Under the Transactional Net Margin Method, selling commission paid to associated enterprises forms part of the operating cost of the software development services segment when it is closely linked to that segment. Where TNMM is accepted as the most appropriate method and the segment is accepted as arm's length, the commission cannot be isolated for separate benchmarking or assigned a nil arm's-length price after its inclusion in the segmental operating margin. Verification under an appellate direction resulted in deletion of the transfer-pricing adjustment, and the Revenue's challenge to the verification and consequential relief failed.

Third-party seized diaries and excel sheets cannot support additions for alleged cash rebate repayment or unaccounted molasses sales unless they clearly establish the transactions and are supported by independent corroborative evidence. Unsigned, ambiguous entries, a retracted statement, and denial of cross-examination undermine their evidentiary value and breach natural justice; the related additions were deleted. Disallowance computed under section 14A read with Rule 8D cannot be imported into book-profit computation under section 115JB, requiring deletion of that adjustment. Components integral to a cogeneration plant, without standalone function, qualify for the higher depreciation rate applicable to the plant; the depreciation disallowance was deleted.

Gold imported outside Reserve Bank of India-authorised bulk-import channels or the passenger-import regime under the Baggage Rules is prohibited goods under the Customs Act, 1962. The definition extends to goods restricted under any law in force and is not limited to prohibitions expressly notified under the Customs Act. Consequently, penalties applicable to improper importation of prohibited goods apply. A penalty order is not jurisdictionally invalid merely because it cites an incorrect provision or does not specify the relevant clause, provided the adjudicating authority had substantive power and its reasoned order identifies the goods as prohibited.

Target Plus Scheme requires a broad nexus, not a strict product-to-product nexus, between duty-free imported inputs and exports within the product group specified in the duty credit certificate. Continuous cast copper rods could therefore be imported duty-free where linked to the Engineering Products group, but not merely because they bore nexus to one of several groups covered by a certificate. Extended limitation and customs penalties require intent to evade duty through fraud, collusion, wilful misstatement or suppression. Policy ambiguity, a bona fide exemption understanding, valid uncancelled certificates, and export documents already held in Customs records precluded such findings. The duty demand and consequential penalties were set aside.

Conditional customs duty exemption for an imported aircraft requires use solely for authorised non-scheduled charter services. Commercial operation without the required regulatory approval breaches the post-import exemption condition, making the aircraft liable to confiscation, redemption fine, consequential customs duty and penalties on the importer and responsible managing personnel. Duty following redemption of confiscated goods arises as a consequence of confiscation proceedings rather than as a non-levy or short-levy demand, so the limitation framework for such demands does not apply. Where actual freight and transit-insurance costs are available, customs valuation must use those costs rather than notional additions; duty requires recomputation on that basis.

Regulation 12(8) of the Handling of Cargo in Customs Area Regulations, 2009, caps the penalty for a cargo handling operator's acts of omission or commission at Rs. 50,000. An adjudicating authority cannot impose a penalty exceeding that statutory maximum under the Regulation, and an earlier departmental precedent cannot displace the clear ceiling. The penalty was accordingly restricted to Rs. 50,000, with the appeal partly allowed through modification of the impugned order.

Import-policy amendments requiring an importer warehousing newsprint to be an RNI-registered Actual User operate prospectively from 3 June 2016 and do not invalidate earlier imports. Where the applicable customs exemption contains no RNI-registration or Actual User requirement, non-registration alone does not defeat the exemption. Customs should not independently characterise imports as contrary to the Foreign Trade Policy without a DGFT reference on the disputed policy interpretation. Confiscation and penalties for alleged clearance to dummy units require the Department first to establish foundational evidence of illicit import, improper clearance, or culpable conduct; rebutted procedural allegations and missing relied-upon material cannot support those consequences.

Basic customs duty exemption under Notification No. 24/2015-Cus., available through debit of MEIS duty credit scrips, results in no Social Welfare Surcharge being payable on imported PET coke. The surcharge demand was treated as unsustainable where the underlying basic customs duty stood exempt under the MEIS Scheme. This treatment applies the settled position that Social Welfare Surcharge does not arise when basic customs duty is fully exempted under the relevant MEIS notification, with consequential relief following from the deletion of the surcharge demand.

Without-prejudice deposits in Section 7 insolvency proceedings cannot, by themselves, constitute an unconditional admission of liability where objections to maintainability and to the existence of debt and default remain pending. Such a deposit may indicate solvency but cannot replace the required determination of financial debt, default and maintainability. A subsequent demand containing materially different components does not independently establish a financial debt, and permission to pursue legally maintainable claims is not an adjudication of them. Closure of the insolvency application without deciding these objections was set aside, and the matter was remanded for fresh consideration subject to re-deposit of the released amount.

Death of a natural-person resolution applicant after committee of creditors approval does not automatically render a resolution plan unimplementable or permit liquidation. A resolution applicant acts as a promisor, not an office-holder with non-heritable obligations, and liquidation remains confined to specified statutory contingencies. The resolution request and plan terms should govern continuation; if silent, inherent powers may require the committee of creditors to examine implementation by an eligible, competent and willing heir or reconsider earlier plans before forced liquidation. A pending CIRP withdrawal application based on settlement with the sole committee member must be considered and cannot be denied merely because liquidation was ordered. Liquidation was set aside, CIRP revived, and the withdrawal application directed for consideration.

Section 32A protection extends the clean slate principle to a corporate debtor sold as a going concern during liquidation, subject to fulfilment of statutory conditions. Unclaimed past liabilities, pending or future proceedings, and pre-existing non-compliances cannot continue against the purchaser after completion of the sale where the statutory protection applies. This consequence arises by operation of law rather than as a discretionary waiver or concession. Purchasers seeking waivers or concessions concerning past liabilities must pursue those requests before the relevant statutory authorities.

Section 37A seizure of equivalent domestic assets was upheld where foreign proceedings and control of overseas entities gave reason to believe that foreign exchange derived from those entities remained held abroad in contravention of FEMA. Confirmation of seizure operates as an interim protective measure pending adjudication, particularly where no repatriation or disclosure of the foreign exchange is shown. Applying Section 37A to foreign exchange acquired after its commencement and continuing to be held abroad does not constitute retrospective application. Foreign employment permits alone do not establish non-resident status without evidence of year-wise Indian stay or an intention to remain abroad indefinitely; an administratrix's personal residential status does not determine the Estate's alleged foreign holding.

Prior release of frozen property for failure to file a prosecution complaint within the prescribed period does not decide the merits or bar a subsequent attachment. Orders quashing predicate-offence and money-laundering proceedings for particular individuals do not prevent continuation of proceedings against a firm or adjudication of attachments concerning other individuals. Compensation paid for environmental-clearance and forest-law violations neither compounds money-laundering offences nor offsets proceeds of crime from alleged illegal mining. Bank deposits representing available proceeds of crime, or their equivalent value, remain attached pending finality of the PMLA trial.

Provisional attachment of alleged proceeds of crime represented as long-term capital gains from share sales continued because the share purchasers appeared to have been funded from sources other than their own. Funds were routed through banking channels to acquire shares in non-functioning companies at highly appreciated prices, without an apparent commercial basis for the valuation. The investment explanation was treated as unconvincing, including in light of the appellant's role in the trust operating the university. As the scheduled-offence and money-laundering trials remained pending, the attachment was retained to secure the alleged proceeds of crime until trial conclusion.

Leasehold transfers of land to approved Special Economic Zone units qualify as transfers of land for stamp duty and registration fee exemptions intended to promote industrial establishment. A lease conveys a transferable interest in land for the stipulated term and is not confined to an outright sale. Promissory estoppel protects SEZ fiscal incentives promised under State policy where a lease was executed before the implementing Ordinance, because the Ordinance gave statutory effect to the existing policy. Denial based solely on the timing of the Ordinance would defeat the governmental promise and create unequal treatment of similarly situated SEZ units. The exemption consequently extends to the leasehold transfer, requiring refund processing.

GST reimbursement for ongoing works may cover the net additional burden arising from GST introduced after bidding where tender rates were inclusive only of taxes applicable at that time. Government measures addressing GST impact on continuing contracts support compensation once the additional liability is verified. A pre-bid clarification concerning future taxes cannot supersede inconsistent tender terms. Refusal of verified reimbursement, particularly where similarly placed contractors receive different treatment, raises arbitrariness and equality concerns under Article 14.

Territorial appellate jurisdiction allocated by a CBDT circular to the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-18, Chennai for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry cases is indispensable to the valid exercise of quasi-judicial authority. An appellate authority not vested with jurisdiction over an assessee's dispute, including an authority at Delhi, cannot validly decide it. Orders issued without the requisite territorial jurisdiction are null and void and liable to be quashed.

Wealth-tax appellate jurisdiction lay with the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-18, Chennai under the applicable jurisdictional framework. Orders issued by the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-31, Delhi lacked legal jurisdiction and were therefore invalid. Because the competent appellate authority had not adjudicated the assessee's substantive grounds, the appeals required remand for fresh consideration. The appeals were restored to the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-18, Chennai for de novo adjudication on merits after hearing the assessee.

Cash refund is available under Section 142(3) of the CGST Act for CVD and SAD paid after 1 July 2017 on de-bonding of capital goods where those duties were eligible for CENVAT credit but could not be carried forward into GST. Section 140(1) permits transition only of eligible credit reflected in the return immediately preceding the appointed day; post-GST duty payments cannot appear as such closing credit. Section 142(3) therefore applies to refund claims under the existing law and requires cash payment, subject to exclusion of credit already transitioned.

Pre-notice payment of service tax and interest on product support services attracted the statutory benefit for such payment, rendering the related penalty unsustainable. Transfer of the right to use software embedded in a product constituted a deemed sale of goods subject to VAT, including customised software, so licence fees were not liable to service tax. Consultancy expenditure did not attract reverse-charge service tax under the Place of Provision of Services Rules, 2012. Remuneration paid to full-time directors for services rendered as employees fell outside the definition of taxable service; reverse-charge liability therefore did not arise.