unavailable. Only normal, known and uniformly available discounts may be deducted; warranty costs are not post-import expenses, while customs duty, brokerage and fees are deductible. International freight and insurance cannot be added again. CLCP cannot replace declared MRP for additional-duty assessment. The discussion also confi.....

Moratorium breaches involving sale of mortgaged property and withdrawals from a corporate debtor's funds may warrant restoration to preserve the insolvency estate during CIRP. The notes state that the Adjudicating Authority's residuary jurisdiction extends to consequential directions required to protect and restore estate assets, independently of a finding of fraudulent or wrongful trading. Relief depends on the nature of the restoration sought, and unsupported claims that withdrawals were authorised do not displace the statutory moratorium and management-transfer framework. A direction to restore funds to the corporate debtor's account is described as valid consequential relief. A reference for action under an omitted provision concerning moratorium contravention is stated to be infructuous.

Writ jurisdiction against provisional attachment under the PMLA should be exercised sparingly where an efficacious statutory remedy exists, unless mala fides, patent arbitrariness or manifest lack of jurisdiction is clearly shown. The notes state that FIRs disclosing cheating as a scheduled offence, coupled with statutory reporting to jurisdictional police, can support provisional attachment; a pre-registered criminal case is not indispensable if the prescribed reporting process is followed. Disputes over advertising revenue attributable to users outside India concern quantification of alleged proceeds of crime and disputed facts, and should be addressed through the PMLA adjudicatory mechanism. The writ petition was dismissed, with rights and contentions reserved for statutory proceedings.

Packaged information technology software copied onto a medium and marketed is described as possessing the attributes of goods, making its transfer a deemed sale excluded from taxable service. The text states that inability to meet the conditions of Notification No. 11/2016-ST does not convert such a sale into a taxable service; accordingly, the related service tax demand, interest and penalty were deleted. It separately states that late fee for failure to file prescribed periodic service tax returns after registration remained payable, and the appeal was partly allowed.

Manufacture for central excise requires transformation into a new, distinct and marketable commodity with a separate name, character and use; labour, skill, expense or value addition alone does not suffice. Kitting imported photocopier modules by unpacking and placing them into customer-specific sets was not manufacture where the components remained in original packing, no physical assembly occurred at the warehouse, and relevant fittings had been made abroad. Note 6 to Section XVI could not deem manufacture because the modules were imported and assessed as complete machines, with no subsequent conversion of incomplete goods into complete articles. Rule 2(a) governs classification only and does not determine manufacture. The excise-duty demand was unsustainable.

Compression of natural gas constitutes manufacture under Chapter Note 5 to Chapter 27 only where it is compressed for marketing as compressed natural gas. Compression undertaken solely to facilitate transportation, followed by decompression at customers' premises and sale as natural gas, does not amount to manufacture under section 2(f) of the Central Excise Act, 1944. On that basis, the excise duty demand, interest and penalties on the company, including the penalty imposed on its Chairman-CEO, were set aside.

For dishonour of a cheque drawn on a company account, the company must be arraigned as an accused before vicarious liability can attach to an authorised signatory or other persons responsible for its business. Omission of the company is a foundational defect that prevents valid cognizance under the Negotiable Instruments Act. Section 319 CrPC cannot be used to cure that defect by subsequently impleading the company after the statutory limitation period; any fresh complaint remains subject to limitation and delayed cognizance requires sufficient cause. The Supreme Court quashed the complaint and consequential proceedings, and held that the direction to suo motu arraign the company exceeded jurisdiction.