Penalty for failure to obtain a tax audit is discretionary and cannot be imposed where reasonable cause is established. An educational trust not carrying on business could bona fide believe that a tax audit was not required, particularly where the default was neither mala fide nor wanton. Section 273B therefore protected the trust from penalty under section 271B. Further, because the revision order forming the basis for the consequential assessment and penalty proceedings had been quashed, proceedings founded on that order could not survive. The penalty was consequently unsustainable and liable to deletion.

India-Singapore economic engagement is being advanced through ministerial and business roundtables under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. A multidisciplinary business delegation is undertaking business-to-business, government-to-business and institutional engagements focused on partnerships, investment, market access, technology collaboration and talent development. Agricultural trade cooperation includes promotion of Indian agri-food exports through a retail initiative. The engagement seeks to strengthen trade, investment, digitalisation, advanced manufacturing, skills development, green-economy cooperation and people-to-people ties.

IDFC FIRST Bank accessed international debt capital markets through its IFSC Banking Unit at GIFT City by issuing inaugural fixed-rate senior notes with a three-year tenor, due in 2029. The notes were offered to investors outside the United States under the Regulation S format. The issuance followed an investment-grade long-term issuer credit rating with a stable outlook, diversifies the bank's funding sources, and creates an avenue for access to global capital markets in support of long-term growth.

Penalty for failure to obtain a tax audit was not sustainable where the assessee bona fide believed that the audit threshold for share transactions had to be determined by the net amount of purchases and sales. The explanation was not doubted by the income-tax authorities but was rejected without adequate consideration. The bona fide belief provided sufficient basis to mitigate the rigour of penalty, resulting in deletion of the penalty.

Place of supply for custodial services supplied by banks or financial institutions to Foreign Portfolio Investors is determined under the default rule in section 13(2) of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. Such services are not supplied to an account holder for section 13(8)(a), which concerns holders of interest-bearing deposit accounts. Custodial functions, including safekeeping securities, maintaining securities accounts and records, collecting benefits, and communicating issuer actions, are distinct from ordinary banking services to deposit account holders. The recipient's location applies where ascertainable; otherwise, the supplier's location applies.

Closing auction session (CAS) improves transparency and reduces manipulation in end-of-trading price formation by pooling buy and sell orders during a designated closing window for auction-style matching. Manipulation intended to undermine CAS is subject to prompt and stringent action, supported by enhanced monitoring. Responsible use of artificial intelligence and machine learning requires tiered accountability and governance, including kill-switch, human-in-the-loop and data controls. Regulated entities remain responsible for privacy, security and integrity of investor data used by every AI tool they deploy.

Imported services received by an Indian registered person from a related foreign person are subject to reverse charge, with self-invoicing by the Indian recipient. Where the recipient is eligible for full input tax credit, the value declared in the self-invoice is deemed to be the open market value for supplies between related persons. If no invoice is issued for a service received from the foreign affiliate, its value may be regarded as nil and treated as the open market value, subject to full input tax credit eligibility.

Land-acquisition compensation claims should not lose substantive entitlement to just compensation solely because of delay in filing or refiling where the acquisition authority suffers no prejudice, since market value is determined as of the preliminary-notification date. Delay-related equities may be addressed by withholding interest on enhanced compensation and statutory amounts for the delayed period. Market-value escalation must reflect proven development potential: agricultural land acquired for rehabilitation with potential for conversion into building sites warranted cumulative annual escalation at 10% rather than 5%, resulting in enhanced compensation.

Where fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression is not established in a section 74 demand, section 75(2) requires the notice to be treated as issued under section 73. The consequential order of redetermination must be issued within two years from communication of the appellate or judicial direction. However, the redetermined demand is limited to tax, interest and penalty relating to periods for which the original notice was issued within the section 73 limitation period of two years and nine months. For multi-year notices, only timely covered financial years may be redetermined.

Foreign exchange market movement saw the rupee depreciate marginally against the US dollar amid higher global crude oil prices, heightened West Asia tensions, a stronger dollar environment and weaker domestic equity markets. Central-bank intervention and foreign fund inflows provided support. Adequate foreign-exchange reserves and stronger-than-expected FCNR(B) scheme inflows were identified as factors limiting the scope for sharp depreciation.

ITC claimed in FORM GSTR-3B but absent from FORM GSTR-2A for FY 2017-18 and FY 2018-19 may be examined under section 16 rather than automatically treated as ineligible. The proper officer must verify tax documents, receipt of supplies, payment to the supplier, required reversals, and the statutory time limit. Supplier-wise discrepancies exceeding Rs 5 lakh require a UDIN-based Chartered Accountant or Cost Accountant certificate; lower discrepancies require a supplier certificate. The procedure applies to ongoing, including pending adjudication or appeal, proceedings and not completed matters.

Spectrum allocation involving an instalment option is a continuous supply of services, with GST payable by the telecom operator under reverse charge. The Frequency Assignment Letter is a bid-acceptance and allocation instrument, not an invoice-equivalent document for applying the sixty-day reverse-charge rule. GST on upfront payment is payable when payment is made or becomes due, whichever is earlier; for deferred payments, GST is payable when each instalment is due or paid, whichever is earlier. This treatment also applies to similar government allocations of natural-resource usage rights.

ITC is available to motor insurers for repair services settled through reimbursement where the garage invoice is issued in the insurer's name. The insurer is the recipient to the extent of its approved repair liability, notwithstanding that the insured initially pays the garage. Where repair charges exceed the approved claim cost, credit is limited to the amount reimbursed by the insurer; separate invoicing permits credit on the invoice issued to the insurer. No ITC is available if the repair invoice is not in the insurer's name.

Time limit for filing FORM GSTR-7 for March 2019 was extended until 12 April 2019 for registered persons required to deduct tax at source under the Telangana Goods and Services Tax framework. The extension applies to the prescribed return-filing procedure for tax deducted at source.

FORM GSTR-1 outward supply reporting for March 2019 must be furnished electronically through the common portal by 13 April 2019. The requirement operates within the framework for furnishing outward-supply details under the Telangana Goods and Services Tax Rules and is made under the Telangana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Limitation rules promote public policy and prevent dilatory conduct, but should not defeat substantial justice where delay is bona fide and adequately explained. Belated receipt of a certified copy, obtaining legal opinion, and sanctioning substantial court fees explained the delay in filing a land-acquisition appeal. Negligence by government counsel and officials did not establish callousness or absence of bona fides, and public interest should not suffer because of that lapse. A pragmatic approach, particularly where arguable merits exist, supports condonation subject to costs.

Rule 138E of the Telangana Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, inserted through rule 12 of the Telangana Goods and Services Tax (Fourteenth) Amendment Rules, 2018, came into force on 21 June 2019. The State Government appointed this commencement date under its rule-making power under the Telangana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Land development, sale and rental activities undertaken by a statutory development authority as part of implementing development plans, town planning schemes and planned urban development remain incidental to its public-development objects. The proviso to Section 2(15), and consequently Section 13(8), applies only where such activities are in the nature of trade, commerce or business. In the absence of material showing that the authority operated solely on commercial lines, pursued profit as its real object or departed from its statutory objects, the proviso does not apply. The authority consequently remains eligible for exemption under Section 11.

Extension of the GSTR-1 filing deadline applies to registered persons whose principal place of business is in specified districts of Odisha. The earlier State Tax notification was amended to permit electronic furnishing of April 2019 outward-supply details in FORM GSTR-1 through the common portal by 10 June 2019.

GSTR-3B filing due date for April 2019 is extended to 20 June 2019 for registered persons whose principal place of business is in specified districts of Odisha. The return must be furnished electronically through the common portal. The extension is effected through a proviso inserted into Notification No. 11/2019 State Tax under the State Goods and Services Tax framework.