Inadvertent e-way bill discrepancies cannot trigger detention penalties where goods match records and no tax avoidance is established.

Show cause notice and hearing are mandatory before imposing penalty; their absence invalidates the penalty proceedings.

Duplicate GST proceedings for identical input tax credit transactions are barred; demand relating to common suppliers was quashed.

GST registration cancellation notices require specific factual allegations; bare citation of Rule 21 grounds denies meaningful hearing.

Personal hearing requirement: demand order set aside because adjudication without a hearing breached principles of natural justice.

Independent application of mind is essential for tax notices; AI-generated notices without it are legally unsustainable.

Condonation of delay for revised exemption claims requires liberal consideration where identically placed retirees received finalised relief.

Telescoping requires source-and-period nexus; property investment and fixed deposits must be assessed on actual unaccounted investment.

Condonation of delay turns on a bona fide explanation, supporting liberal discretion and merits adjudication.

Minimum Alternate Tax computation provisions remain inapplicable to statutory corporations not incorporated under company law and governed by separate accounting statutes.

Reassessment based on mismatched alleged entry characteristics failed where intraday trading profit was already offered to tax.

Interest-free funds presumption prevents interest capitalisation, while rule 8D disallowance cannot independently increase book profit computation.

Fictitious-name benami transactions permit attachment of routed funds when cumulative evidence remains unrebutted by the benefiting participant.

Benami money trail and prejudice test shape why attachment survived and the cross-examination challenge did not succeed.

Benami cash routing and no proven prejudice from denied cross-examination led to upheld attachment.

Benami finding set aside for incomplete appreciation of evidence; matter remanded for fresh consideration of ownership and attachment.

Benami transaction analysis rejects sham gold sale used to convert demonetised cash into banking credits

Benami share transfer found where nominal payment, deferred consideration, and continued transferor control showed effective ownership remained unchanged.

Provisional release of imported multifunctional devices requires enhanced duty payment and security while customs adjudication proceeds independently.

Statutory condonation limit bars delayed Commissioner (Appeals) filings beyond the expressly permitted outer period.

Customs exemption claims require strict coverage, but full import disclosure prevents extended limitation and penalty for erroneous claims.

Knowledge of export-goods misdeclaration is essential before customs penalties can be imposed on a broker's G-card holder.

Certificate of Origin verification procedure governs preferential tariff exemption; customs cannot independently reject origin claims based on value addition.

Special Bonded Warehouse Licence cancellation fails where cost recovery charges are paid and no licence-condition breach is established.

Cheating requires dishonest intent at inception; subsequent commercial default and settled insolvency dues cannot sustain criminal prosecution.

Stamp duty on amalgamation orders requires relevant approval-stage valuation material, not reliance solely on an earlier valuation report.

Borrower interest liabilities survive NPA classification, while listed-entity auditors require evidence, mandatory quality review and appropriate modified opinions.

Discretionary transfer of winding-up proceedings depends on timely, bona fide grounds and may be refused once liquidation has substantially progressed.

Production of company records cannot serve as evidence-gathering for unsubstantiated oppression and mismanagement claims by majority shareholders.

Discretionary restoration costs require reasoned, case-specific justification and may not apply to statutory authorities performing assessment functions.

Public duty in stock exchange governance may bring senior officers within anti-corruption law, subject to factual determination.

Mandatory mutual-fund compliance requires maturity redemption, proper rollover consent, disclosure, and due diligence despite investor gains or no loss

Depository liability for participant misconduct upheld where supervisory safeguards failed and arbitral award was not patently illegal.

Statutory appeal bars writ challenge to SEBI IPO approval; petitioner must use the appellate remedy instead.

Insider trading and delayed disclosure under the PIT Regulations: SAT relief on trading findings, with penalty sustained for late reporting.

Negative futures settlement rates upheld where contract adopted external benchmark and writ relief could not rewrite final settlements.

Secured operational debt status excludes Central Sales Tax dues while recognising secured State tax dues in insolvency distribution

Statutory charge over VAT dues supports secured operational creditor status only for charge-covered claims in resolution distribution.

Personal guarantor insolvency moratorium requires a filed application, allowing SARFAESI enforcement despite the corporate debtor's CIRP.

Personal guarantor insolvency proceedings may begin independently, without prior or pending corporate debtor insolvency or liquidation proceedings.

Financial debt requires allottee disbursement; a flat received for unpaid service dues does not confer financial-creditor status or homebuyer protections.

IBC appeal limitation begins on pronouncement, and the statutory outer limit for condonation cannot be extended.

Director liability under FEMA requires proof of control or culpable involvement; mere designation alone does not justify penalty.

Pre-deposit non-compliance under FEMA did not bar restoration where readiness to pay and medical hardship were shown.

Sub judice protection under FEMA barred fresh notice and complaint based on the same cause of action, leading to quashing.

Delayed import payments as trade credit under FEMA, with RBI permission unable to cure the contravention and directors held liable.

FEMA compliance breaches upheld, but penalties reduced where delayed reporting and share allotment were established on the facts.

FEMA penalty limits and power of attorney liability clarified: statutory fit and duplicate penalties for same acts were rejected.

Natural justice in competition proceedings requires notice before departing from the investigation report's findings.

Merger control disclosure and finality: composite transactions need full notice, but approved combinations cannot be reopened without statutory power.

Prima facie antitrust screening requires concrete evidence; regulated pricing and disclosed tender preferences did not establish abuse of dominance.

Tacit cartel participation and partner liability upheld where repeated coordination emails, not dissociation, proved competition law breach.

Prima Facie Assessment: Regulatory and expert reports can inform but absence of AAEC bars a DG inquiry.

Coal handling charges at port found imposed through mandatory coordination fees; impugned order set aside and remitted.

Territorial jurisdiction in money-laundering cases may be concurrent, but the linked scheduled offence requires trial before the same Special Court.

Retention of suspected money-laundering property remains valid where statutory reasons exist, ECIR quashing is stayed, and limitation excludes stay periods.

Prima facie money-laundering material defeats discharge where trustee conduct links the accused to loan diversion and laundering allegations.

Knowing participation in routing tainted loan funds prima facie supports a money-laundering complaint and defeats quashing.

Consideration of objections before bank account attachment required; matter remitted for a reasoned decision on the petitioner's objections.

Prima facie scrutiny at discharge permits money-laundering prosecution to continue without adjudicating predicate offences or asset legitimacy.

Business auxiliary service classification remains unexamined after the civil appeal was dismissed as time-barred for delay.

Electricity-generation service exemption covers hydroelectric project fabrication, erection and commissioning services, eliminating service tax liability and related consequences.

Penal minimum gas offtake charges and sale-linked marketing margins do not constitute consideration for taxable services.

Statutory university affiliation functions are education-promoting public duties, exempt from service tax and not taxable services for consideration.

Reverse-charge service tax on CIF sea freight cannot support proceedings after the underlying levy was invalidated.

Reverse charge on mining royalty places service-tax liability on recipients and excludes them from threshold exemption benefits.

Factory-use exemption for job-worked tractor parts applies on proven end use, while absent suppression bars extended limitation.

Clerical errors in statutory returns cannot sustain excise demands where supporting records disclose the correct clearances and negate suppression.

Lump-sum contract finality prevents recovery of unaccounted pre-existing duty-exemption benefits and requires release of security deposits.

Input service credit for plant setup remains available where services directly relate to manufacture and no exclusion applies.

Timely export established by contemporaneous export records, making delayed ARE-1 certification insufficient to sustain excise duty demand.

Related-person valuation rules do not apply where corporate entities are not relatives and sales are not exclusively through one buyer.

Tax-variation clauses override firm-price treatment, requiring excise-duty reductions to benefit the purchaser and preventing supplier unjust enrichment.

Registered secured creditor priority prevails over unenforced State tax attachments, protecting auction purchasers from continuing revenue-record encumbrances.

Works-contract composition compliance requires consideration of prescribed records, making an unreasoned best judgment assessment unsustainable.

Rule 83 rectification jurisdiction must be considered before merits, while factual tax characterisation proceeds through statutory proceedings.

Post-inspection revised returns cannot erase unreconciled turnover suppression, though subsequent payment may moderate estimated additions and penalties remain enforceable.

Revisional time limits restrict delayed tax orders, while valid works-contract deductions and input tax credit evidence require proper assessment.

Specialised agricultural-land valuation qualifications remain valid, and civil-engineering credentials cannot replace separate eligibility requirements for registration.

Agricultural land under legal construction restrictions is not 'urban land' for wealth-tax purposes under Section 2(ea)(v).

Scheme of demerger asset vesting prevents attachment for demerged company's tax; attachment allowed only for resulting company's own liability

Appeals dismissed as not pressed; properties treated as commercial establishments excluded from "assets" under Section 2(ea) Wealth Tax Act

Land loses wealth tax exemption during construction period under Section 2(ea) - exemption only applies after completion

Rental income from land plots cannot be denied based on later verification findings from different assessment year

Cheque dishonour presumptions remain unrebutted where the accused presents inconsistent, unsupported repayment and security-cheque defences.

Cheque dishonour prosecution requires timely presentation and valid service of an accurate demand notice; defective compliance sustains acquittal.

Recovery certificates could not support insolvency notices before the later deeming provision, which had no retrospective operation.

Royalty computation through inclusive sale value remains a valid regulatory measure against mineral pricing manipulation and evasion.

Reduced cheque demand after disclosed part payments may remain valid; disputed debt and Section 56 issues generally require trial.

Settlement preserving cheque dishonour complaints keeps prosecution alive, while civil detention remains distinct from criminal punishment and double jeopardy.