Initial appointments must be made at the minimum pay applicable to the relevant grade. The Competent Authority may exercise discretion to grant up to four additional increments within the corresponding pay scale based on higher academic qualifications, special experience that adds value, or total emoluments received in previous employment.

Contractual appointments may be made where work exigencies require, subject to directions and service conditions that are not more favourable than those for equivalent appointments. Employees in Grade B and above may be taken on deputation where internal candidates are unavailable, with possible permanent absorption after two years at the Competent Authority's discretion. Executive Director appointments on contract or deputation require prior approval before an offer is issued.

Whole-time employee recruitment follows Schedule-I conditions on recruitment mode, qualifications, age, experience and related matters. Officers are ordinarily appointed at entry-level Grade A, while higher-grade recruitment is limited to unavailability of suitable internal candidates or work exigencies. Selection is through competitive examination, with no interview or group discussion for Multi-Tasking Staff. Procedural relaxation requires recorded reasons and must preserve fairness, transparency and merit-based selection. Executive Director appointments require approval before an offer is issued.

Whole-time employees are classified as Officers in Grades A to F and Executive Director, and Multi-Tasking Staff in Grades A to C. Pay is specified for each post or group of posts. Posts at Executive Director level require approval by the Authority, while the Chairperson sanctions posts up to Grade F. Appointments are made by the appointing authority, with no right to appointment to any particular post or grade.

Regulation 5 vests implementation powers in the Chairperson, including authority to issue administrative instructions needed to give effect to the service regulations and secure effective human-resource management. Powers of a Competent Authority are also exercisable by a superior authority. The Authority may waive or relax strict application of the regulatory provisions at its discretion.

Chairperson's power of delegation permits the Chairperson to delegate all or any powers conferred upon her under employee service regulations to a whole-time member, Executive Director, Committee of Executive Directors, or any Officer of the Authority. Delegation may be made subject to conditions determined by the Chairperson, allowing allocation of specified functions within the scope and limitations set by those conditions.

Employee service administration is defined through concepts of absorption, appointment and disciplinary authority, deputation, external assignment, duty, service, leave pay and remuneration. Deputation entails remuneration being borne by the borrowing organisation, while an external assignment entails remuneration being borne by the Authority. Substantive pay is limited to basic pay for the substantive post and excludes special pay, personal pay and allowances. Service excludes unauthorised absence or leave overstay unless specifically permitted, and gendered expressions apply inclusively where context permits.

Employee-service coverage extends to persons appointed under the specified statutory power, including employees on deputation and contract-based employees. The Competent Authority may set additional deputation terms, either independently or with the lending organisation, subject to consistency with the employee-service framework and applicable deputation policy. Such terms bind the deputationist upon acceptance. Temporary employees and persons engaged under arrangements not expressly covered are excluded unless coverage is specifically provided or determined by the Authority.

International Financial Services Centres Authority (Employees' Service) Regulations, 2026 are made by the Authority under subsections (1) and (2) of section 11, read with section 28, of the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019. Their stated short title identifies them as employee-service regulations. Commencement is fixed as the date of publication in the Official Gazette. Legal operation therefore begins on that publication date.

Trial in a PMLA matter received a further two-month extension, based on reasons recorded in the Special Judge's letter, for conclusion of the proceedings. The subject matter also concerns enlargement on bail, alleged non-compliance with re-arrest procedure, prosecution reliance on a confessional statement, and allegations of habitual offending and misuse of bail. Prosecution evidence had been directed to conclude within six months, and the miscellaneous application was disposed of.

Consent terms signed by the parties and their representatives were taken on record in two commercial suits. The recorded undertakings were accepted, and both suits were decreed in accordance with their respective consent terms. Drawing up of formal decrees was dispensed with, related notices of motion were disposed of, and any court-fee refund was left to be governed by applicable rules.

Section 80IA(4) deduction applies to enterprises that substantively develop water-treatment and sewage-treatment infrastructure projects under contracts with government or local authorities. Design, procurement, deployment of resources, execution, financial and defect-liability exposure, and project risks indicate infrastructure development rather than a simple works contract; ownership of the facility is not required. Employees' provident fund and ESI contributions paid after the welfare-law due date but before the income-tax return filing due date remain deductible under the applicable payment rule. Accordingly, both the infrastructure-development deduction and disputed employee welfare contribution deductions are available.

Exporters holding AEO status may pay Terminal Handling Charges directly to terminal operators instead of through shipping lines. Eligible exporters with existing P.D. Accounts may use those accounts for direct payment, while those without such accounts may open them with the relevant ports or terminals. Ports and terminals are requested to issue Terminal Handling Charge invoices directly to eligible and willing exporters.

Classification of imported goods as hard disk drives rather than removable or exchangeable disk drives determines entitlement to concessional countervailing duty under Notification No. 12/2012-CE. The relevant tariff description is confined to the six-digit heading and requires application of the ordinary meaning of "hard disk drive". Technical examination of samples, together with expert and departmental opinions, is relevant evidence for resolving the classification dispute.

Approval for scientific research is granted to Santhigiri Ashram, Thiruvananthapuram under the category of a university, college or other institution for the tax years 2026-2027 through 2030-2031. Continued eligibility requires ongoing Scientific and Industrial Research Organization approval, compliance with prescribed conditions, annual filing of Form No. 15 by 31 May after the relevant tax year, and issuance of Form No. 16 donation certificates to donors.

Removable or exchangeable disc drives fall under Tariff Item 84717020 rather than Tariff Item 84717030. Earlier determinations on identical goods adopted Item 84717020, challenges by Revenue were dismissed, and a coordinate-bench determination followed that classification. The established tariff treatment therefore places these disc drives under Item 84717020 for computer storage units in trade.

Filing of bills of entry is temporarily unavailable from 20:00 hours on 1 February 2020 until completion of ICES 1.5 updates required to implement proposed Customs duty-rate changes. Importers, exporters, Customs Brokers and other stakeholders are advised to comply with the temporary filing restriction. The requirement operates as a standing order for officers and staff of all Appraising Groups at Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House.

Commercial expediency can support interest deductions where borrowed funds finance revival of a group concern connected with the taxpayer's business, even without charging interest to the recipient. Irrecoverable advances and guarantee payments may constitute deductible business losses when incurred incidentally to business operations, although advances may fail as bad debts. Pre-assessment-year-2003-04 compensation for non-competition or restrictive covenants is a non-taxable capital receipt where the surrendered right has no cost of acquisition. Stamp-duty value remains deemed consideration under Section 50C, but payment to an agreement holder relinquishing enforceable rights may be deducted as transfer-related expenditure under Section 48. Interest under Section 234D applies only from assessment year 2004-05. Connected-party purchase circumstances may justify partial expense disallowance.

Approval recognises the Institute for Financial Management and Research, Chennai, as an eligible other institution for social science or statistical research and donation-related tax treatment. It requires continuing Scientific and Industrial Research Organization recognition, compliance with prescribed conditions, annual preparation and delivery of the donation statement in Form No. 15, and issuance of Form No. 16 donation certificates to donors. The approval applies for tax years 2026-2027 through 2030-2031.

UPASI Tea Research Foundation, Tamil Nadu, is approved as an Other Institution for scientific research for the tax years 2026-2027 to 2030-2031. The approval is conditional on continued Scientific and Industrial Research Organization recognition during each relevant tax year. The Foundation must comply with prescribed conditions, file an annual donation statement in Form No. 15 by 31 May following the relevant tax year, and provide donors with a Form No. 16 certificate specifying the donation amount.