India-US bilateral trade agreement negotiations are being pursued on the stated basis that Indian sensitivities will not be compromised. The agreement's text remains non-public, while the government position identifies farmers, fishers, micro, small and medium enterprises, workers, handloom and handicrafts sectors, and the automobile industry as protected considerations. The arrangement is described as a first tranche, with further engagement contemplated following changes in the United States tariff landscape.

Unauthorised digital applications allegedly enabled toll collection from vehicles without FASTag stickers outside the official reporting system. Mobdata and Any were allegedly used to generate unauthorised or fake toll receipts, conceal collections from NHAI, and monitor such collections through dedicated portals. A PMLA investigation followed an FIR alleging fraudulent toll collection, with digital forensic material indicating use of the mechanism across around 100 toll plazas. Searches resulted in seizure of financial and digital records and freezing of bank accounts.

Capacity-building training under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme equipped officers from member countries with practical skills for investigating economic offences. It covered varied forms of financial and economic crime, cross-border impact, challenges in investigation and prosecution, standard operating procedures, and investigative best practices. The specialised law-enforcement engagement aims to strengthen international cooperation and investigative capacity in economic-offence matters.

Availability of the statutory appellate remedy after constitution of GSTAT raises whether a pending GST writ petition, filed when the Tribunal was unavailable, should be heard on merits or redirected to the Tribunal. The issue concerns a writ petition challenging an appellate order that has remained pending for a considerable period. It also concerns whether an assessee may challenge a direction to pursue the Tribunal remedy and seek merits consideration of the pending matter.

The issue concerns whether time spent in pending High Court writ proceedings may be excluded for calculating limitation for an appeal to the GST Appellate Tribunal. The writ petition challenged an Appellate Authority order when the Tribunal had not been constituted. After constitution of the Tribunal, the assessee proposes to withdraw the writ petition and file a statutory appeal, although the appeal period under Section 112 of the CGST Act has expired.

Alleged unauthorised use of Aadhaar Registrar/EA Code credentials after termination of an operational engagement led the Delhi Construction and Other Workers Welfare Board to blacklist MDS Solution Pvt Ltd. UIDAI communication indicated that Aadhaar-related activity allegedly continued after cancellation through the Board's credentials. The Board lodged a police complaint, barred the firm from its tenders, procurement processes, empanelment and contract awards, and recommended consideration of action under applicable rules and policies.

Foreign-currency inflows through FCNR(B) deposits, overseas foreign-currency borrowings and external commercial borrowings strengthened foreign-exchange liquidity and supported appreciation of the rupee against the US dollar. Foreign portfolio investment in government securities was linked to the abolition of withholding tax and long-term capital gains tax on such investment. Currency-market conditions were also influenced by foreign institutional equity purchases, global risk appetite, crude-oil prices and geopolitical tensions.

Electric-vehicle adoption across road-transport segments is projected to reduce dependence on imported petrol and diesel, notwithstanding continuing battery imports. Accelerated electrification could reduce vehicle-related import expenditure substantially by 2050 because reduced oil imports are expected to exceed battery-import costs. Domestic cell-manufacturing capacity may further increase savings by combining rapid vehicle electrification with battery localisation.

Territorial Joint Commissioners must send a signed bilingual Welcome Letter by Registered Post with Acknowledgement Due to every newly registered taxpayer and record despatch and delivery particulars in the portal. Where postal delivery fails, the task must be forwarded to the Registering authority, which must issue a Show Cause Notice and conduct immediate physical verification of the declared place of business. Registration may be dropped or cancelled on the basis of the taxpayer's response and the physical-verification report.

The application window for one-time conversion of eligible Advance Authorisations under SION E-52 into Tariff Rate Quota authorisations for raw sugar imports is extended from 3 September 2026 to 7 September 2026, inclusive. Eligible holders may apply until 7 September 2026. All previously prescribed eligibility requirements and other conversion conditions, as amended, continue to apply, subject to the Foreign Trade Policy and applicable law.

Women's access to credit for livelihood expansion is to extend beyond Self-Help Groups to individual women members. Loan accessibility concerns include distance from bank branches, repeated visits to complete formalities, and inconsistent banking procedures. Regular State Rural Livelihood Mission meetings, bank participation, training, helplines, process improvements and coordination with bankers are intended to reduce barriers. Loan formalities are to be standardised across banks through a uniform process involving RBI and NABARD.

Suppression of material facts can bar discretionary relief under Article 226 where petitioners challenge auction proceedings while withholding binding Supreme Court directions. The petitioners knew that the Enforcement Directorate had been permitted to attach and auction the properties in accordance with law and that the auction was to continue uninterrupted. Their failure to disclose those directions, which could affect the grant of relief, constituted deliberate suppression and conflicted with the Supreme Court's directions. The challenge to the auction proceedings was therefore not entitled to discretionary writ relief.

Rejection of books of account requires identified defects in the accounting method, entries, or supporting records; non-receipt of third-party information alone is insufficient where relevant financial and transactional records are produced. Estimated gross-profit additions require a rational evidentiary basis, such as comparable cases, industry standards, or material showing income suppression, particularly where declared margins are consistent with prior years. Cash deposits recorded in the cash book and explained by earlier withdrawals cannot be treated as unexplained money without adverse evidence disproving their source. Suspicion does not replace evidence, and consistency in corresponding transactions remains relevant.

Commodity transaction turnover recorded in the books, comprising purchases, sales and profit, is not income taxable in full merely because of alleged client code modification. Only the profit embedded in those transactions is taxable under the unexplained cash credit provisions. Expenses genuinely incurred during the relevant year remain deductible under the mercantile system, even where supporting bills are raised and payment is made in the following year, provided the liability and genuineness of the expenditure are established through records.

Reassessment initiated more than three years after the relevant assessment year requires prior approval under section 151(ii) from the Principal Chief Commissioner, Principal Director General, Chief Commissioner or Director General before an order under section 148A(d) and notice under section 148 can be issued. Approval by a Principal Commissioner, who falls within section 151(i), does not meet that jurisdictional requirement. This defect cannot be validated under section 292B, rendering the section 148A(d) order, reassessment notice and consequential proceedings invalid.

Immunity from penalty under Section 270AA applies where the assessee pays assessed tax and interest within the prescribed period and does not appeal the assessment order. Once these substantive conditions are met, failure to file Form 68 is a technical or venial procedural lapse that does not defeat entitlement to immunity. Penalty for under-reporting of income under Section 270A is therefore liable to be deleted despite non-filing of Form 68.

Reassessment notices issued beyond three years from the end of the relevant assessment year required alleged escaped income to meet the applicable statutory threshold. For AY 2016-17, alleged escaped income of Rs. 2,03,816 was below Rs. 50 lakh. The notice issued on 27 July 2022 was therefore time-barred, reassessment jurisdiction was invalid, and the consequential addition was quashed.

Reassessment notices issued more than three years after the relevant assessment year require prior sanction from the specified senior authority under section 151(ii) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Approval by a Principal Commissioner does not meet this jurisdictional requirement where sanction must come from the Principal Chief Commissioner, Principal Director General, Chief Commissioner, or Director General. Absence of approval from the prescribed authority invalidates the notice under section 148, the order under section 148A(d), and the consequential reassessment as void ab initio.

Customs out-of-charge clearance for PGA-facilitated cosmetics, drugs and medical-device imports requires verification of category-specific regulatory records before clearance. Required records include applicable registration, import or manufacturing licences and permissions, invoices, packing lists, country-of-origin certificates, compliant labels, batch quality certificates, storage-premises evidence and importer undertakings. Cosmetics, drugs and shelf-life-sensitive medical devices must meet prescribed labelling and residual shelf-life conditions. Drug and device permissions must correspond with the imported product and quantity. Discrepancies, doubts, deficient shelf life and specified new-product imports require referral to the relevant port office.

Documentation for approval under the Eligible Manufacturer Importer Scheme is simplified by reducing application disclosures and mandatory uploads. Core identity, manufacturing or job-work status, financial solvency, insolvency status, and legal-compliance declarations remain relevant. Mandatory documents are limited to the UDYAM certificate where MSME status is claimed, a UDIN-bearing Chartered Accountant certificate, and authorisation for the signatory. The Chartered Accountant must address financial capability and provide reasons for negative net worth or net current assets. Applicants must ensure truthful submissions and notify changes affecting eligibility.