India-Netherlands DTAA | AO Can't Use Reassessment To Cure Own Failure To Record On PE: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that an Assessing Officer (AO) cannot invoke reassessment proceedings under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act merely to make up for his own failure to record a finding on the existence of a Permanent Establishment (PE) in India, after having conducted an inquiry into the issue during the original assessment.The division bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta made the observation while allowing a petition filed by Elsevier BV, a company incorporated...

HC Can't Bypass Customs Statutory Appeal Merely Due To Financial Hardship In Making Pre-Deposit: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that a taxpayer cannot bypass the statutory appellate mechanism under the Customs Act merely by citing financial hardship in complying with the mandatory pre-deposit requirement.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Shail Jain made the observation while dismissing a writ petition challenging ₹3 crore penalty imposed on a man in connection with an alleged attempt to export red sanders wood concealed beneath carpets."However, once the legislature has...

Welfare-Oriented Rehabilitation Policy Cannot Preserve Claims Extinguished Under IBC: Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that a rehabilitation policy or agreement with a project-affected person cannot preserve a claim merely because it is welfare-oriented, as the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code overrides inconsistent laws and policies.Justice Sanjeev S. Kalgaonkar observed, “Thus, Rehabilitation policy or any agreement with project affected (displaced) person cannot facilitate claim as an exception for the reason that it is welfare oriented. Section 238 of IBC gives Insolvency...

Venture Capital Funds Need No Separate SEBI Registration For Each Scheme For Income Tax Exemption: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Thursday held that a Venture Capital Fund (VCF) registered with SEBI does not need separate registration for each scheme it operates to claim exemption under Section 10(23FB) of the Income Tax Act.A Division Bench comprising Justice B.P. Colabawalla and Justice Farhan P. Dubash dismissed the Revenue's appeal against Milestone Real Estate Fund. The court upheld the Fund's eligibility for the exemption.Section 10(23FB) provides that income earned by a qualifying VCF from...

Himachal Pradesh High Court Excludes Automatic Stay Period From Limitation For Execution Of Arbitral Award

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that an execution petition filed in 2025 to enforce a 2012 arbitral award was within limitation. It held that the period during which the award was deemed to be automatically stayed under the law then prevailing had to be excluded while calculating limitation.Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua observed, “In the instant case, objections under Section 34 of the Act were preferred by the respondent-Judgment Debtor within the prescribed limitation period. Therefore,...

Taxpayer's Assignment To State Tax Administration Doesn't Bar DGGI's Pan-India Jurisdiction: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has reiterated that merely because a taxpayer is administratively assigned to the State tax administration, it does not bar the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI) from exercising its pan-India jurisdiction to investigate alleged GST evasion.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Shail Jain made the observation while dealing with a batch of petitions filed by a real estate company which has GST registrations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu...

Income Tax Penalty On Reduced Expenditure Claim Under APA Contrary To Act, Unsustainable: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that imposing an income tax penalty on account of a reduction in an expenditure claim pursuant to a position settled under an Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) is contrary to the scheme of the Income-tax Act and cannot be sustained.A division bench of Justice B.P. Colabawalla and Justice Farhan P. Dubash observed that the APA framework, introduced to reduce tax litigation, would be rendered ineffective if consequential penalties could be imposed after an expenditure...

Delhi High Court Upholds GST Circular Allowing Common Adjudication Of Composite SCNs Based On Highest Demand

The Delhi High Court has upheld the validity of a GST circular prescribing the 'highest amount of demand' criterion for selecting a Common Adjudicating Authority where a composite show-cause notice is issued to multiple noticees falling under different jurisdictions.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Shail Jain held that the circular does not confer any fresh jurisdiction on an officer. Rather, it merely provides an administrative mechanism for selecting, from among officers who...

GST Refund Cannot Be Rejected Merely Because Department Plans To Challenge Appellate Order: Telangana High Court

The Telangana High Court has recently ruled that a GST refund authority cannot reopen an ITC dispute already decided by an appellate authority merely because the department proposes to challenge that order. An appellate order remains operative unless it is stayed, modified, or set aside in accordance with law. If the department seeks to withhold the refund while further proceedings are pending, it must comply with the requirements of Section 54(11) of the CGST Act.A Division Bench of Chief...

Deficit Stamp Duty, Interest Demand Must Be Raised Within Reasonable Time: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court on 7 September held that a demand for deficit stamp duty and interest must be raised within a reasonable period, while clarifying that proceedings to determine deficit stamp duty need only be initiated within five years of registration. A Division Bench of Justices Abdul Quddhose and R. Rajesh Vivekananthan dismissed an appeal filed by the Special Deputy Collector (Stamps) and upheld the direction to release two documents presented for registration by K.K.V. Seetharaman...

Mere Forgery In Loan Papers Can't Implicate Bank Manager Without Criminal Intent: Telangana High Court

The Telangana High Court on 17 September held that merely processing or forwarding loan proposals cannot, by itself, establish criminal conspiracy or other offences against a bank officer in the absence of material showing knowledge, dishonest intention or conscious participation in fraudulent transactions. A Bench of Justice N. Tukaramji quashed the criminal proceedings against Dr. V. Raja Gopal Reddy, a former Branch Manager of Indian Bank, Osmangunj Branch, Hyderabad, who was arrayed as...

Advocate-Client Privilege Cannot Bar GST Search Of Advocate's Office If His Role Is Under Probe: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has upheld the search conducted by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Department at an Advocate's office, including seizure of a CPU from his cabin, holding that advocate-client privilege cannot operate as an absolute bar against investigation into the conduct of the advocate himself where there is prima facie material indicating his possible involvement in the affairs under investigation.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Shail Jain, however, clarified...