Section 54GB requires an investee company to have been incorporated in India within the stipulated period to qualify as an eligible company for capital-gains exemption. Commencement of business or manufacturing, acquisition of plant and machinery, or MSME registration cannot substitute for the legal incorporation date. A dormant company's later commencement of operations does not change its incorporation date under company law. Although incentive provisions may be construed liberally where ambiguous, an unambiguous exemption condition applies strictly. Investment in a company incorporated before the prescribed period therefore does not qualify for section 54GB exemption.

Transactional Net Margin Method was treated as the most appropriate method for benchmarking purchases by a medical-equipment distributor performing substantial post-import functions, including configuration, integration, installation, training, warranty and maintenance support. The Resale Price Method was considered unsuitable where resale involved significant value addition and risk assumption, and the transfer-pricing adjustment based on that method was deleted. Comparable companies require verification where related-party transactions may exceed the prescribed filter. Verification was also directed to prevent double taxation where a sundry balance written back had already been offered to tax and was again added during return processing. The appeal was partly allowed, with the remaining issues remanded for fresh determination.

Condonation of delay in customs appeals requires a bona fide, satisfactory explanation covering the entire period of delay. Although "sufficient cause" receives a liberal, justice-oriented construction, that approach does not excuse gross negligence, lack of diligence or prolonged inaction. Participation through counsel, communication of the adjudication order to counsel, departmental efforts to serve the order, and failure to enquire about the outcome for nearly three years may support refusal of condonation; later receipt of an order copy does not explain earlier inaction. Under the Customs Act, High Court review does not permit reappreciation of such factual findings absent perversity, disregard of material evidence or legal error.

Fire-damaged motor cars brought with a vessel for ship-breaking may be classified as scrap where extensive damage has destroyed their identity and utility as motor vehicles, and salvage arrangements restrict disposal to demolition. Such goods are not restricted commercial or passenger vehicles, usable second-hand goods, or prohibited imports; confiscation for import without a licence is therefore not attracted. Unloading requires physical removal of cargo from a vessel; berthing at a notified ship-breaking port is not unloading. Where no unauthorised removal or other statutory contravention is established, neither the scrap cargo nor the vessel carrying it is liable to confiscation, and consequential penalties are unsustainable.

Post-export conversion of free shipping bills into EPCG shipping bills cannot be rejected solely for delay where contemporaneous documentary evidence supports the export. The three-month limitation prescribed by a Board Circular was treated as inconsistent with Section 149, while the one-year period under the 2022 Regulations applies prospectively and does not govern earlier exports. Failure to state EPCG authorisation details in the original free shipping bills is a curable procedural lapse when export duty payment records, invoices and bank realisation documents establish the goods exported and receipt of export proceeds. Conversion must be processed after verification of that evidence.

Interest on delayed customs refunds of excess duty following reassessment commences after three months from receipt of the refund application, rather than from the later reassessment or refund order. Where the importer pursued reassessment and refund but Revenue delayed action for several years, the delay is attributable to Revenue. Interest was therefore payable from 20.02.2019 until the refund date. The applicable rate was 12 per cent, not 6 per cent, because the refund was withheld through prolonged inaction. The balance interest was required to be paid within eight weeks.

Special Additional Duty refund limitation under an amending customs exemption notification is addressed in relation to a claim rejected solely for filing beyond one year. The limitation was treated as requiring read-down because subordinate legislation could not impose a time bar affecting substantive refund rights without applying a statutory limitation under the parent enactment. A contrary High Court view was noted, but the refund claim was treated as covered by the decisions supporting read-down. The time-bar rejection was set aside, with consequential relief in accordance with law.

Imported electric ride-on toy components comprising only 60-65% of the parts needed for a complete toy, with essential components absent, are treated as toy parts rather than complete toys in CKD/SKD condition. Assembly with locally procured or manufactured components and subsequent testing produces a distinct finished product and constitutes manufacture under the concessional-duty import rules. Such imports are classified under CTH 95030091 and qualify for concessional customs-duty exemption under Notification No. 50/2017-Cus. The Toys (Quality Control) Order, 2020 does not apply because toy parts cannot independently be regarded as toys and BIS certification is not required for them.

Customs valuation rules require the proper officer, before rejecting a declared transaction value, to form reasonable and cogent grounds for doubt, seek necessary information, disclose those grounds when requested, and provide a hearing under Rule 12. An importer's written consent to reassessment may dispense with a speaking order under Section 17(5), but does not make the enhanced value the declared transaction value, waive mandatory valuation procedures, or prevent challenge to final assessment. Enhancement of imported scrap values solely on consent was therefore set aside and remanded for fresh reassessment after statutory compliance and observance of natural justice.

Tribunal jurisdiction to convene a requisitioned extraordinary general meeting is not conditional on the requisitioning member first using its statutory power to call the meeting after Board default; those remedies operate independently. However, intervention in corporate internal management remains exceptional and requires a reasonable factual basis showing that convening the meeting through ordinary statutory or articles-based mechanisms is impracticable. Board division or rejection of a requisition alone does not establish impracticability. Where the requisitioning member neither demonstrates difficulty in convening shareholders nor uses the available statutory mechanism, a direction to convene the meeting lacks the required factual basis and should be set aside.

Committee of Creditors may reconsider a resolution plan at any time before the Adjudicating Authority approves it, including after remand to address statutory stakeholder claims. Directions requiring provision for provident fund, gratuity and other claims became final when unchallenged. Although the resolution applicant sought revision, it declined to increase the plan value when the remanded plan was reconsidered. The Committee of Creditors' commercial decision to reject the plan and proceed with liquidation was treated as non-justiciable in these circumstances. The proposed plan's rejection and the challenge to that rejection were upheld, with no basis for appellate interference.

Earnest money guarantees furnished by scheme proponents in a liquidation process cannot be recovered merely because the proponent withdraws after its proposed scheme is not accepted. The guarantee secures submission of the proponent's own scheme and does not require submission of a scheme meeting the satisfaction of the stakeholders' committee or Adjudicating Authority. Commercial considerations and delay may justify a decision not to continue participating. Without an established legal basis imposing liability, withdrawal does not permit recovery of the guarantee for the liquidation estate. The direction requiring deposit of the earnest money guarantee into the liquidation estate was therefore set aside.

Alleged arrest irregularities did not support bail where the accused was produced before an available Magistrate after court hours and before the Special Court within twenty-four hours. Material showing that the written grounds of arrest were subsequently handed to relatives, together with prompt legal action on the accused's behalf, rebutted the claimed non-communication and showed no prejudice at the bail stage. Money-laundering bail remained unavailable despite prolonged custody because prima facie material linked the accused to providing mule accounts for illegal online betting, indicated a principal role, and raised risks of absconding, witness influence and evidence tampering. Proceedings had progressed towards framing of charges, and bail was refused.

Attachment of property held by a person not accused of money laundering requires proof that proceeds of crime reached that person and funded acquisition of the property, or that the property constitutes equivalent-value property of a person involved in laundering. Alleged control of the purchasing company by an accused, based mainly on witness statements, does not replace evidence of a money trail. Bank-financed acquisition and the company's own savings were not shown to be proceeds of crime, layered proceeds, or assets belonging to the accused. The provisional attachment and its confirmation were therefore set aside.

Interim access to frozen funds under the PMLA may be permitted for essential employee salaries and statutory dues where the liabilities are genuine, the subsidiary prima facie owes funds to its holding company, and safeguards preserve the attached assets. Verified payments of TDS and GST avoid compelled statutory defaults while benefiting the Central Government. Limited access was permitted for verified outstanding salaries and statutory dues, subject to submission of payment details, verification and bank-authorisation safeguards, without addressing the merits of the pending appeals.

Interest on refundable revenue deposits, including unspent Personal Ledger Account balances, is payable from the date of deposit where amounts were deposited during investigation before any duty liability was determined and therefore retained the character of revenue deposits. The majority view rejected the Revenue's challenge to interest from the deposit date and dismissed both appeals. The discussion distinguishes statutory and equitable interest and rejects blanket awards of 12% interest based solely on Sandvik, requiring consideration of relevant factors and later Supreme Court guidance. The majority treated the jurisdictional High Court ruling in Parle Agro as governing the entitlement to interest from the deposit date.

NDPS bail for foreign nationals accused of offences involving commercial quantity remains subject to the statutory twin conditions, and incarceration alone does not displace them. Bail safeguards must protect Article 21 while reasonably securing attendance and preventing flight: passport deposit, FRRO registration, verified residence, disclosure of funds and bank accounts, embassy intimation, and ordinarily two genuine sureties may be required. Sureties must undergo pre-release scrutiny of identity, address and financial credentials; fabricated sureties may trigger departmental inquiry where officials failed to exercise reasonable care, and surety property may be subject to a lien or charge upon bond forfeiture. Interim Article 142 directions prescribe uniform safeguards pending action by competent authorities.

Rule 14(24) of the CCS (CCA) Rules does not automatically invalidate disciplinary proceedings merely because an inquiry exceeds the prescribed period without a written extension. Its time prescription is directory because it specifies no abatement or invalidation consequence; intervention requires inordinate unexplained delay, demonstrable prejudice, mala fides, or oppressive proceedings. Deferred promotion during pending proceedings alone is not legal prejudice. Approval of a charge memorandum is valid where the competent disciplinary authority considered the proposal, vigilance advice and relevant records; unsupported allegations of mechanical approval are insufficient. Preliminary fact-finding during deputation is permissible, and judicial review at the charge stage remains limited to jurisdictional error, patent illegality, mala fides, or fundamental statutory violation.

Vizhinjam port concession obligations include road and rail connectivity to maximise the benefits of export-import operations. The State government proposes land acquisition funding for a ring-road project, is engaging with central ministries on rail connectivity, and is seeking to expedite national-highway construction. Mission Samudra is intended to connect Cochin port and 18 mini ports with Vizhinjam to support lower-cost, faster exports. Concerns were also raised over the State government not receiving prior intimation of a proposed stake transfer in the port project company.

Public sector banks are urged to use their customer base, branch networks, geographic reach, institutional experience and digital capabilities to build stronger competitive positions and leadership. Each bank may develop distinct areas of excellence based on geography, customer relationships, sectoral expertise, technology capabilities or international presence. Strategic priorities include deposit mobilisation, banking for youth, support for investment and global capability centres, agriculture and horticulture infrastructure, credit-card business reorientation and priority sector lending.