Jammu, Aug 24 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Tariq Hameed Karra on Monday opposed the recent hike in electricity tariffs and demanded immediate rollback of the order. The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) last week announced a 6.83 per cent increase in electricity tariffs in the Union Territory. Karra, whose party had contested the last Assembly elections in alliance with the National Conference but chose to stay out of the NC-led govern... ... ...

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) The government on Monday lifted the export ban on wheat and its products with immediate effect and said the decision is aimed at boosting farmers' income amid depressed domestic prices. Early this year, the government had allowed export of 50 lakh tonnes of wheat and 10 lakh tonnes of wheat products. India, the world's second-largest wheat producer, banned wheat exports in May 2022 as part of measures to control rising domestic prices. "The export policy of wh... ... ...

Food safety enforcement measures resulted in suspension of food licences or registrations where establishments failed hygiene, food handling, storage, refrigeration, sanitation and licensing requirements. Deficiencies included unsafe temperature control, unclean refrigeration equipment, improper food storage and thawing, inadequate sanitisation, deteriorated or expired materials, deficient oil-quality checks, artificial colouring, pest infestation, cross-contamination risks and inadequate drainage. One outlet was also found to be operating under the name of an establishment without a valid food licence, resulting in suspension of its registration certificate.

Appointments to the Reserve Bank of India's Central Board expand its part-time, non-official director membership. Syed Akbaruddin, Annie George Mathew and Janmejaya Kumar Sinha have been appointed for four years from 24 August 2026, or until further orders, whichever occurs earlier. The Central Board also includes the Governor, deputy governors, the economic affairs secretary and the financial services secretary.

Statutory appeals against externment orders must be filed within the prescribed limitation period. A substantial delay, unsupported by a bona fide explanation before either the appellate authority or the High Court, does not justify interference with dismissal as time-barred. Although the High Court may condone delay in an appropriate case, that power depends on a genuine explanation and cannot be used to bypass a statutory limitation regime that does not permit condonation. The time-barred dismissal of the statutory appeal therefore remained undisturbed.

Foreign investment received as share capital, share premium and compulsorily convertible debentures is not taxable as unexplained cash credit where investment agreements, tax-residency certificates, inward-remittance records, audited financial statements and cross-border verification establish the investors' identity, creditworthiness and transaction genuineness, and remain unrebutted. Interest on debentures is allowable where the underlying investment or loan stands accepted and no distinct basis supports disallowance. Employees' provident fund contributions paid after the prescribed statutory due date are not deductible, consistently with Checkmate Services Pvt. Ltd.

Transfer-pricing adjustments require a fair opportunity for proper examination and verification of the taxpayer's transfer-pricing study report before determining the arm's length price. Where the report is furnished shortly before the transfer-pricing order and insufficient time is available for review, fairness requires fresh consideration. The assessment, transfer-pricing and Dispute Resolution Panel orders were set aside, with the matter restored for de novo transfer-pricing adjudication after examination of the study report.

Penalty notices for concealment of income or furnishing inaccurate particulars must specify the exact charge by striking out the inapplicable statutory limb. Retaining both alternatives without clarification fails to give the taxpayer clear notice of the allegation and impairs an effective defence. Such ambiguity vitiates initiation of penalty proceedings. The defect applied to both assessment years, rendering the penalty notices invalid and the penalties unsustainable; the penalties were deleted.

Revisionary jurisdiction cannot be exercised on an incorrect factual premise where the assessment record shows that the Assessing Officer examined and accepted the explanation for cash deposits. The revision relied on a deposit figure inconsistent with departmental bank details, while the assessment had already obtained information, considered the taxpayer's response and made no addition. The alleged inadequate enquiry was therefore factually unsustainable, rendering the revision order without valid jurisdiction and liable to be quashed.

Reassessment based on alleged accommodation-entry information requires the Assessing Officer to independently form a reason to believe that taxable income escaped assessment. Investigation material alone is insufficient where the assessee's explanation and records are not properly examined. Treating a share issue as unsecured loans, despite contrary material, and relying on factual errors undermines the reopening. Where the income forming the recorded basis for reopening is explained or does not survive, another income identified during reassessment cannot be independently assessed. The reassessment is therefore void and consequential additions cannot survive.

Section 153A assessments cannot sustain additions for alleged unexplained construction investment where the search yields no incriminating material. Construction expenditure recorded in balance sheets, with stated funding sources and no admission of undisclosed investment, cannot be treated as unexplained merely on the basis of a post-search departmental valuation report. A valuation report obtained after search is only an estimate of construction cost and does not itself constitute incriminating material. Consequently, additions lacking a nexus to seized material are impermissible under Section 153A, and the relevant assessments were quashed.

Alleged unaccounted credits cannot be sustained solely on third-party diary entries and the statement of an entry operator's son where no substantive independent evidence links the deposits or transactions to the assessee. Names entered in a diary on the deceased operator's oral instructions create, at most, a reasonable probability and do not establish that the assessee deposited funds into the operator's bank accounts. In the absence of corroborative evidence, the addition is unsustainable; deletion of the addition was upheld.

Ex parte reassessment additions for unexplained bank credits, capital receipts from sale of immovable property, and commodity transactions remained unchallenged because no return of income, response to statutory notices, or supporting evidence was furnished. Repeated adjournments did not result in production of material before either the first appellate authority or the Tribunal. Without evidence substantiating the challenges to the additions, no relief was available and the additions were confirmed.

Closing-stock valuation cannot be increased solely because a higher approximate value was declared to a bank where audited books, quantitative records, and the consistently applied cost-or-net-realisable-value method show no defect or discrepancy. Bank declarations do not displace book valuation unless the Revenue identifies unrecorded stock or inaccuracies in the books or stock records. The distinguishable precedent concerned stock omitted from the books. The addition for alleged undervaluation of closing stock was therefore deleted.

Long-term capital gains from shares acquired through an IPO, held in demat form and sold through a recognised stock exchange cannot be treated as unexplained cash credit merely on a general penny-stock investigation report. Documentary proof of subscription by account-payee cheque, demat holding, banking trail, exchange-based sale and securities transaction tax supports genuineness unless rebutted by assessee-specific evidence. The gain remained eligible for exemption and the related addition was deleted. Once the share transactions were accepted as genuine, no basis remained to infer commission paid for arranging a bogus entry; the estimated unexplained expenditure addition was also deleted.

Limited remand proceedings cannot revive an unexplained-investment addition already deleted in an earlier appellate round. The Assessing Officer must remain within the defined remand scope, which concerned determination of actual shareholding using relevant information. Interest expenditure linked to dividend and other income from shareholding is deductible under Section 57 without further verification where that nexus has already been conclusively recognised. Interest under Section 234D is not chargeable where no refund was issued on processing of the return. Interest under Section 220 must be recomputed, if applicable, on total income determined after giving effect to appellate directions.

Interest expenditure connected by a real and proximate nexus to income taxable under "Income from other sources" is deductible under section 57 and cannot be capped merely because the income earned in a particular year is lower. Section 57 does not require expenditure to be incurred solely or exclusively for a particular item of income. Separately, departmental appeals with tax effect below the applicable CBDT monetary threshold are not maintainable unless a recognised exception applies; the policy applies to pending appeals and precludes merits adjudication where no exception is established.

Delayed filing of Form No. 10IC for election of the concessional corporate tax regime may be condoned where the lapse was inadvertent, a condonation application is pending before the competent authority, and the Revenue raises no objection. Applying an approach that permitted acceptance of delayed Form No. 10IC, the Tribunal directed condonation of the delay, enabling the assessee to claim the concessional tax-regime benefit under Section 115BAA.

Interest earned by a co-operative society on savings-account deposits with co-operative banks qualifies for deduction under section 80P(2)(d), where those banks are co-operative societies. The expression "investments" is not confined to fixed deposits and includes interest-bearing savings deposits that are maintained to earn interest and are subject to withdrawal conditions. Consistent treatment of the identical issue in an earlier assessment year supports allowing the deduction absent any material basis for departure. The resulting effect is deletion of the disallowance of such interest income.

Electricity tariff increase of 6.83 per cent after four years is presented as necessary in light of inflation and rising costs. Reducing transmission and distribution losses is identified as a means of limiting future tariff increases. Provision of 200 units of free electricity for poor and needy households through solar panels under the Muft Bijli Yojana is treated as distinct from tariff revisions.