Approval under section 80G for a religious-cum-charitable trust cannot be denied merely because it conducts satsang or disseminates spiritual knowledge. Expenditure on those activities remained below the five per cent ceiling for religious expenditure under Explanation (3) to section 80G. Meetings intended to spread spiritual knowledge across communities are not, by themselves, religious activities; satsang is similarly not religious unless expenditure concerns a particular deity or related activity. Where registration under section 12AB has been granted after examining the same objects, section 80G approval must follow absent breach of its specific statutory conditions. Approval was directed to be granted.

Reassessment notices for AY 2015-16 issued on or after 1 April 2021 were required to be dropped because the extended period did not preserve the power to issue fresh notices after limitation expired. Reassessment is also without jurisdiction where a return filed in response to a reassessment notice before completion is treated as non-existent solely because it was belated and no notice under section 143(2) is issued. For reopening beyond three years, prior approval from the higher specified authority is mandatory; TOLA's time extension does not alter the statutory hierarchy, making approval by the Principal Commissioner insufficient.

Appellate authorities must decide appeals on their merits and address the grounds raised, even where the assessee does not participate after notice. Ex parte disposal may rest on the material on record, but summary dismissal for non-prosecution without a reasoned, speaking adjudication is impermissible. Appellate orders concerning assessment and penalty matters for three assessment years were set aside for fresh disposal after reasonable hearing opportunity. A filing delay caused by failure to serve an appellate order through the physical mode requested by the assessee warranted condonation under a justice-oriented, liberal approach.

Return-processing adjustments to a charitable accumulation claim require compliance with the first proviso to section 143(1A), including an opportunity before the adjustment is made. Non-compliance vitiated the adjustment. Where an assessee's accumulated amount was incorrectly reported through an inadvertent return-form error, supported by an indemnity bond and a revised Form 10B, rectification required substantive consideration rather than rejection solely on a technical basis. The processing and rectification orders were set aside and remanded for consideration of the revised audit report, determination of correct income, and grant of admissible relief.

Customs exemption under Serial No. 404 read with List 33 covers goods described as equipment or units for specialised offshore and onshore petroleum-operation services, provided they also fall within the specified tariff chapters, headings, sub-headings or tariff items in the main notification table. Conformity with the tariff heading stated in List 33 is not required. A Mono Ethylene Glycol Reclamation Plant falling under Chapter 84 qualified because it was imported by a specified person for petroleum operations and matched the goods description. Regulatory certification and TRU clarification supported coverage. A later specific entry did not displace earlier eligibility under the general entry, and the exemption was treated as beneficial rather than ambiguous.

Post-clearance amendment of Bills of Entry may support preferential tariff claims under the India-Japan CEPA where a Certificate of Origin is issued retrospectively. Appendix-A to Annexure-2 of the CEPA Rules permits an importer lacking the certificate at importation to seek refund of excess duty after producing the certificate and supporting documents. Section 149 of the Customs Act must be applied harmoniously with those Rules, allowing later submission of the Certificate of Origin from the date of clearance. Reassessment and concessional duty under the relevant exemption notification remain subject to admissibility of the certificate and claim.

Director disqualification under section 164 concerns eligibility for appointment as a director and does not itself provide for deactivation of a Director Identification Number (DIN). DIN deactivation is governed separately by Rule 11 of the Companies (Appointment of Directors) Rules, 2014, requiring compliance with its prescribed grounds. Where a website records disqualification under one statutory clause but authorities rely on an undisclosed internal communication invoking another clause, procedural fairness is compromised. Notice and an opportunity of hearing are required before adverse DIN-disqualification action, and undisclosed grounds cannot substitute those requirements.

Closure of CIRP may be ordered where withdrawal under section 12A read with Regulation 30A is infeasible because CIRP costs remain uncrystallised and Form FA and a bank guarantee cannot be furnished. Where all creditor claims are settled or covered by accepted full-and-final settlements, no resolution plan exists, and the appellant undertakes to pay CIRP costs as determined, continuing CIRP serves no insolvency-resolution purpose and only increases costs. CIRP was closed subject to payment of the operational creditor's agreed settlement and CIRP costs following determination by the Adjudicating Authority.

Personal guarantor insolvency resolution applications must pursue a genuine repayment plan and cannot use the interim moratorium to obstruct secured-creditor enforcement of security interests. Failure to attempt repayment after a demand notice, coupled with filings made immediately after possession notices, indicates that the process is being used to stall recovery rather than achieve resolution. Section 94 is intended for personal guarantors genuinely seeking a repayment-based insolvency resolution process; use of Section 96 as a shield against SARFAESI possession proceedings constitutes misuse. On these facts, rejection of the second insolvency application and dismissal of the appeal were upheld.

Provisional attachment of mortgaged property requires recorded material showing that proceeds of crime are likely to be concealed, transferred, or otherwise dealt with to frustrate confiscation. An interim restraint on creating third-party rights, without an auction notice under secured-recovery proceedings or an executable arbitral sale order, does not establish that statutory apprehension. The provisional attachment and its confirmation were set aside for failure to meet this condition, while the question whether the properties were proceeds of crime remained for separate proceedings. The properties continued to be subject to the final outcome of pending insolvency proceedings.

Provisional attachment of mortgaged property requires a likelihood that the person concerned will deal with or alienate it so as to frustrate confiscation proceedings. A pre-existing interim restraint against creating third-party rights, followed by admission of proceedings before the NCLT, negated that apprehension. The order confirming the provisional attachment was set aside, while the property remained subject to the final outcome of the NCLT proceedings.

Transfer of title in goods, including deemed sales under works contracts, falls outside service tax; tax applies only to the service portion, and valuation must exclude goods on which sales tax or VAT is payable. Accordingly, service-tax demands based on the sale-of-goods component of lift irrigation and supply-and-installation contracts were unsustainable. Lift irrigation works supplied to a government-established and controlled body performing municipal functions qualified for exemption as services to a governmental authority. Extended limitation required wilful suppression or another specified positive act and could not rest solely on an interpretative exemption claim, Form 26AS information, or alleged non-payment. The notices and consequential demands were barred by limitation and set aside.

Admission of cheque execution and signatures on the cheque and money receipt triggered the presumptions of consideration and legally enforceable debt under the Negotiable Instruments Act. Questions concerning the complainant's financial capacity and an alleged breach of income-tax rules on cash loans did not rebut those presumptions without cogent and reliable evidence. The cheque-dishonour conviction was therefore sustained. A succeeding Magistrate could decide the matter on evidence recorded by the predecessor because the prosecution proceeded as a summons trial, not a summary trial; the statutory restriction on successor Magistrates was consequently inapplicable. The criminal revision was dismissed, and surrender was directed for the remaining sentence.

The 1994 Guidelines govern a Panel Valuer's fees for court-authorised inspection and valuation of immovable properties for sale. Prior sanction is required for payment above the prescribed ceiling, not before appointment; where distinct properties receive separate valuation reports, the ceiling ordinarily applies to each exercise. Full revised fees were sanctioned because the work was accepted without deficiencies. Delayed payment justified interest at 6% per annum, including until payment, but a further inflation-linked increase for the same period was rejected as overlapping compensation. Recovery must be claimed from available proceeding funds or before the competent Official Liquidator, not personally from the Court Receiver, government, associated individuals, or separate corporate entities without substantive legal basis and hearing.

Enforcement Directorate searches at premises linked to a Rajya Sabha member and an Urdu daily were undertaken in connection with a money-laundering investigation. The investigation arose from a police FIR and concerned allegations of material promoting communal disharmony, unaccounted cash transactions, suspicious funding, overstated circulation figures to secure government advertising, and advertising-linked funding connected with a Dubai-based entity. The political party disputed the action, alleging political motivation and targeting of a media voice.

Money-laundering investigation concerning alleged misappropriation of Karnataka Maharishi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Limited funds involved further recording of a former minister's statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The inquiry follows earlier questioning, arrest, grant of bail and filing of a chargesheet over alleged fund-transfer irregularities. The former minister denied involvement, characterised the matter as bank fraud, and stated that no documents were sought during the inquiry.

Aadhaar-based online processing of learning and driving licence applications is challenged on the ground that Aadhaar is not valid proof of age and that reliance on Aadhaar details may enable issue of licences to underage applicants. Allegations that licences were issued using a deceased person's Aadhaar number and despite an obscene uploaded photograph raise identity-verification and security concerns. The Union and State maintain that Aadhaar alone does not result in licence issuance because prescribed formalities must also be completed.

Digital donation collection facilities for temples and religious establishments include kiosks, Bharat Bill Payment System payments and UPI QR-code payments. Donations may be credited directly to the relevant trust account, supported by transaction reconciliation and digital records to improve transparency and ease of transactions. Technology services also cover municipal dues payments and property-tax assessment, alongside banking support for defence-sector ecosystems, MSMEs, agriculture and priority-sector lending.

Foreign-exchange market conditions resulted in the rupee closing weaker against the US dollar after initial support from foreign currency deposit inflows. Rising crude oil prices and weakness in domestic equity markets weighed on sentiment and offset support from a softer dollar and foreign investor equity purchases. Future movement may remain influenced by foreign inflows, crude oil prices, domestic market conditions, geopolitical tensions and inflation data.

Challenge to surrogate advertising allegations concerns notices requiring brand ambassadors promoting Vimal Elaichi to prove that it differs from prohibited pan masala, halt promotions, and remove digital materials. The product promoter contests the notices because they were addressed only to the actors, it was not heard, and the regulator allegedly lacked jurisdiction to stop the advertisements. Territorial jurisdiction to entertain the challenge is also contested.