Independent satisfaction of the Assessing Officer is required before reassessment can be initiated; a Board instruction cannot substitute for a reasoned belief that income escaped assessment. Where interest income was disclosed in a return, even if the return was treated as invalid, and no material shows that related expenses were wrongly claimed or disallowable, the available material may justify examination of net profit only. It does not support treating the entire interest income as escaped. Reassessment reasons reflecting only perfunctory compliance with directions therefore lack the required basis, rendering the notice and consequential assessment invalid.

Third-party seized loose sheets can support an on-money addition only when corroborated or demonstrably connected to the assessee's business. Where flat-level particulars, cash receipts, the developer's role and offered profit established that connection, the Tribunal sustained the finding and quantification of on-money receipts, rejecting unsupported claims of duplicate entries, prior assessment and booking cancellations. As unaccounted real-estate receipts are business receipts, only their embedded profit is taxable; lacking a basis for a higher rate, the Tribunal reduced the estimated profit rate to 8 percent. No further telescoping was available because unaccounted expenditure had already been accepted as met from those receipts. Mere initiation of penalty proceedings was not appealable and the challenge was premature.

Treaty limitations on royalty taxation and the make-available condition restrict taxation of cross-border receipts despite transfer-pricing adjustments. Notional interest requires an invoice-wise factual basis and interest paid, credited, acknowledged as payable or made available; arm's-length recomputation cannot independently create interest taxable under the treaty. Standardised software supplied with restricted end-user rights, connectivity services without rights in equipment or processes, and lease rentals paid by a non-resident outside the treaty source rule do not constitute taxable royalty income. Testing, administrative reimbursements and non-technical managerial training are not fees for included services where they do not transm.....

Salary reimbursements paid through an apex cooperative union for deputed supervisory staff do not require tax deduction at source where the assessee makes no direct salary payment and the remittance contains no service markup. In those circumstances, disallowance for non-deduction of tax under section 40(a)(ia) does not arise. Interest for delayed deposit of TDS under section 201(1A) cannot be disallowed unless it has been claimed as an expenditure deduction. Verification is required where it is unclear whether that interest was claimed; the interest issue is remanded for this factual verification.

Prescribed transfer-pricing methods must govern arm's length price determination; an ad hoc allocation of consideration between independently negotiated business-transfer and intellectual-property agreements cannot be sustained without comparable analysis, valuation, benchmarking or another recognised methodology. Advertisement, marketing and promotion expenditure alone does not establish economic ownership of marketing intangibles or permit rewriting arm's length agreements absent sham or collusion. The transfer-pricing adjustment was deleted without remand. The dividend distribution tax treaty-rate claim was remitted for action dependent on pending Supreme Court proceedings. Interest for delayed return filing caused by an undisputed e-filing portal glitch was deleted, while the assessment-limitation challenge became infructuous following retrospective amendments.

TDS credit for rental income remains available where the tenant has actually deducted tax but fails to deposit it with the Central Government. Actual deduction triggers statutory protection against a direct tax demand on the income recipient; the deductor's deposit default cannot undermine the recipient's income declaration or justify withholding credit. Recovery of the unpaid tax must be pursued against the tenant-deductor. Credit for tax deducted from rental income was therefore directed to be granted, and the appeal was allowed.

EPCG duty-exemption compliance is evidenced by installation certificates for the installation requirement and an Export Obligation Discharge Certificate for fulfilment of export obligations. Where the licensing authority issues the discharge certificate after adjudication because it was pending despite an application and supporting documents, subsequent customs acceptance of that certificate and cancellation of the related bonds confirms compliance with EPCG notification conditions. A duty demand, redemption fine and penalty based solely on earlier non-production of the certificate are inconsistent with that subsequent acceptance of compliance.

Access to the Exclusive Economic Zone for purse seine fishing depends on distinct but coordinated Union and State regulatory regimes. Fisheries beyond territorial waters fall within the Union's legislative and executive sphere, while fisheries within territorial waters fall within the State's corresponding sphere; these powers are autonomous and do not conflict. Union regulation governs fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone, while State regulation applies to transit through territorial waters. Cooperative federalism requires timely State verification and processing of access-pass applications, since delay causing virtual denial of access constitutes an impermissible unwritten ban. The State must facilitate regulated transit by designating a channel and ensuring effective clearances.

RBI regulatory monetary levies for non-compliance with lending guidelines may be deductible where the underlying default is supervisory in an otherwise lawful banking business, rather than an offence or prohibited activity; the levy was therefore not disallowed under Explanation 1 to section 37(1). Banking-company securities held as stock-in-trade did not attract expenditure disallowance for exempt dividend income under section 14A and Rule 8D. Net depreciation on investments valued under ICDS VIII and RBI guidelines was allowable because the prescribed method was followed. Employee stock-option discount was treated as revenue expenditure because it incentivises and retains employees without creating an enduring asset or constituting capital-raising expenditure.

Professional Clearing Members had no statutory duty or real-time regulatory visibility to verify individual Trading Member clients' debit and credit positions before collateral liquidation; the applicable framework treated the Trading Member as their constituent and restricted cross-use of margin only between Trading Members. No regulatory breach was established. Clearing committees could not order restitution of liquidated securities or block equivalent collateral, because stock-exchange bye-laws excluded monetary penalties and no substantive statutory power supported those measures. Individual clients had no claim against Professional Clearing Members for Trading Members' defaults under illegal assured-return schemes, absent privity or re.....

Statutory return of seized goods under Section 110(2) of the Customs Act arises where no notice is issued within the prescribed period or a validly extended period; continued retention is then impermissible. Compliance with Section 124 was disputed because the Department relied on contemporaneous proceedings as an oral show cause notice, while the affected parties challenged the documents' execution, explanation and voluntariness. Determining whether an oral notice satisfied statutory requirements required examination of statements and contemporaneous material, making writ jurisdiction unsuitable for resolving the factual dispute. Unconditional release was declined, with adjudication directed after a reasonable hearing.

Section 110(2) requires return of seized goods if notice under Section 124(a) is not issued within the stipulated period. Section 124's first proviso, however, permits oral notice and oral representation at the concerned person's request. A statement declining a show-cause notice or personal hearing does not itself establish that oral notice was given; together with the Department's assertion, it creates a factual dispute over whether oral proceedings and their statutory conditions existed. Such disputes, including alleged coercion in recording the statement, are not resolved in writ jurisdiction. The claim for automatic release of seized gold solely for lack of a written notice was rejected, leaving the competent authority to determine the oral proceedings and customs liability.

Under the Customs Act, the absence of a separate written show-cause notice within the period contemplated for seizure does not by itself require unconditional release of detained gold bars, because an oral notice may be given at the concerned person's request. Whether an oral notice was actually given, whether grounds were communicated, and whether statutory notice requirements were met depends on the contemporaneous record. Challenges to the voluntariness and evidentiary value of a statement involve disputed factual matters requiring evidentiary assessment. Unconditional release was therefore not directed; the competent adjudicating authority must provide a personal hearing and determine the notice-compliance and statement objections within the stipulated period.

Exhaustion of an efficacious statutory appellate remedy is the governing rule for challenges to customs adjudication in writ jurisdiction, though it is not an absolute bar. Challenges relating to notice service, denial of hearing, purported waiver and the adjudication record should be examined through the statutory appeal where the Order-in-Original is appealable. The High Court declined writ jurisdiction because the petitioner remained inactive for several years despite knowledge of seizure, did not respond to public notice, and gave no satisfactory explanation for delay. The writ petition was dismissed for delay and laches, with the available appeal providing an additional ground; merits of confiscation and penalty remained open.

Article 24 of the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area, which provides an inter-State consultation mechanism, does not displace Customs Authorities' statutory jurisdiction unless incorporated into municipal law. The Rules of Origin implement origin criteria but do not incorporate that dispute-resolution mechanism, so it cannot be privately enforced to bar Customs Act proceedings. Customs recovery powers for incorrect preferential-duty claims existed under the unamended provisions governing short levy, short payment and truthful bill-of-entry declarations. Origin-certificate particulars supporting preferential treatment form part of those declarations. The later certificate-of-origin verification regime added a specific procedure without creating or limiting the pre-existing general recovery power.

Due diligence by an authorised courier was satisfied where it obtained and processed the consignor's identity and accompanying documents and presented the export consignment for customs examination. Goods declared as piano parts were later found to contain prohibited Red Sander logs, but the courier was not required to open the package after document presentation without permission from the proper officer. Compliance with the due-diligence obligation under the Courier Regulations therefore precluded penalty for improper export, and the penalty imposed on the authorised courier was set aside with consequential relief.

Contempt for breach of an undertaking requires a clear, express and unambiguous commitment that demonstrates a firm obligation to act or refrain from acting. A statement merely clarifying that a proposed acquisition would not proceed does not, without more, constitute an undertaking enforceable through contempt. Foreign money decrees of superior courts in reciprocating territories may be prima facie executable in India, with comity of nations relevant at the interlocutory stage. Where corporate transactions and changes of control indicate possible asset dissipation, interim protection and adequate security may be maintained pending execution. Questions concerning veil lifting and the liability of family-controlled entities remain for determination in execution proceedings.

During the CIRP moratorium, provident fund proceedings that go beyond determining dues and impose demands, recovery, damages, interest or prosecution are treated as impermissible actions creating new liabilities against the corporate debtor. A Section 7A order issued through such continued proceedings is unsustainable. Section 31(6) of the IBC gives statutory effect to the clean-slate principle: pre-resolution-plan claims against the corporate debtor and its assets are extinguished unless preserved under the approved plan, including additional provident fund claims not admitted under it. Section 32A further protects the corporate debtor and its assets from recovery action for pre-CIRP offences after the required change in management or control under an approved resolution plan.

Arbitration clauses do not bar an operational creditor from pursuing the statutory insolvency remedy, even where arbitration is available or has been initiated, provided debt and default are established. A settlement amount arising from disputes connected with the supply of raw cotton constitutes operational debt because it is a claim in respect of goods; the claimant is therefore an operational creditor. A damages claim raised only in reply to the demand notice, without prior genuine adjudicatory or arbitral pursuit and supported only by limited correspondence, is not a pre-existing dispute. The rejection of the operational debt application was quashed, and admission and further proceedings were directed in accordance with law, including moratorium.

PMLA adjudication permits a single-member Adjudicating Authority constituted by its Chairperson to include a non-judicial member, because attachment scrutiny does not transfer High Court functions and appellate review remains available. Provisional attachment requires recorded reasons to believe that non-attachment may frustrate proceedings; factual challenges to that satisfaction lie through the statutory appellate process. The Adjudicating Authority must independently record reasons to believe that a person possesses proceeds of crime before issuing notice. Properties acquired before the scheduled offence may also be attached in proceeds-of-crime proceedings. Challenges to the single-member order, attachment reasons, independent satisfaction and pre-offence property attachment were rejected in writ jurisdiction.