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Likelihood of concealment limits attachment of seized or mortgaged assets, while equivalent-value property may secure dissipated proceeds.
Section 5(1) attachment requires recorded, reasoned grounds showing that property is likely to be concealed, transferred, or dealt with to frustrate confiscation. That requirement is not met for assets under lawful seizure, court custody, or bank mortgage because they remain beyond the affected person's effective control; attachment may be reconsidered if those restraints cease. Section 50 statements may support attachment where coercion is unsubstantiated and no prompt formal retraction exists. Where direct proceeds have been dissipated, equivalent-value assets may be attached. Persons claiming legitimate acquisition must corroborate funding through reliable banking and contemporaneous evidence; income-tax returns alone do not establish untainted funds.
Resolution-plan clean slate permits surviving debtor claims while limiting extinguished operational creditor claims to defensive set-off in arbitration.
Approval of a resolution plan under the IBC extinguishes pre-CIRP claims against the corporate debtor and successful resolution applicant, including claims omitted from the plan, while claims owed to the corporate debtor survive for pursuit by the successful resolution applicant. The arbitration agreement remains separable from the underlying contract and may continue despite termination and plan approval. Where reciprocal claims arise under the same contract, an extinguished operational creditor claim may exceptionally operate only as a defensive set-off against sums payable, not as an affirmative monetary counterclaim. Excluding the CIRP moratorium period, arbitration invocation and arbitrator-appointment proceedings remain timely if filed within the adjusted limitation period.
Inspection rights in regulatory proceedings exclude electronic material outside the record and not relied upon
Inspection and disclosure in regulatory proceedings are limited to material in the regulator's possession, forming part of its record, and relied upon in the proceedings. Access to a bank's Secretarial Portal and electronic data stored on its servers or devices is not required where that material is outside the regulator's record and the hearing notice confirms it will not be relied upon. Requests must identify documents clearly and precisely; blanket access may expose confidential third-party information. As the relied-on reports and documents were supplied, the access direction was unsustainable.
Director Liability for Regulatory Refunds Survives Resignation When Tenure Overlaps Investor Fund Mobilisation and Final Recovery Directions
Section 28A recovery may enforce a final regulatory refund direction against a director whose tenure overlapped with the relevant mobilisation of investor funds. Resignation after that period does not remove liability where the director remains named in the final refund order. Attachment and remittance of funds may implement the quantified outstanding liability following non-compliance, absent a jurisdictional error or illegality in recovery, computation, or remittance.
Representative stakeholder remedies cannot be pursued individually to reopen concluded oppression and mismanagement proceedings or challenge class-wide final relief.
Representative oppression and mismanagement proceedings require stakeholders to pursue relief through the representative mechanism made available for the affected class. An intervenor permitted to proceed collectively, but who does not use that avenue, lacks standing to bring an individual challenge against final directions governing share entitlement, dues, management and class-wide decision-making. Additional factual material sought after hearings have concluded and orders have been reserved should not be received where opposing parties lack an opportunity to rebut it, as this would breach natural justice. Material non-disclosure and repetitive individual proceedings may attract exemplary costs.
Fair valuation-based buy-out directions were stayed pending appeal amid disputed valuations and minority shareholder exclusion concerns.
Interim suspension of oppression-and-mismanagement directions was considered where a fair valuation-based buy-out was disputed as relying on earlier contested valuation reports. Uncertainty also arose from the coexistence of a fair valuation mechanism and a mutually agreed purchase price. The assessment further identified apparent exclusion of a minority shareholder from meaningful management participation following the founder's death. The directions were stayed on an interim basis pending further listing, while removal and nominee-director directions were addressed separately.
Project-import finalisation requirements: nil-duty concession cannot be denied without proving untimely documents and considering pending extension requests.
Regulation 7 of the Project Import Regulations, 1986 requires finalisation documents within three months of clearance of the last consignment, unless the proper officer grants an extension. Denial of the nil-duty project-import concession requires proof of the last-clearance date and non-submission within the applicable period. Where an extension request remains undisposed of, documents are furnished before show-cause notices, and record findings on the extension request or reconciliation statement are incorrect, non-compliance is not established. Applicable Board circulars allowing relaxation for public sector undertakings must also be considered before denying the concession.
Export due diligence failures support customs penalties for concealed substitution of prohibited red sander logs.
Attempted export of prohibited red sander logs concealed by substitution for granite slabs can justify a customs penalty where export documentation and handling circumstances fail to establish bona fides. A purchase order inconsistent with the declared quantity, description, and value, use of a low-value free shipping bill, loading outside the exporter's premises, and absence of the usual company seal on the container indicate inadequate due diligence. Prior genuine exports do not by themselves displace these adverse circumstances. The penalty's quantum was reduced.
Statutory authority for IGST interest determines recoverability of payments after Advance Authorisation exemption surrender during the pre-amendment period.
For the pre-amendment period, delayed-payment interest on IGST following surrender of an Advance Authorisation exemption required substantive statutory authority. In the absence of a specific authorising provision, interest paid was recoverable as a deposit rather than treated as duty. The two-year limitation applicable to duty-refund claims did not govern recovery of that deposit, leaving the consequential refund legally maintainable. A binding High Court ruling on the identical issue governed despite conflicting Tribunal decisions and a pending Larger Bench reference.
Re-import duty exemption requires export of the same repaired goods, not identical newly manufactured substitutes without identity declaration.
Re-import duty exemption for goods sent abroad for repair or reconditioning requires re-export of the same re-imported goods and verification of their identity. Exporting freshly manufactured replacement goods, even where identical in description and quality, does not satisfy that condition. A shipping bill must declare that the exported goods are the re-imported goods after rework; without that declaration, their identity cannot be verified. Failure to meet these requirements results in denial of the exemption and liability for duty and consequential obligations.
Town-seizure gold confiscation requires case-specific proof of foreign origin; uncorroborated retracted statements cannot sustain smuggling penalties.
Gold seized in a town setting may attract the Section 123 presumption only after an objectively sustainable reasonable belief, based on case-specific evidence, that it is of foreign origin and illicitly imported. Suspicion arising from concealment, missing documents, general smuggling intelligence, or border proximity does not establish those facts. Stock records, purchase invoices, financial records, and evidence of melting old jewellery may support licit acquisition where not effectively disproved. A retracted statement cannot establish smuggling or penalty liability without independent corroboration and compliance with Section 138B safeguards. In the absence of such proof, confiscation and penalties are unsustainable.
Retroactive Benami enforcement applies procedural amendments, while evidence of funding and control supports property attachment.
Procedural, curative and declaratory 2016 amendments to the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act may apply retroactively to enforce the pre-existing prohibition on benami transactions, while new or enhanced penal provisions remain prospective. Benami status depends on the source of consideration, control, custody of purchase records and beneficial use; funding and use by a person other than the ostensible owner support beneficial ownership. Sworn statements expressly made voluntarily require a valid, timely retraction to be displaced. Unsupported cash records inconsistent with disclosed income and transaction patterns may be treated as fabricated. Written reasons to believe are required before a show-cause notice, but separate disclosure of those recorded reasons is not required where the notice states the material basis and allegations.
Insurance business computation limits unauthorised tax adjustments and preserves deductions, exemptions, and revenue expense treatment for general insurers.
For general insurers, the special computation under section 44 read with Rule 5 permits only prescribed adjustments. Statutory depreciation is available where book depreciation is excluded, with consequential treatment of fixed-asset sale profits; prior-year disallowed expenditure may be deducted after statutory conditions, including tax-deduction compliance, are met. The framework does not permit taxation of investment-sale profits through unprescribed adjustments or section 14A disallowance against exempt dividend income. AMP expenditure is not an international transaction without evidence of a brand-promotion arrangement with the associated enterprise. Co-insurance fees under a principal-to-principal arrangement are not commission, and qualifying computer peripherals are revenue expenditure.
Charitable trust income accumulation remains available when prescribed filing and investment conditions are met despite a later trustees' resolution.
Section 11(2) permits a charitable or religious trust to accumulate income beyond the general exemption limit where Form 10 specifies the purpose and period, is furnished by the return-filing due date, and the funds are invested or deposited in permitted modes. Neither Section 11(2) nor Rule 17(2) requires trustees to pass an accumulation resolution before the end of the relevant previous year. A resolution passed later does not by itself defeat accumulation where the prescribed filing, purpose, period and investment conditions are satisfied.
Loan waiver as business loss allowed where the advance arose in ordinary-course financing activities rather than capital acquisition.
Waiver of a loan advanced under a shareholders' agreement was treated as a revenue loss where the advance remained contractually repayable from business surplus and formed part of the taxpayer's established business activities as partner, shareholder and financier. Sustained losses led to an irrevocable settlement waiver. Because the advance neither acquired a capital asset nor amounted to mere shareholder funding, it was distinguished from advances for acquiring immovable property. Monies advanced in the ordinary course of business could be written off under section 36(2) of the Income-tax Act, making the waived amount allowable as a business loss.
Limited-scrutiny boundaries restrict Section 263 revision to inquiries within selected issues unless scrutiny is lawfully converted.
Section 263 revision cannot rest on an Assessing Officer's failure to examine an asset-sale loss where that issue lies outside a limited-scrutiny assessment's selected verification points. Unless limited scrutiny is lawfully converted into complete scrutiny, the enquiry remains confined to the identified issues. Where the selected matters concern high liabilities relative to income and agricultural income, and the loss has no established nexus with either, the Explanation 2 deeming provisions apply only within that lawful enquiry scope. The revisional order was set aside and the original assessment restored.
Rule 8D disallowance requires recorded dissatisfaction, while royalty expense attribution demands verified nexus rather than gross-receipts allocation.
Section 14A(2) requires the Assessing Officer to examine an assessee's accounts and suo motu disallowance before recording dissatisfaction and applying Rule 8D. An additional Rule 8D disallowance cannot rest on an assumption that no disallowance was made where a voluntary disallowance exists; corresponding book-profit adjustment is consequentially unsupported. Expenditure attributable to qualifying royalty income under section 115BBF(2) must have a verified nexus with that income. Gross-receipts-based allocation of all expenses is inappropriate where royalty receipts include non-qualifying income or the expense base includes disallowed or manufacturing and trading expenses. Patent-wise evidence may require verification for fact-specific recomputation.
Section 54 purchase timing treats possession of a completed under-construction flat as the relevant acquisition date for exemption.
Section 54 purchase timing for an under-construction residential flat is determined by completion, payment of consideration and delivery of possession, rather than solely by the agreement date. Where the agreement predates the prescribed period but instalment payments are made and possession of a completed, habitable flat is delivered within one year before transfer of the original asset, the agreement confers only a right to purchase until the transaction is substantially completed. The completed flat is therefore treated as purchased on the possession date, allowing the Section 54 deduction.
Interest disallowance requires a borrowing nexus, while share-premium credits require investor-specific proof of identity, capacity and genuineness.
Interest disallowance requires an established nexus between borrowed funds and an advance. Where own funds substantially exceed the advance and the borrowings arise later, utilisation of borrowed funds for that advance cannot be presumed; the presumption favours use of own funds. Share-premium credits require investor-wise proof of identity, creditworthiness and genuineness under the applicable post-amendment framework, including consideration of the source of source requirement. Alternative Investment Fund status alone does not establish each investor's financial capacity or the genuineness of an investment. Verification should cover financial capacity, bank records, tax returns and supporting financial documents.
ESOP discount deductibility and transfer-pricing benchmarking require revenue treatment, reliable internal comparables, and functionally aligned comparable sets.
Employee stock-option discounts incurred to secure services during the vesting period are ascertained revenue expenditure deductible under Section 37(1), despite no cash outflow. For transfer pricing, associated-enterprise status requires a conjunctive assessment, and royalty benchmarking should examine reliable internal uncontrolled transactions and comparable third-party agreements before external comparables. Comparable selection across trading, IT-support, and digital-marketing segments must reflect functional, asset and risk similarity; entities affected by extraordinary events, lacking reliable segmental data, or owning material intangibles may require exclusion. Rule 10AB permits gross-margin comparison under the other method where relevant data support it, while Rule 10CA(2) restricts retention of a non-comparable entity in multi-year analysis.