Reassessment notice issued to deceased assessee - Participation in assessment proceedings by legal representative - HELD THAT: - A reassessment notice issued to a deceased person is invalid unless the legal representative submits to the Assessing Officer's jurisdiction without objection. The legal representative's communications informing the authority of the assessee's death and disputing the validity of the notice did not amount to participation in the assessment proceedings. Th... ... ...

Unsigned statutory sanction for reassessment - Jurisdictional requirement of signed approval - Authentication of electronic approval Validity of reassessment initiated on the basis of an unsigned approval under the statutory sanction requirement - HELD THAT: - Sanction of the prescribed authority is a jurisdictional pre-condition for issuance of a reassessment notice and is a statutory safeguard against arbitrary reopening. An approval constitutes an "other document" requiring signature under... ... ...

Draft assessment order - absence of final assessment - Eligible assessee under draft assessment procedure Validity of the demand and penalty initiation founded on an assessment order expressly issued as a draft order, without final determination of the sum payable - HELD THAT: - The order repeatedly described the proposed disallowance as a proposal, expressly stated that no demand or penalty notice was being issued, and preserved the assessee's right to accept the variations or object to ... ... ...

Validity of Reassessment - reason to believe - live nexus with material - Reassessment on account of delayed deposit of employees' PF and ESIC contributions - law prevailing on notice date Reassessment - reason to believe - live nexus with material - Validity of reassessment founded on the alleged non-genuineness of foreign investment in the assessee's share capital and share premium. - HELD THAT: - Material relied upon for reopening must have a rational connection and live link with ... ... ...

Validity of Reassessment - subsistence of reasons to believe - Reassessment founded on subsequent assessment orders Validity of reassessment initiated on the basis of additions and disallowances made in subsequent assessment years, where the appellate orders for those years had deleted or decided in favour of the assessee the very issues forming the basis of reopening - HELD THAT: - The proposed reassessment rested upon six issues examined in the assessments for subsequent years. The appellat... ... ...

Rejection of the revision application for want of proof of the petitioner's status as legal heir - Non considering the documents furnished by legal heir - HELD THAT: - The revision order had been passed without taking into account the documents and details furnished by the petitioner in response to the request for proof of her legal-heir status. The Revenue fairly conceded that the application required reconsideration after the petitioner was brought on record as the legal heir. The Court ma... ... ...

Validity of a transfer-pricing order determining the arm's length price without service of the statutory show-cause notice - denial of Principles of Natural Justice - no Opportunity of Hearing HELD THAT: - A Transfer Pricing Officer determining the arm's length price under section 92CA(3) is required to follow the procedure prescribed by section 92C(3), including the proviso mandating service of a show-cause notice and an opportunity of hearing. Notices under section 92CA(2) calling f... ... ...

Revisional jurisdiction to correct an assessee's error in return - charitable trust that inadvertently omitted to claim capital-gains exemption on reinvestment of sale proceeds in fixed deposits Revisional jurisdiction to correct an assessee's error in return - Whether a charitable trust that inadvertently omitted to claim capital-gains exemption on reinvestment of sale proceeds in fixed deposits could obtain relief in revision u/s 264? - HELD THAT: - The revisional power extends to a... ... ...

Demand arising from denial of exemption for non-filing of Form 10-B - Pending rectification application - Premature writ adjudication Adjudication of the challenge to the demand founded on non-filing of Audit Report in Form 10-B while the rectification application remained undisposed of - HELD THAT: - Since the rectification application had admittedly not been disposed of on merits, adjudication of the writ petition at that stage was held to be improper. The competent authority was required t... ... ...

Inadvertent remittance of GST under incorrect tax head - Interest and penalty for clerical error in tax payment Inadvertent remittance of GST under incorrect tax head - Interest and penalty for clerical error in tax payment - Liability to interest and penalty where the entire GST liability was discharged under the IGST head instead of the CGST and SGST heads despite there being no IGST liability. - HELD THAT: - The payment did not fall within the situation contemplated by Section 77(2), becau... ... ...

Premature assessment before expiry of annual-return due date - Authority of the Proper Officer to determine tax liability before expiry of the due date for filing the annual return for the financial year concerned HELD THAT: - As the statutory due date for filing the annual return had not expired when the tax-liability order was made, the Proper Officer lacked authority to assess the petitioner under Section 73(9) at that stage. [Paras 5, 6] The assessment order was set aside and the matte... ... ...

Parallel GST proceedings on the same issues Parallel GST proceedings on the same issues - Validity of State GST assessment and rectification orders concerning issues already adjudicated by the Central GST authorities for the same assessment period. - HELD THAT: - On comparison, the Court found that both sets of orders concerned the same issues and the same assessment period. Since the Central GST authorities had issued the earlier order and the appeal therefrom was pending before the appellat... ... ...

Adjudication beyond show-cause notice - Mandatory limitation on confirmation of demand Validity of confirmation of tax demand and penalty exceeding those proposed in the show-cause notice - HELD THAT: - Section 75(7) mandatorily prohibits the adjudicating authority from confirming a demand exceeding that proposed in the show-cause notice. The adjudication order, having confirmed penalty far in excess of the proposed penalty, was consequently without jurisdiction. [Paras 2, 3, 4] The adjudi... ... ...

Fresh adjudication on relevant contractual material Fresh adjudication on relevant contractual material - Reconsideration of the service-tax demand after production of the relevant work contracts and agreements. - HELD THAT: - As the relevant contracts and agreements had been brought on record and the Department agreed to fresh consideration on the entire material, the impugned adjudication could not stand without reconsideration of those materials. The merits of the claimed exemption were no... ... ...

Writ jurisdiction where statutory appellate remedy is not availed - Delay beyond statutory period of appeal Writ jurisdiction where statutory appellate remedy is not availed - Delay beyond statutory period of appeal - Maintainability of a writ petition challenging cancellation of GST registration after expiry of the statutory period for appeal without exceptional circumstances. - HELD THAT: - The petitioner had not availed the statutory remedy of appeal and approached the Court after expiry o... ... ...

Consolidated show-cause notice covering multiple financial years - Appellate hearing on merits - Principles of natural justice Consolidated show-cause notice covering multiple financial years - Maintainability of a common show-cause notice covering multiple financial years under the CGST and SGST enactments. - HELD THAT: - The Court held that proceedings under Sections 73 and 74 do not prohibit a common or consolidated show-cause notice covering multiple financial years. The quashing of the n... ... ...

GST on penalty recovered from employee for stock shortage - Employer-employee relationship constituting supply of service or not? Whether the provisions of the GST Act authorise the appellants to collect GST on the penalty imposed upon the employee for the shortage of stock? - HELD THAT: - The obligation contemplated by paragraph 5(e) of Schedule II to the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 concerns an agreement in the context of a supply of services. A penalty imposed upon an employee ... ... ...

Cancellation of GST registration - delayed appeal - Restoration of GST registration - Cancellation of GST registration and rejection of the statutory appeal as time-barred, where revival of registration was sought through writ jurisdiction - HELD THAT: - Following the view in a decision on similar facts in Rohit Enterprises [2023 (2) TMI 759 - BOMBAY HIGH COURT], subsequently followed in Shri Ganesh Majoor Sahkari Sanstha Limited [2024 (12) TMI 579 - BOMBAY HIGH COURT] the Court held that the wr... ... ...

Condonation of delay in GST appeal due to accountant's medical incapacity Condonation of delay in GST appeal due to accountant's medical incapacity - Condonation of delay in filing the statutory appeal against the GST adjudication order. - HELD THAT: - Having regard to the medical records concerning the accountant's serious ailment and surgery, the factual assertions raised against the original order, and the decisions noted by the Court, it was expedient in the peculiar facts to permit the p... ... ...

Blocking of electronic credit ledger under Rule 86A - Mandatory preconditions for restriction of input tax credit - Reasons recorded in writing for restriction of input tax credit Blocking of input tax credit in the electronic credit ledger without compliance with the mandatory requirements of Rule 86A of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 - HELD THAT: - Rule 86A permits restriction on debit of input tax credit only upon fulfilment of its prescribed conditions, including reasons t... ... ...