Business insurance coverage depends on accurate declared values, disclosures, policy wording and compliance with conditions, not merely the existence of a policy. Underinsurance can cause an average clause to proportionately reduce property claims where the sum insured is below the value at risk. Misrepresentation or failure to disclose material facts may reduce or void cover; exclusions, breaches of safety or record-keeping conditions, late notice and insufficient proof of loss can also affect claims. Exclusions for cyber incidents, war, flooding and other risks vary with policy wording. Property insurance should not be assumed to cover business interruption, cyber losses or goods at undeclared locations.

Lenders assess character, repayment capacity, capital, collateral and business conditions. A central test is whether financial statements, bank statements and tax records present a consistent account of the business. Common weaknesses include declared income insufficient to support borrowing, low debt service coverage or interest cover, overdue tax and provident fund dues, poor borrower or promoter credit history, excessive leverage, inadequate promoter contribution, weak or delayed accounts and an unclear loan purpose. Applicants should explain material discrepancies, avoid inflating financial figures or diverting funds to undisclosed purposes, and monitor loan covenants after sanction.

Bagasse is a non-excisable agricultural residue, not a manufactured product. Its clearance without payment of duty does not require proportionate reversal of Cenvat credit under Rule 6 of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004, which governs credit attributable to exempted goods. Supreme Court decisions and a Board circular support this treatment, while the contrary circular is rejected.

Section 3 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 requires valuation under the customs framework for domestic tariff area clearances by a 100% export-oriented unit. A duty demand cannot be sustained by substituting a customs valuation rule in adjudication when the show-cause notice invoked the Central Excise Valuation Rules. Attribution of price influence to a buyer relationship for part of the period was inconsistent with findings of no influence for the same product in other years and for another product throughout. Accounting shortages from income-tax audit declarations, without independent verification or evidence connecting them to clandestine clearances, do not justify a duty demand; the applicable product standard also recognised heating loss.

Fitting prescription lenses into spectacle frames does not constitute manufacture for central excise purposes under section 2(f) of the Central Excise Act, 1944. Manufacture of lenses and frames is distinct from their subsequent assembly. Incidental refining and adjustments needed to fit the lenses into frames form part of that assembly and do not make it manufacture.

Special additional duty end-use exemption requires imported components to be used in manufacture at the registered factory; components supplied for free warranty replacement do not qualify unless that condition is met. Rule 8 of the 1996 Rules permits recovery for breach within a reasonable time, independently of the limitation periods under Section 28 of the Customs Act. Interest runs from importation until payment, with the Customs Act determining the rate. Free-warranty goods qualify as Cenvat inputs, and eligible duty may be credited using a qualifying challan; the exclusion for duty recovered through specified conduct requires proof of intent to evade. The specified customs penalty requires deliberate conduct, and its substantive provision did not extend to special additional duty during the period in question. Cenvat penalties require wrongful credit and are not automatic.

Excise duty on goods manufactured by a job worker is payable by the job worker as manufacturer. Allegations that a trader manufactured goods through job workers require supporting evidence. Confiscation of unrecorded goods raises questions about their finished status and intended clandestine removal, while confiscation of seized cash requires evidence linking it to clandestine clearances. Repacking of duty-paid goods can be revenue neutral where the duty payable equals the corresponding untaken Cenvat credit and affixing stickers does not change the assessable value.

Renting a residential dwelling for use as a residence, including a hostel used for student accommodation, falls outside taxable services under the negative list in section 66D of the Finance Act, 1994. Rental income from such use is not subject to service tax. Cenvat credit requires a taxable output service, qualifying input services, and compliance with documentary and record-keeping requirements under the Cenvat Credit Rules. Entitlement requires evidence that the applicable conditions are met.

The ascertainable value of goods sold under composite works contracts and subjected to sales tax is excluded from the taxable service value. Composite works contracts were not chargeable to service tax before 1 June 2007. Demands for the specified services supplied to government authorities and hospitals were unsustainable; the military engineering services were non-commercial. Services performed in Jammu and Kashmir were exempt during the relevant period. For the contracts concerned, the extended limitation period and penalties were not justified, given the unsettled law and the absence of established deliberate suppression or intent to evade tax.

Reimbursable expenses for the disputed pre-2015 period are excluded from taxable service value. Rule 5 of the valuation rules was declared ultra vires section 67 of the Finance Act, 1994, because the pre-amendment statute did not authorise their inclusion. Section 67 was subsequently amended in 2015 to include such expenses. The pre-2005 definition of consulting engineer covers a body corporate under the governing Supreme Court interpretation, notwithstanding contrary decisions.

Works-contract service tax valuation under Rule 2A deducts the value of goods to determine the service portion; percentage-based valuation applies where the goods value is not determined. Separately invoiced goods values supported by VAT payments and returns can be accepted where Revenue produces no evidence that the invoices are incorrect. Sections 73(3) and 73(4) distinguish pre-notice payments from cases involving specified conduct with intent to evade. Where unpaid service tax results from wilful suppression with intent to evade, the Section 78 penalty is calculated on the full confirmed tax without deducting payments made during investigation.

Freight paid to an independent transporter on a principal's behalf and reimbursed to a clearing and forwarding agent does not form part of the agent's taxable service where transportation is outside the agent's contractual obligations. Where the agent is responsible only for receiving, warehousing, storing and dispatching goods, and independent transporters carry the goods for the principal, reimbursement of freight does not bring that charge within the taxable value of the agent's service.

Section 5 of the Prevention of Money-laundering Act permits attachment of proceeds of crime held by a person not named as an accused in the scheduled offence, where the property is linked to related criminal activity. Sections 5 and 8 require an independently formed reason to believe supported by available material. Section 3 covers actual involvement in activities connected with proceeds of crime, including possession; an asserted lack of knowledge does not necessarily defeat attachment where a payment aggregator accepts funds without due diligence. Section 24 places a reverse burden on an accused once foundational facts are established, requiring substantiation of the funds' legitimate sources.

Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 requires an arrested person to be informed of the grounds of arrest. Written communication was prescribed as the mode of compliance from 3 October 2023. Existing bail orders granted for non-supply of written grounds for arrests preceding that date remain in force. Cancellation on that basis was rejected where no misuse of bail or other ground for cancellation was alleged.

A real, plausible dispute existing before a demand notice bars admission of an operational creditor's insolvency application. The inquiry is limited: the defence need not be likely to succeed, and its merits or significance are not assessed at admission. A dispute need not be raised through a suit, arbitration or contractual escalation procedure. Earlier correspondence questioned testing charges, payment milestones, stability data and investigations into out-of-specification results. A conditional settlement offer accompanied by grievances was not an admission of liability.

Recall of the dismissal of an insolvency application for fraud requires specific particulars and proof that a knowing or reckless false statement or material concealment caused the order, could not fairly have been exposed earlier, and resulted in a gross failure of justice. The financial creditor bears the burden of proving debt and default in the insolvency application and fraud in the recall application. Recall is distinct from review and is exercised sparingly. Later discovery of evidence alone does not justify recall, while an alleged error in assessing material already before the authority is a matter for appeal.

A complete insolvency application by a financial creditor must be admitted when a financial debt is due and payable and default is established. Lenders cannot be compelled to accept a proposed settlement where the required upfront deposit was not made and later deposit commitments were not honoured. Withdrawal of an admitted insolvency application must follow the procedure under Section 12A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, including committee approval and restrictions on the stage at which withdrawal is available.

Preventive suspension of a customs broker licence under Regulation 16 requires an independent assessment and recorded reasons showing that immediate action is necessary, with a hearing before continuation. Mechanical reliance on an investigation report is insufficient. Regulation 10 requires brokers to advise clients to comply with applicable law and exercise due diligence over the correctness of information given to clients; it does not require independent investigation of foreign supply chains or detection of third-party overseas-origin fraud. Adverse findings based on material withheld from the broker violate natural justice. Licensing provisions and rules governing persons authorised to transact business do not require a particular individual to appear personally before the investigating agency.

Tariff classification depends on the goods' condition and identity at importation. The imported composite polyurethane sheets required cutting, sewing, airbag stitching and other operations to produce a distinct seat-covering sub-assembly. They were classified as other plastic articles under tariff item 3926 9099, rather than as fittings or seat parts, and qualified for preferential duty treatment. Intended use, specified dimensions and unit quantity codes were not determinative. Rule 2 requires an unfinished article to have the essential character of the finished article. Rule 3's preference for a specific entry applies only when the competing descriptions are prima facie applicable.

Bituminous coal classification requires both prescribed calorific-value and volatile-matter limits to be met on their respective measurement bases. Under the applicable methodology, the Parr formula must use as-received rather than air-dried values. Steam coal classified under tariff item 2701 1920 qualifies for the basic customs duty exemption. Bituminous coal classified under a separate tariff item does not qualify for that exemption merely because it is used to generate steam.