Inspection and measurement of premises claimed for the liquidation estate may be directed to identify and segregate the relevant area without adjudicating disputed third-party title or possession. Section 60(5) covers matters arising from or relating to liquidation, but does not ordinarily permit determination of complex ownership and possession disputes between third parties. A limited inspection direction neither determines title nor disturbs possessory rights, and any subsequent action by the liquidator must comply with law.

Writ intervention at the inception of arbitration under the SEBI online dispute resolution framework is confined to demonstrable lack of authority, breach of the governing framework, or a patent jurisdictional defect. Round-robin allocation of a complaint to an ODR institution must account for qualifications concerning the relevant stock exchange, but non-listing of securities on the administering exchange alone does not establish a patent absence of authority. Allocation, limitation, locus, maintainability, repeated proceedings, res judicata, abuse of process and arbitrability must be determined by the arbitral forum. Following failed conciliation, participation in arbitration is required without waiving legally sustainable objections.

Interim status quo protecting the company's assets continues pending appointment of a valuer and determination of the proposed buyout of the appellant's shareholding. The valuation process had not begun because no valuer had been appointed, and preservation of the existing position remained necessary until that process could proceed. Allegations of oppression and mismanagement were not adjudicated in the appeal.

Automated PCR-based diagnostic systems that process specimens through lysis, extraction, amplification and fluorescence detection, then compare signals against assay-specific criteria to produce positive or negative results, are classified as optical measuring or checking instruments under tariff item 9031 49 00. Classification follows Rule 1 of the General Rules for Interpretation because the system does not determine a specimen's property, composition, concentration or quantity, as required for classification as an instrument for physical or chemical analysis under heading 9027. Licensing for in-vitro diagnostic use does not control tariff classification. The applicable basic customs duty is 7.5% ad valorem, with import IGST at 18%, rather than the concessional treatment claimed under heading 9027.

Forged import documents render a Bill of Entry and registration records legally ineffective, and detection of fraud permits confiscation action to proceed within the extended limitation period. A purchaser must exercise due diligence regarding the genuineness of import documents. Where confiscated goods are redeemed under Section 125, duty and consequential interest on delayed payment arise in addition to redemption fine. Bona fide acquisition and deletion of penalty may justify mitigating the redemption fine, but do not remove liability for duty, interest, or confiscation arising from a fraudulent import.

Customs cannot recover alleged excess DEPB credit under Section 28 of the Customs Act, 1962, where the claim concerns export benefit computation rather than short levy of duty on a specified import transaction. DEPB credit remains distinct from customs duty, even if the scheme is characterised as an exemption mechanism. Questions concerning cancellation or reduction of allegedly excess DEPB credit fall within DGFT jurisdiction. On this basis, recovery proceedings under Section 28, along with consequential interest and penalties, were not sustainable. The analysis also applies judicial discipline by following a materially identical earlier Bench decision.

Brass scrap shown as originating in the UAE is treated as originating in Pakistan where matching container and seal records establish loading at Karachi and transit through Jebel Ali without unloading or reloading, corroborated by statements that only the bill of lading date changed. Pre-shipment inspection certificates cannot establish UAE origin without an actual UAE inspection. Once Pakistani origin is established, the goods fall under tariff item 98060000 and attract the enhanced customs duty prescribed for goods originating in or exported from Pakistan. Reassessment may consequently sustain confiscation, redemption fine and penalties for origin misdeclaration.

Customs duty demands and penalties for alleged diversion of duty-free imported goods and fraudulent exports require reliable, positive and corroborative evidence. Official export permissions, Customs examination, manufacturing and export certifications, realised export proceeds, and a subsisting export-obligation discharge certificate support compliance with DEEC licence conditions. Allegations cannot rest on grounds outside the show cause notice, suspicion, or retracted and internally inconsistent statements lacking corroboration and procedural safeguards for reliance on statements. Where the underlying diversion and substitution allegations are unproved, no independent basis remains for penalties based on connivance or abetment.

Writ jurisdiction and disputed questions of fact - Seizure of imported industrial oil - Sampling of imported industrial oil Challenge to seizure of imported industrial oil on the ground that the petitioner's authorised representative was absent when the first sample was drawn - HELD THAT: - The disputed presence of the Customs Broker at the first sampling could not be examined in writ jurisdiction, particularly when the respondents asserted his presence and the sampling report recorded it... ... ...

Unauthorised transfer of Customs Broker licence - Customs Broker's obligation to obtain exporter authorisation and verify client identity - Proportionality of revocation of Customs Broker licence Unauthorised transfer of Customs Broker licence - whether Lending a Customs Broker licence and dongle to a G-card holder for monetary consideration amounted to an impermissible transfer of the licence? - HELD THAT: - The prohibition against a licence being sold or otherwise transferred applies to... ... ...

Judicial review of Settlement Commission orders - Reopening of settled show cause notice - Statutory interest on settled customs duty Challenge to the limitation of the show cause notice after the petitioners elected settlement of the adjudicated proceedings - HELD THAT: - Judicial review of a Settlement Commission order is confined to jurisdictional or statutory infirmity, prejudice, fraud, bias or malice; it does not permit reassessment of the underlying proceedings as an appellate court. H... ... ...

Capital gains exemption for investment in residential house - Commercial property and residential-house ownership condition - Protective assessment of capital gains - deduction u/s. 54F denied as assessee is owner of two properties Capital gains exemption u/s 54F for investment in residential house - Commercial property and residential-house ownership condition - Eligibility for capital-gains exemption on investment in a new residential property where the assessee also owned a self-occupied r... ... ...

Reassessment notice - statutory approval by competent authority - Invalid approval for reopening of assessment Validity of reassessment founded on approval under section 151 granted by the Principal Commissioner rather than the Chief Commissioner - HELD THAT: - The Tribunal followed the co-ordinate Bench decision in Kavita Sharma [2024 (12) TMI 1791 - ITAT DELHI] which held, with reference to the CBDT instructions, that issuance of notice under section 148 required approval of the concerned C... ... ...

Condonation of delay caused by counsel's omission - Unexplained cash deposits utilised for loan repayment - Prospective application of enhanced tax rate on unexplained income Condonation of delay caused by counsel's omission - Condonation of delay in filing the appeal where the assessee's earlier counsel had failed to intimate dismissal of the first appeal. - HELD THAT: - The assessee's affidavit explaining that he became aware of the dismissal only upon bank attachment procee... ... ...

Corpus donations with specific direction - Audit-report requirement for charitable trusts - Exemption of corpus contributions Taxability of corpus donations received by a registered charitable trust and the consequent requirement to furnish the audit report in Form No. 10B - HELD THAT: - A harmonious reading of the provisions governing exemption of voluntary contributions specifically directed to form part of a trust's corpus, other voluntary contributions, and the applicable CBDT circula... ... ...

Penalty u/s 270A for under-reporting of income - disallowance of lease-rental payments for non-deduction of tax at source from payments to GNOIDA - Bona fide explanation in a debatable TDS disallowance HELD THAT: - The disallowance turned on the debatable and interpretational question whether GNOIDA was a Government body so as to attract the provision concerning payments to Government, rather than the requirement to deduct tax on lease rent. The assessee's explanation was held bona fide. ... ... ...

Exemption for small educational institutions - Aggregation of receipts of composite educational establishment Eligibility for exemption u/s 10(23C)(iiiad) where educational activities were conducted by a society through purportedly separate institutions operating with common campus, infrastructure, management and ownership - HELD THAT: - The exemption is intended for genuinely small educational institutions and cannot be secured by artificially fragmenting one integrated educational establish... ... ...

Deduction of interest income of co-operative society from deposits with co-operative banks - Scope of section 80P(2)(d) and inapplicability of section 80P(4) Entitlement of a co-operative housing society to deduction of interest earned on fixed deposits with co-operative banks under section 80P(2)(d) - HELD THAT: - Section 80P(2)(d) requires only that a co-operative society derive interest or dividend from investments with another co-operative society. A co-operative bank registered under the... ... ...

Educational institution approval - State-law registration requirement - Incidental surplus from educational activities - Private benefit and diversion of funds Approval for an educational institution u/s 10(23C)(vi) denied for want of registration under the applicable State-law framework after such registration had been obtained - HELD THAT: - New Noble Educational Society v. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax [2022 (10) TMI 855 - SUPREME COURT] requires compliance with obligatory State or loca... ... ...

Refund of excess TDS claimed in return filed under section 148 - Consequential refund upon nil taxable income in reassessment - Entitlement to refund of excess TDS where a return filed in response to notice u/s 148 was accepted and the reassessment determined nil taxable income - HELD THAT: - The right to refund arises under section 237 whenever tax paid exceeds the tax properly chargeable. A reassessment culminating in acceptance of the returned income and determination of nil taxable income le... ... ...