Audit requirements imposed by any law for documents, records or information extend equally to material processed and maintained in electronic form. Section 7A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 applies existing statutory audit provisions to electronic documents, records and information without creating a separate audit mechanism.

Online registration or modification of AD Code/IFSC-linked bank accounts in ICES is enabled through ICEGATE, with supporting documents submitted through E-Sanchit. Fresh registration requires a bank authorisation letter, IEC, GST registration certificate, entity and authorised-signatory PAN cards, and a cancelled cheque. IFSC modification additionally requires an NOC from the bank holding the account registered in ICES. Bank confirmation is transmitted directly or cross-checked by email, and verified requests are processed in the system on the same day.

Section 6A permits the appropriate Government to authorise service providers to establish and maintain computerised facilities and deliver specified public services electronically. Authorised providers may collect, retain and appropriate prescribed service charges from service users, including where no express authority for e-service charge collection exists under the underlying legal framework. Different service-charge scales may be specified for different categories of electronic services.

Electronic signatures may authenticate electronic records only where the signature or authentication technique is reliable and specified in the Second Schedule. Reliability requires exclusive linkage and control of signature-creation or authentication data, detection of alterations to the signature and authenticated information, and fulfilment of prescribed conditions. The Central Government may prescribe verification procedures and modify the Second Schedule, subject to reliability and parliamentary laying requirements.

Review of Customs duty exemption notifications, Customs laws and procedures is opened to stakeholder crowdsourcing to align regulatory requirements with changing needs and promote ease of doing business. Importers, exporters, domestic industry, trade associations, customs brokers, customs staff and the public may submit suggestions through MyGov Innovate by 21 August 2020. Difficulties in using the online facility may be raised with the Addl./Joint Commissioner (Appraising Main, Import) through the specified email channel.

Interim protection concerning GST liability was confined to GST-related claims and did not bar enforcement action for non-GST claims, including termination of a licence or arrangement. Liability for interest, if the interim protection were later vacated or the petition dismissed, remained reserved for further or final orders. Impleadment was permitted, and consideration of vacating or modifying the interim protection was deferred pending a reply. No final adjudication occurred.

Public-service appointments secured through forged documents, made by unauthorised appointing authorities, or made without sanctioned posts and prescribed open recruitment are void from inception rather than merely irregular. A committee enquiry satisfies natural justice where affected employees receive representation and hearing opportunities and individual findings of unlawful appointment remain unrebutted; a report is not invalid merely because all members do not sign it. Regularisation is confined to qualified persons irregularly appointed against sanctioned vacant posts and cannot validate an illegal entry. Length of service, humanitarian considerations and legitimate expectation do not create rights to salary, pension or retirement benefits without a valid appointment.

Voluntary election of the Service Tax Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme, followed by part payment of declared dues, precludes a trust from later denying taxability or alleging coercion in exercising the option. A reminder seeking proof of payment or the unpaid balance does not itself affect rights or create an enforceable cause of action. Declared but unpaid dues remain recoverable with interest under the scheme, while substantially false declarations may trigger separate action. The scheme therefore requires payment of the outstanding declared liability, subject to recovery under its provisions and applicable law.

Declaratory writs challenging service-tax liability after participation in the Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme, 2013, require a valid challenge to the underlying departmental proceedings. Participation under the Scheme is voluntary; an unsupported assertion that the application was made under pressure does not establish otherwise. A departmental communication that creates no cause of action cannot sustain declaratory relief. The challenge is therefore premature and misconceived absent legally sustainable grounds against the departmental action.

Special leave proceedings in an income-tax matter were dismissed after the Supreme Court declined to interfere, having regard to the facts. No substantive legal principle, statutory interpretation, or reasons for non-interference were specified. Pending applications were also disposed of.

The 48-hour clearance period for Direct Port Delivery containers excludes Sundays and holidays observed by the Port and Customs, while Saturdays remain included. Containers not cleared within that period are to be shifted by rail to Balmer Lawrie Container Freight Station within 72 hours of landing. Where Customs clearance is not obtained within 72 hours, the containers are treated as ordinary or non-DPD containers. All other DPD procedural conditions remain unchanged.

Duty-free shop supplies of goods to arriving and departing international passengers are treated as exports and zero-rated supplies, so GST is not payable on those outward supplies. Services provided to duty-free shops under concession agreements remain independently taxable despite the zero-rated character of the shops' outward supplies. GST paid on those input services may be claimed as input tax credit, and accumulated unutilised credit may be utilised or refunded through the statutory mechanism. The central principle is that zero-rated outward supplies do not themselves exempt taxable input services.

IIEST Shibpur and Tata Consultancy Services have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to establish an Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence at the Electrical Engineering Department's high-performance computing laboratory. The collaboration supports industry-aligned training, professional certifications, practical projects, supervised internships, startup mentorship, curriculum benchmarking, and applied research in natural language processing, computer vision, image processing, and advanced data analytics.

Risk-based selective physical boarding of vessels is determined through advance profiling based on compliance history, voyage details, crew, cargo and declarations relating to crew effects, ship stores and satellite devices. Terminal Operators must submit tentative vessel lists for assessment and physical-boarding clearance. Where a vessel is not selected, the Master and Shipping Agent remain fully responsible for accurate declarations, safeguarding onboard stores, preventing illegal unlading or consumption of restricted, high-duty or un-manifested goods, and promptly reporting logistical, itinerary or documentation changes.

Enforcement Directorate search and survey operations connected with a money-laundering investigation continued at development authority offices and premises linked with housing administration, a realty company, and private residences. AAP workers protested against the searches, alleging political and administrative pressure through central investigative agencies. The party further alleged that the operations could disrupt the development authority's functioning and impede Punjab government welfare schemes.

A police inquiry, rather than a Vigilance inquiry, was directed following an Enforcement Directorate communication seeking registration of an FIR for cognizable offences. It was contended that FIR registration should be dealt with by the police and that governmental or ministerial intervention would raise concerns where a person facing allegations is involved in deciding the investigative course. A transfer to a federal investigative agency was sought on grounds of investigative independence and perceived conflict of interest.

Electronic records that remain accessible and usable for later reference satisfy writing requirements, and prescribed digital signatures satisfy signature or authentication requirements. Government filings, licences, approvals, payments, retention and Gazette publication may be conducted electronically in prescribed forms, although no person may compel a Government body to accept electronic records. Authentication uses asymmetric cryptography, hash functions and a subscriber-specific key pair; secure status depends on prescribed or agreed security procedures and integrity safeguards.

Concessional taxation under Section 115BAA may remain available where a domestic company selected the regime in a timely return but uploaded Form 10IC later. Selection in the return can evidence substantial compliance with exercising the option. Applicable condonation circulars and treatment of the omission as an inadvertent procedural error support reconsideration rather than outright denial. The Assessing Officer must consider the delayed form and grant consequential relief if the remaining statutory conditions are met.

Cash deposits in specified bank notes during demonetisation cannot be assessed as unexplained money where recorded cash balances and business collections establish their source. Section 69A applies only when the source remains unexplained. Books of account, cash book, audited financial statements and tax-audit records supported the deposits and were neither rejected nor found defective. As recorded cash sales had already been offered to tax, a separate addition would result in double taxation. A bank certificate also confirmed that the specified-bank-note deposits were lower than the amount assumed in assessment. The unrebutted evidence rendered the addition under Sections 69A and 115BBE unsustainable.

Arm's-length commission paid to an Indian dependent agent exhausts the profits attributable to the agency permanent establishment under Article 7 of the India-Singapore tax treaty. Where the agent's commission is accepted as arm's length, no additional profits may be attributed to the Indian permanent establishment absent new material facts or a change in law. Applying the approach followed for identical preceding years, the additional attribution of profit was deleted.