Refund of excess export duty following reassessment of steel-slab shipping bills remains subject to statutory refund limitation; an alleged mistake of law cannot invoke general limitation law or Article 265 to bypass it. Where additional duty paid by challan was absent from shipping bills, Let Export Orders and contemporaneous assessment records, and a departmental recomputation constituted reassessment, the excess became ascertainable only on reassessment. A prior refund application read with a pending correction request was therefore within time. Interest on delayed refund runs from the day after three months from reassessment, rather than from the earlier application, because the claim could not be both premature before ascertainment and overdue for interest purposes.

Personal penalties for participation in smuggling were sustained where the appellant and customs broker conspired with de facto importers to clear containers concealing prohibited R-22 gas and admitted acting for monetary consideration. This conduct established a serious role in the smuggling operation. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officers appointed as customs officers and assigned proper-officer functions may issue show cause notices for customs-duty recovery. Assessment and recovery of short-paid duty are distinct statutory functions, so the earlier contrary jurisdictional view did not invalidate the notice. The jurisdictional challenge failed and the appeal was dismissed.

Departmental knowledge of identical imports and prior acceptance of the declared classification negated suppression and intent to evade duty; the extended-period duty demand and related interest were therefore set aside. Woven warp cut-pile fabrics were correctly classified under CTH 5801 because that specific heading for woven pile fabrics prevailed over general silk or rayon fabric headings, irrespective of rayon predominance. Exemptions not claimed at clearance may be claimed at adjudication, absent fraud, if substantive and procedural conditions are met; the alternative CVD and SAD claims require fresh merits determination, with any duty and interest confined to the normal period. Prior departmental acceptance also excluded deliberate misclassification, preventing confiscation and penalties.

Restricted second-hand parts of capital goods imported without the required authorisation may be confiscated, but restriction alone does not justify absolute confiscation without specific reasons. Where the goods are restricted rather than prohibited, redemption on payment of fine remains available. Penalty for importing such goods was treated under the provision applicable to improper import; enhancement under a separate provision operating on different premises was not sustainable. The appellate order directing absolute confiscation and enhancing the penalty was set aside, while the original order allowing redemption and imposing the applicable import penalty was restored.

Section 213(b) requires recorded satisfaction, reasons showing application of mind, and a reasonable opportunity of hearing before an investigation into company affairs, or preliminary steps towards it, is directed. Requests to external investigative agencies for tracking information at the initial stage cannot proceed without a rational basis, compliance with those statutory conditions, and prior hearing of affected parties. Directions issued without these safeguards are contrary to natural justice and require fresh consideration after hearing the affected party.

Residuary jurisdiction in liquidation permits incidental and consequential directions necessary to give commercial effect to a going-concern sale, including revised shareholding, fresh equity, listing-related steps, removal of historical encumbrances, and restoration of active corporate status, subject to applicable procedures and regulatory powers. A going-concern purchaser receives clean-slate protection from pre-sale liabilities, while pending proceedings may continue in the corporate debtor's name under new management without determining their merits. Subsisting licences, approvals and contractual rights continue subject to compliance obligations. Relief extending to all receivables or creating a fresh limitation period is unavailable w.....

Arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act requires more than formal satisfaction of statutory conditions: the necessity and need for arrest must also be assessed. Anticipatory bail remains an exceptional discretionary remedy, particularly in economic offences, requiring a balance between personal liberty and the investigating agency's need for interrogation and evidence collection. Relevant considerations include the accusation's gravity, the applicant's antecedents, risk of absconding, and the effect of pre-arrest protection on the investigation. Prima facie involvement in the alleged money-laundering offence led to refusal of anticipatory bail and dismissal of the criminal petition.

Equivalent-value attachment under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act requires that proceeds of crime have been passed on or layered and are unavailable with the person or entity to whom they were laundered. Attachment was not justified where subsidiary companies had no established money trail to the alleged kickback. Provisional attachment also requires a real likelihood that confiscation will be frustrated; mortgaged properties subject to admitted insolvency proceedings could be sold or transferred only under National Company Law Tribunal orders. The confirmation order was set aside, and the properties remained subject to the insolvency proceedings.

Fair-hearing requirements require supply of documents relied on in pleadings where the retention order is founded on them; service of a panchnama alone does not provide an adequate opportunity to respond. Retention of seized documents is justified only when they are relied on in a prosecution complaint or supplementary complaint and required to prove the case against an accused. Documents not so required must be released within a reasonable time, while authenticated photocopies may be retained. The retention direction was consequently limited to documents necessary as prosecution evidence.

Penalty under Rule 26 for dealing in goods liable to confiscation requires proof that the person acquired, possessed or dealt with excisable goods knowing or believing them to be liable to confiscation. Allegations of clandestine removal require affirmative evidence across the production and supply chain, including unaccounted procurement and production, transport and clearance, identified buyers' receipt, and unaccounted consideration; recovered diaries or notepads alone do not establish their contents as true. Statements recorded during investigation may be relied on where examination and cross-examination opportunities were provided but not used, without violating natural justice.

Taxability of a U.S. Economic Impact Payment in India remains unsettled. One approach treats it as taxable global income absent a specific exemption, while another regards a genuine refundable tax-credit payment as lacking the character of taxable income. Tax-free treatment in the United States is relevant but not determinative. Separately, a non-taxable payment may still be included in aggregate deposits for Category B foreign-bank-account valuation if credited by 31 March 2026. Payment classification should be supported by bank statements, dates, and IRS records.

CPI(M) called for repeal of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, alleging that insolvency processes enabled diversion of public resources. It questioned economic growth figures against agricultural weakness, mining contraction, higher input costs, inflation, unemployment and malnutrition. The party also raised Census data privacy concerns over caste-data collection, potential linkage with government databases, and possible implications for citizenship, electoral rolls and future delimitation.

Food Business Operator licensing requires the entity holding a food licence or registration to itself conduct the licensed food business at the specified premises. A third-party operator cannot operate under another entity's licence or registration and must obtain its own licence or registration. Regulatory notices concerning such arrangements may also address hygiene lapses and structural violations, followed by consideration of the operators' responses.

European diesel supply is becoming increasingly dependent on Indian refining capacity as Russian diesel and gasoil exports remain constrained by export restrictions, refinery disruptions and port outages, while US shipments to Europe have weakened. Alternative supply routes offer limited additional clean-product volumes because reduced tanker crossings and lower ship-to-ship transfers offshore Oman constrain flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Low diesel inventories, seasonal demand and planned refinery maintenance increase exposure to supply disruptions.

Pending appellate review of a confiscation order, merits were not adjudicated after the appeal had been transmitted to the Commissioner of Appeals. Expedited consideration of the appeal was directed, together with service of the appeal on the petitioner. Status quo over the detained gold bar was required to be maintained until the appeal is decided, preserving the subject matter of the confiscation dispute during appellate proceedings.

Service of an excise order by speed post requires proof of delivery to establish communication and trigger the statutory appeal period. The Revenue bears the initial burden of proving compliant service; dispatch records and the postal article's non-return do not, by themselves, prove delivery. Where delivery cannot be established, the assessee's stated date of actual receipt is accepted for computing limitation. The appeal is consequently treated as filed within time and requires decision on merits without reopening the limitation issue.

Interest expenditure relating to exempt-income investments is not disallowable where interest-free own funds exceed those investments, since the investments are presumed to have been made from such funds. Administrative expenditure exceeding an assessee's voluntary disallowance cannot be computed under Rule 8D unless the Assessing Officer examines the accounts and records dissatisfaction with the assessee's claim. Closing-stock valuation requires fresh determination under section 145A after examining the accounting method and valuation discrepancies. Expenditure on guest houses and employee residential flats requires factual examination of its nature, supporting records and business nexus before a reasoned disallowance can be made.

Section 69A does not permit assessment of a carried-forward opening balance as current-year unexplained money where seized material shows no introduction of funds during the relevant year and no independent evidence establishes a current-year investment. Extracts drawn from seized FoxPro books already available to the Assessing Officer are not fresh evidence requiring compliance with Rule 46A. Further, loose-sheet entries recording alleged deposits do not constitute money, bullion, jewellery, or another valuable article whose ownership is required for section 69A. Consequently, the addition for the alleged unaccounted deposit was unsustainable.

Persistent inflation, elevated interest rates and rising public debt constrain economic growth policy. Tariffs and oil shortages are identified as contributing to inflationary pressures, while lower interest rates could increase money flows and worsen inflation. Tariffs, tax cuts, artificial intelligence productivity gains and anti-fraud measures are advanced as mechanisms to support growth, investment and domestic employment. Fiscal sustainability, however, cannot be achieved through growth alone where social security and healthcare costs exceed revenue growth; deficit reduction may require slower spending, spending reductions and tax increases.

HyperVault's proposed artificial-intelligence data-centre campus in Hyderabad is planned on 264 acres, with investment projected at up to Rs 70,000 crore and capacity of up to 1 GW. The campus is intended to provide high-density, liquid-cooled computing infrastructure for frontier AI companies and hyperscalers. Telangana's Chief Minister sought inauguration by June 2, 2028, while assuring required governmental sanctions and support. The project is estimated to create 7,000 jobs.