Anticipatory bail in a money-laundering investigation may be refused where investigation material prima facie links the applicant to illegal call-centre operations, alleged proceeds of crime, their layering, and unexplained financial credits. At the pre-arrest bail stage, the relevant inquiry is whether serious allegations and a prima facie case exist, rather than a meticulous assessment of evidence or conclusive acceptance of financial explanations. Repeated non-compliance with summons, incomplete participation, non-appearance despite judicial directions, and being declared a proclaimed person indicate lack of cooperation. The need for effective investigation and custodial interrogation can outweigh pre-arrest protection.

PMLA action requires a subsisting scheduled offence and identifiable proceeds of crime. An ECIR is an internal administrative record rather than an FIR or criminal prosecution, while search, seizure, freezing and preservation measures remain administrative until a prosecution complaint reaches the Special Court. Article 226 review may extend to the jurisdictional basis of those measures where the challenge concerns foundational legality, not merely property-related action within the Adjudicating Authority's remit. Closure of the predicate FIR through acceptance of a cancellation report and dismissal of a protest petition removes the basis for continuing PMLA action unless the predicate investigation is lawfully revived. An ECIR addendum may include another FIR, but must satisfy legality, procedural fairness and a sufficient same-transaction nexus; it cannot arbitrarily substitute an unrelated predicate offence.

PMLA proceedings involved dismissal of a Special Leave Petition challenging a High Court order, with no interference granted. The petitioner received four weeks to surrender; on surrender within that period, the Trial Court must consider the bail application independently on its merits and in accordance with law. Pending applications stood disposed of.

Homebuyers who invoke arbitration for refund of sale consideration, accept and present refund cheques, and pursue dishonour proceedings abandon their status as continuing allottees for insolvency purposes. Although amounts raised from real-estate allottees ordinarily have the commercial effect of borrowing, financial-creditor status requires a subsisting financial debt and liability owed by the corporate debtor. A refund claim pursued through these steps does not retain the character of a debt owed to a continuing allottee. The principle barring differential treatment of decree-holder allottees does not apply where the claim results from the homebuyer's election to seek refund. Such homebuyers cannot be recognised as financial creditors in that capacity.

Corporate insolvency recovery may proceed alongside depositor-protection proceedings under the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, 1997. The Economic Offences Wing may continue statutory action to protect and redress depositor claims and investigate related offences despite the insolvency process. A liquidator, having assumed the company's management functions, may obtain a complete set of seized investigation materials and pursue recovery of receivables through the available statutory forum. Providing those materials supports recovery without interrupting investigation, while amounts traceable to alleged offences remain subject to lawful action by the Economic Offences Wing.

Regulation 31A validly imposes a regulatory fee as an insolvency resolution process cost for resolution plans approved under Section 31 on or after 1 October 2022. The Board's express power to levy fees for carrying out the Code's purposes, together with its regulation-making power over process costs, supports inclusion of the fee within the residuary category of insolvency resolution process costs. The levy remains a regulatory fee, rather than a tax, where it has a broad nexus with regulatory functions; direct payer-specific quid pro quo is unnecessary. The fee is not excessive, arbitrary, retrospective, colourable, or based on excessive delegation where statutory guidance and legislative oversight apply.

Orders of the National Company Law Tribunal must ordinarily be challenged through the statutory appellate remedy before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. Writ jurisdiction should not be invoked against an NCLT order where no sufficient reason exists to bypass that alternative remedy. High Courts should therefore decline to entertain such writ applications, leaving aggrieved parties to pursue the appropriate remedy before the competent forum in accordance with law.

Maintainability of an appeal against disposal of a SCORES complaint was examined where the appellant sought monetary compensation and regulatory action. The Tribunal treated the monetary claim as a civil dispute outside its jurisdiction and indicated that remedies available through the SCORES mechanism should be pursued where applicable. The Supreme Court found no basis to interfere, dismissed the appeal while preserving any other remedies available in law, and dismissed the review petition because no grounds for review were established.

Import value re-determination must comply with the Customs Valuation Rules, 2007 and rely on comparable contemporaneous imports rather than departmental internal instructions or the highest available value. Comparable lower-value imports require consideration, with the lowest value of similar contemporaneous goods forming the basis for reassessment. Excess quantity and minor thickness variations may attract confiscation where examination identifies a contravention. However, where test results substantially match the declared GSM range and no intent to evade duty is established, redemption fine and penalty should be proportionate to the limited infraction and recalculated using the re-determined assessable value.

Separately imported laptop LCD display panels lacking video-signal converting components fall under heading 8524 as flat panel display modules, rather than the general heading for computer parts. Classification follows the General Rules for Interpretation, the heading terms and Chapter Notes. Chapter Note 7 gives heading 8524 precedence where a display module has a screen but no scaler ICs, decoder ICs or application processors. Presentation as replacement laptop screens does not displace this specific classification. Such panels attract basic customs duty at 15%, and classification under tariff item 84733099 is incorrect.

Classification of imported kitchen exhaust hoods depends on the factual determination whether the hoods incorporate fans. Additional material bearing on that question had not been considered because it was sent to an incorrect email address. The Authority must consider that material and make a fresh determination on whether the imported hoods contain fans, which will govern their classification.

Customs-seized goods remain governed by the special seizure, provisional-release and adjudication framework under the Customs Act, 1962. Sections 110 and 110A regulate seizure and provisional release pending adjudication, while confiscation and penalties fall within the jurisdiction of designated customs officers under Sections 122 and 122A. Where no prior prosecution sanction under Section 137 has been recorded and no criminal court has taken cognizance of a Customs offence, a regular criminal court cannot use its general power under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 to grant interim custody of the seized goods. Interim release must therefore proceed under the Customs Act mechanism.

Common adjudication of multiple customs show-cause notices may be declined despite a common investigation where the notices concern distinct subject matters and some have already been adjudicated. Pendency of proceedings seeking common adjudication does not invalidate parallel adjudication unless an order expressly stays or restrains it. Although an alternative statutory remedy does not absolutely bar writ jurisdiction, challenges involving service, hearing, consideration of replies, limitation, and other record-dependent disputed facts should ordinarily proceed through the statutory appellate forum. Merits of valuation, duty, penalty, limitation, and natural-justice objections remain open before that forum.

Importers authorising customs-clearance agents to use transferable duty-credit scrips remain responsible for duty benefits obtained through manipulated credits when they fail to verify the scrips' source, validity and available balance. Agency acts within authority are attributable to the importer, while bona fide purchaser protection requires good faith and reasonable care; excess electronic credit cannot be transferred beyond the entitlement originally issued. Non-production of original scrips or denial of cross-examination does not breach natural justice where independent electronic and official records establish the facts and no actual prejudice is shown. Penalty for duty short-levy through fraud or suppression may apply despite lack of personal involvement in manipulation, but a separate penalty is excluded where the statutory penalty regime prohibits duplication.

Commission receipts cannot be offered under the presumptive taxation scheme unless the activity qualifies as a profession specified for that scheme. Where commission income is assessed as income from other sources, only the net amount is taxable after deduction of reasonable expenditure incurred to earn it; the expenditure claim requires verification of its quantum and supporting evidence. Cash gifts received from a sister fall within the exclusion for gifts from a relative where the relationship and receipt are supported by confirmation, tax identification details and bank records. Accordingly, presumptive treatment remains unavailable, the sibling gift is excluded from taxable income, and commission income must be recomputed after verifying allowable expenditure.

Inventory impairment for unused biomass and coal may be recognised where prolonged open-yard storage causes deterioration in quality, calorific value and marketability. Valuation at cost or net realisable value, whichever is lower, can support a consistently applied reduction that reasonably reflects diminished inventory value and aligns with Ind AS 2 and ICDS II. Where an under-reporting penalty is based solely on a disallowed impairment claim, deletion of the underlying quantum addition removes the basis for the penalty. The assessed loss must consequently be recomputed after allowing the impairment claim.

Interest awarded under section 28 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 on enhanced compensation for compulsory acquisition of agricultural land is treated as an accretion to land value and an integral component of enhanced compensation. It differs from interest for delayed payment under section 34, which has a separate character. Statutory provisions governing taxation of compensation interest determine the timing of taxability but do not change the character of section 28 interest. Consequently, such interest is not taxable as income from other sources and qualifies for the exemption applicable to enhanced compensation.

Office premises acquired and fully paid for before the end of the relevant year form part of the depreciable block of assets for Section 50 computation, even if physical possession was not obtained and the premises were not used for business during that year. Acquisition, rather than possession or actual use, governs inclusion in the block. Actual business use is relevant to depreciation entitlement but not to whether an acquired asset enters the block for capital-gains computation. Tax liability requires recomputation on this basis in favour of the assessee.

Penalty for concealment under Section 271(1)(c) is not leviable where the tax sought to be evaded is nil. Although Explanation 3 may deem delayed non-filing of a return to constitute concealment in specified circumstances, Explanation 4(c) requires computation after reducing advance tax, tax deducted or collected at source, and self-assessment tax paid before issuance of a reassessment notice. Where the reassessment return is accepted without variation and the entire tax liability was paid before the notice, no tax remains sought to be evaded; consequently, the penalty is deleted.

Compulsorily convertible debentures remain debt instruments until conversion for transfer-pricing purposes. Chapter X requires benchmarking of the transaction actually undertaken, and a valid borrowing cannot be re-characterised as equity merely because conversion is compulsory or because of regulatory or accounting classifications. Interest therefore cannot be assigned a nil arm's length price on that basis; the CUP analysis and any Rule 10B comparability adjustments require examination on their merits. Bad-debt deduction is available where trade receivables are actually written off and the statutory conditions are met. Continuing dealings with debtors, or the absence of recovery action, does not by itself disprove a bona fide write-off.