Classification of imported roasted areca nuts as roasted or dried remained pending adjudication. Laboratory classification as dried areca nuts based solely on physical appearance was treated as insufficient for continued withholding because moisture content was within the prescribed limit and comparable consignments had been released on personal bond. The imported goods were directed to be provisionally released on personal bond, without a bank guarantee, while classification and consequential customs duty remain subject to pending proceedings. Consignments declared fit for consumption were to be physically delivered within a fortnight.

Bihar Goods and Services Tax law permits the Government, on the Council's recommendations and by notification, to extend statutory, prescribed or notified time limits where actions cannot be completed or complied with due to force majeure. The power includes retrospective operation from a date no earlier than commencement of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. Force majeure includes war, epidemic, flood, drought, fire, cyclone, earthquake and other calamities affecting implementation of GST law.

Foreign Trade Policy provisions were amended to facilitate invoicing of overseas exports and receipt of export payments in Indian rupees. For exports to countries outside the Asian Clearing Union, export contracts and invoices may be denominated in Indian rupees or any foreign currency, replacing the earlier general requirement that export earnings be received in a freely convertible currency. The applicable requirements vary according to the destination country.

ITC availed in GSTR-3B for February to August 2020 had to be reconciled cumulatively with eligible supplier-uploaded invoices and debit notes reflected up to the due date for September 2020 GSTR-1. Aggregate credit for those months could not exceed 110% of cumulative eligible uploaded credit, and could not exceed the tax otherwise eligible on supplies received. Excess ITC had to be reversed in Table 4(B)(2) of the September 2020 GSTR-3B; failure to do so was treated as availment of ineligible ITC in September.

Dealer inventory financing is to be provided by Federal Bank to VinFast India's authorised dealer network under a memorandum of understanding. The tailored financing is intended to improve dealers' working-capital flexibility, support maintenance of vehicle inventory, strengthen operational capability, and enable timely response to demand as the electric-vehicle distribution network expands.

The amendments permit dropping registration-cancellation proceedings when all pending returns are furnished and tax, interest and late fee are fully paid; permit input tax credit on documents containing specified core particulars; revise adjusted total turnover for refund purposes; and impose bill-of-entry carriage and disclosure requirements for imported goods in transit. They also substitute FORM GST ITC-04 for job-work reporting and introduce annual returns in FORM GSTR-9 for regular taxpayers and FORM GSTR-9A for composition taxpayers, covering supplies, input tax credit, tax payments, adjustments, refunds, demands and late fees.

Delay in filing multiple income-tax appeals was addressed alongside questions of law that had also arisen in a related appeal. The motions and appeals were dismissed by applying the reasons adopted in disposing of that related appeal. No independent reasoning on the delay or the questions of law is provided, as the disposition follows the earlier determination.

Specified company has provision-specific meanings. For specified TDS/TCS purposes under the Income-tax Act, 2025, it means a company referred to in section 2(h) of the Unit Trust of India (Transfer of Undertaking and Repeal) Act, 2002. For Schedule IV purposes, it excludes a domestic company operating cruise ships in India that opts for the prescribed cruise-ship tax provisions. The Income-tax Act, 1961 similarly links the term to section 2(h) of the 2002 Act.

COVID-19 GST relief revises interest and late-fee treatment for delayed GSTR-3B and GSTR-1 filings. Taxpayers above the prescribed turnover threshold receive nil interest for an initial delayed period, reduced interest up to the specified cut-off, and normal interest thereafter. Eligible smaller taxpayers receive nil interest until specified filing dates, reduced interest until 30 September 2020, and normal interest thereafter. Late-fee waiver is conditional on filing GSTR-3B by the prescribed extended dates; otherwise, late fee runs from the original due date until filing.

A counterclaim under Order VIII Rule 6-A has the effect of a cross-suit, enabling a defendant to seek leave under Order XXXIII Rule 1 to pursue it as an indigent person. The indigent-person procedure applies to a counterclaim because the defendant is effectively instituting a cross-suit. Rejecting a counterclaim solely for non-payment of court fee without first considering and deciding the application for leave to sue as an indigent person constitutes a failure to exercise jurisdiction. The leave application must be considered and determined according to law before the counterclaim is rejected for want of court fee.

Section 69(3) of the Indian Partnership Act bars an unregistered firm from enforcing contractual rights through suits, set-off claims, or other proceedings. It does not prevent defendants from raising a purely defensive plea in a written statement that disputed property is jointly owned by the parties as partners. Contesting the plaintiff's exclusive title without seeking affirmative relief is neither a proceeding under Section 69(3) nor enforcement of a contractual right. Consequently, a plea based on joint ownership through an unregistered partnership cannot be struck out on that ground.

Section 69 of the Indian Partnership Act restricts an unregistered firm from instituting specified suits and court proceedings to enforce contractual rights, but does not bar a private reference to arbitration. The term "proceedings" in Section 69(3) covers proceedings analogous to suits commenced in court, not an out-of-court arbitral process under a contractual arbitration clause. Without express statutory language removing the contractual right to private dispute resolution, an unregistered firm may validly refer contractual disputes to arbitration, and the resulting arbitral reference and award remain valid.

For TDS/TCS purposes, "services" includes fees for technical services and fees for professional services. Under the Income-tax Act, 1961, professional services include services rendered in legal, medical, engineering, architectural, accountancy, technical consultancy, interior decoration and advertising professions, as well as other notified professions. Fees for technical services carry the meaning assigned for income deemed to accrue or arise in India.

Bill of Coastal Goods (Form) Regulations, 1976 came into force on 1 January 1978 pursuant to the commencement power under regulation 1(2).

COVID-19 GST relief retains the original GSTR-3B due dates but grants conditional interest and late-fee relief for February to April 2020. Higher-turnover registered persons receive nil interest for an initial delay period and reduced interest thereafter if returns are filed by the stipulated cut-off; smaller registered persons receive nil interest if they meet notified filing dates. Delayed GSTR-1 filing receives conditional late-fee waiver, while rule 36(4) input tax credit restrictions apply cumulatively for February through August 2020. Extended compliance timelines also apply to composition filings, e-way bills, specified returns and tax collection statements.

Seller for specified tax collection entries includes governments, local and statutory bodies, companies, firms, co-operative societies, and individuals or Hindu undivided families meeting prescribed preceding-year business or professional turnover thresholds. For overseas tour programme packages, it means a person selling such a package. The earlier sale-of-goods definition based on a higher turnover threshold, with potential notified exclusions and conditions, is withdrawn under the Income-tax Act, 2025.

Suspension of GST registration under rule 21A(2A) applies where return comparisons or other prescribed analysis disclose significant anomalies indicating contravention potentially leading to cancellation. Taxpayers receive reasons for suspension and a cancellation notice, and must reply within thirty days through FORM GST REG-18. Following examination of the reply or expiry of the response period, the proper officer may drop proceedings and restore active status through FORM GST REG-20, or cancel registration through FORM GST REG-19. Suspension may be revoked pending detailed verification and recovery, without preventing fresh cancellation proceedings where warranted.

The Quarterly Return Monthly Payment Scheme permits eligible registered persons to furnish FORM GSTR-1 and FORM GSTR-3B quarterly while paying tax for the first two months through FORM GST PMT-06. Eligibility is restricted to persons within the prescribed aggregate-turnover threshold and ends from the succeeding quarter after the threshold is crossed. Monthly payment may follow the fixed-sum or self-assessment method. The Invoice Furnishing Facility is optional for reporting selected invoices in the first two months. Quarterly filing, interest on delayed payments or returns, and late fee for delayed quarterly compliance remain applicable.

Sugar prices in Bengal have risen sharply ahead of the festive season, with higher prices also affecting jaggery and other sugar-derived products. Supply constraints, mill stock releases, lower production in Brazil, ethanol diversion and possible hoarding have been identified as contributing factors. Raw-sugar imports have been permitted to augment availability, while stockholding restrictions limit inventories of specified bulk consumers. Lower projected closing stocks and possible future production effects from El Nino may sustain pressure on sugar availability and increase costs for sweetmeat producers.

Scrap for TDS/TCS purposes means waste and scrap arising from the manufacture or mechanical working of materials that is definitively unusable as such due to breakage, cutting up, wear, or similar reasons. This meaning under the Income-tax Act, 2025 corresponds to the definition in the Explanation to section 206C of the Income-tax Act, 1961.