Special Additional Duty refund under Notification No. 102/2007-Customs requires sale of the imported goods themselves, supported by invoices and VAT payment on those goods. Sterilisation, repacking and relabelling of imported non-sterile latex examination gloves constituted deemed manufacture under the Central Excise Act, particularly where concessional central excise duty was paid on the processed goods. The retail products were therefore manufactured goods rather than imported goods sold as such. Strict construction of the exemption conditions made the refund unavailable.

Section 110(1) of the Customs Act requires a proper officer to independently form a reasonable belief, on objective material, that goods are liable to confiscation; suspicion alone, including a single marking that does not establish foreign origin, is insufficient for seizure. Purchase invoices, banking records and income-tax returns supporting acquisition and conversion of gold may discharge the claimant's burden under Section 123 where they remain undiscredited. The burden then lies on Revenue to prove foreign origin or smuggling through cogent evidence. Without such proof, confiscation of the gold and related penalties cannot be sustained.

Anti-dumping duty imposed on castings for wind-operated electricity generators covers castings in raw, finished, sub-assembled forms and when incorporated in sub-assemblies, equipment or components. The levy remains confined to the casting content and does not extend to an entire gearbox merely because it contains castings. A final Tribunal interpretation limiting duty to the castings binds customs authorities, and consistent assessments of identical imports support that limited application. Levy on the complete gearbox therefore lacks statutory authority.

Statutory amendment effective from 15 June 2026 operates prospectively unless it expressly provides otherwise. Imports covered by bills of lading dated before commencement cannot be governed by that amendment or have provisional-release consideration denied on its basis. Provisional release for such imports must be considered under the pre-existing Customs Act framework, with release subject to compliance with lawfully imposed conditions.

Duty-free import of polyester knitted fabrics under a valid Special Advance Authorization remains eligible for customs-duty exemption notwithstanding a Minimum Import Price condition. Paragraph 4.04A of the Foreign Trade Policy permits such imports for manufacture and export of apparel, while Notification No. 27/2023 provides the corresponding exemption. The later Minimum Import Price notification expressly accommodates Special Advance Authorization holders, subject to restrictions on sale of imported inputs in the Domestic Tariff Area. Accordingly, the Minimum Import Price condition alone does not disqualify the exemption; resulting confiscation, redemption fine and penalty cannot be sustained.

Concurrent factual findings on customs misdeclaration are ordinarily not disturbed in criminal revision unless perversity is demonstrated. Export certification of granite cobble stones followed by interception of red sander logs, coupled with an untraceable transport vehicle, fictitious intermediaries and no theft complaint, supported the findings. For sentencing, where prohibited goods are not covered by Section 123, the maximum imprisonment under Section 135(1)(ii) applies. Time already spent in custody and substantial delay since the occurrence may justify reducing imprisonment to time served while retaining fines and default imprisonment.

The Customs Act's proper-officer framework recognises the Assistant Commissioner, SIIB, as competent to issue a show-cause notice. Article 226 ordinarily does not permit pre-adjudication intervention where an effective statutory process is available and the challenge depends on disputed facts requiring evidence. The effect of an accepted CBI closure report and allegations involving exports, valuation, DEPB credit and transactions must be determined by the adjudicating authority. Where proper-officer competence is settled and factual controversies remain unresolved, the statutory adjudicatory process must be pursued.

Prospective operation of exemption notification - Provisional release of imported highly specialised equipment Consideration of provisional release of imported secondhand digital multifunction print and copying machines where the bills of lading predated the amendment relied upon by the customs authorities - HELD THAT: - An amendment to an exemption notification, unless expressly retrospective, operates prospectively and cannot govern imports covered by bills of lading issued before its comme... ... ...

Immediate suspension of Customs Broker licences - Binding departmental timelines for preventive suspension - Unexplained delay in preventive suspension Validity of immediate suspension under Regulation 16(1) of Customs Broker licences where the departmental suspension timelines were substantially exceeded without satisfactory explanation - HELD THAT: - Regulation 16(1) confers an exceptional preventive power, not an ordinary disciplinary power. Pendency or contemplation of an enquiry, or the ... ... ...

Provisional release of seized conveyance - reasonable security conditions - Alternative statutory remedy - exercise of writ jurisdiction Alternative statutory remedy - exercise of writ jurisdiction - Maintainability of the writ petition challenging conditions for provisional release of a seized barge despite the statutory appellate remedy - HELD THAT: - Though an appellate remedy was available, the conditions imposed for provisional release were found ex facie excessive and unreasonable. The ... ... ...

TP Adjustment - TNMM comparability for SAP support and ITeS services - Foreign tax credit on section 10AA-exempt income - Limitation for draft and final transfer-pricing assessment - Adequate opportunity in first appellate proceedings TNMM comparability for SAP support and ITeS services - Accounting-year mismatch in comparable selection - Selection of comparables for routine SAP support and ITeS services under TNMM, including exclusion of functionally dissimilar entities, retention of R Syste... ... ...

Royalty paid by non-resident content licensees - Indian source nexus - India-UK DTAA royalty source rule - payer's permanent establishment Royalty paid by non-resident content licensees - Indian source nexus - India-UK DTAA royalty source rule - payer's permanent establishment - Taxability in India of royalty received from non-resident customers for licences to exploit films and television content in India and other territories - HELD THAT: - Section 9(1)(vi)(c) required the Revenue t... ... ...

Long-term capital gains from penny-stock shares-burden of proof u/s 68 - Human-probability test-direct nexus with the assessee - Binding jurisdictional precedent over conflicting non-jurisdictional authority Addition u/s 68 on sale proceeds of shares, treated as bogus long-term capital gains - HELD THAT: - The assessee discharged the statutory onus through contemporaneous IPO allotment, demat, bank, contract-note and broker-ledger records, none of which was found false or discrepant. A genera... ... ...

Penalty u/s 271(1)(c) - Specific charge of concealment or inaccurate particulars - Penalty for bona fide disclosed claims - Foreign branch profits - debatable taxability - Penalty consequent upon deleted transfer-pricing adjustment - MODVAT closing-stock adjustment - revenue-neutral timing difference Specific charge of concealment or inaccurate particulars - Penalty for bona fide disclosed claims - Penalty for disallowance of Executive Retirement Scheme, cash-discount and contractual bonus pr... ... ...

TP adjustment - selection of MAM - Resale Price Method for routine distributor Selection of the most appropriate method for benchmarking import of RF parts and base station antennas from an associated enterprise for resale without value addition - HELD THAT: - The assessee was correctly characterised as a routine distributor, as the imported goods were resold to unrelated customers without physical alteration or value addition. The substantial expenses relied on to allege functional complexit... ... ...

TP Adjustment - TNMM comparability of captive software development services - Operating cost computation for transfer-pricing profit level indicator - Interest on outstanding receivables Comparability - Operating cost in profit level indicator - Treatment of rent included under rates and taxes while computing the operating margin for transfer-pricing purposes - HELD THAT: - The amount classified as rates and taxes had been excluded as non-operating. Since it was stated, and accepted by the De... ... ...

India-USA DTAA - Royalty - Use of or right to use intellectual property - India-USA DTAA - Fees for Included Services - Make available condition - Business profits - Absence of permanent establishment Royalty - Use of or right to use copyright, process or know-how - Software-enabled support services - Characterisation of consideration for IT service-desk, project-support and storage-support services as royalty under Article 12(3) of the India-USA DTAA - HELD THAT: - Article 12(3) applies only... ... ...

Proportionality of penalty for delayed filing of quarterly TDS statements - Penalty u/s 271H(1)(a) on delayed filing of the quarterly TDS statements Quantum of penalty for delayed filing of quarterly TDS statements where the tax deducted at source had been deposited and the deductees' credits were eventually regularised - HELD THAT: - The statutory range for penalty requires the quasi-judicial authority to exercise discretion on sound judicial principles, having regard to the gravity of t... ... ...

Exercise of option under new tax regime through Form No. 10-IEA - Prior intimation before return-processing adjustment - Deductions under old tax regime upon opt-out HELD THAT: - Where the assessee had filed the prescribed Form No. 10-IEA to opt out of the new tax regime and be taxed under the old regime, a subsequently ticked declaration in the return stating that the assessee did not wish to opt out could not override that election. Once the prescribed form is used to exercise the option... ... ...

Capital gains on immovable property - year of transfer Taxability of long-term capital gains from an inherited residential property in AY 2017-18 when its registered transfer occurred in the succeeding AY 2018-19 - HELD THAT: - Chargeability and computation of capital gains are inseparably linked to the transfer transaction. The registered sale deed showed that the property was transferred in the period relevant to AY 2018-19, and no material established an earlier transfer. Receipt of part o... ... ...