DTVSV Scheme 2024 Inapplicable To Reassessments Arising From Search Proceedings: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court on 18 February held that taxpayers whose reassessment proceedings arise from incriminating material discovered during search operations under Sections 132 or 132A of the Income Tax Act are not eligible to avail the benefit of the Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas (DTVSV) Scheme, 2024. A Division Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi dismissed a batch of writ petitions led by Radha Madhav Eco-Industrial Park, which challenged the rejection of their...

Gujarat High Court Sets Aside ₹30,000 Customs Penalty On Zaveri & Co. For Wrong Regulatory Action

The Gujarat High Court on 24 February set aside a penalty imposed on Zaveri and Co. Pvt. Ltd. for alleged violations of warehousing regulations, holding that the customs authorities had initiated proceedings under the wrong regulatory framework and failed to provide the audit report that formed the basis of the action. A Division Bench comprising Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi passed the ruling while allowing a writ petition filed by the company challenging the penalty order...

Gujarat High Court Quashes Reassessment On Income From Property Sale After Fraudulent Deeds Cancelled

The Gujarat High Court has recently quashed reassessment proceedings initiated under Section 148A of the Income Tax Act agaisnt an individual taxpayer after noting that the Assessing Officer failed to consider that two sale deeds had been cancelled on account of fraud and that the sale consideration had been reversed. Section 148A governs the procedure to be followed before reopening an assessment. A bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi recorded that the sale deeds dated...

Income Tax Act | Ten-Year Block Under Section 153A Includes Search Year: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court on 23 February held that tax authorities must include the search year when computing the ten-year block for reopening assessments under Section 153A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. A Bench comprising Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi quashed a notice issued in 2025 for Assessment Year 2014-2015, as it fell outside the ten-year period, with the tenth year being Assessment Year 2015-16. The Court observed that to reopen proceedings under Section 153A, “the date...

Expired E-Way Bill Does Not Justify Harsh Penalty Under GST Law: Gujarat High Court Orders ₹18 Lakh Refund

The Gujarat High Court has ordered refund of Rs. 18,00,140 collected as penalty from Balkrishna Industries Limited, holding that imposition of penalty merely because an e-way bill expired during transit was unsustainable in the facts of the case. A Division Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi held that “In wake of such undisputed fact, the imposition of harsh penalty under Section 129(3) of the CGST Act was uncalled for and is also beyond the scope of Section 129(1)(a) of...

Missing Export Form Not Fatal If Duty-Paid Export Proven: Gujarat High Court Restores Rs 1.29 Crore Excise Rebate

The Gujarat High Court has restored over Rs.1.29 Crore rebate claim of a merchant exporter, holding that the absence of original ARE-1 forms cannot defeat a rebate claim when export and duty payment are otherwise verifiable. ARE-1 stands for Application for Removal of Excisable Goods for Export. It was a statutory export document under the Central Excise Rules, 2002. It recorded details of manufacture, duty payment, and export. Under Rule 18, the original copy was ordinarily required to be...

Order Passed In Fraud Proceedings Cannot Be Reclassified To Avail Amnesty Scheme: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court held that an order passed under Section 74 of the CGST Act, 2017 involving allegations of fraud, misstatement or suppression of facts cannot be converted into a non-fraud order under Section 73 merely to enable the taxpayer to claim relief under the GST Amnesty Scheme, in the absence of documentary evidence disproving such allegations. A Bench comprising Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi, by its order dated 13 February 2026, rejected the plea of R.B. Pandey...

Gujarat High Court Upholds Classification Of 'Mint Orange 2022' As Industrial Input Under VAT Act

The Gujarat High Court has held that 'Mint Orange 2022' is classifiable as an industrial input under the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2003, clarifying that household use does not prevent a product from being treated as an industrial input when its composition and primary use are industrial in nature.A Division Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi dismissed the Tax Appeal filed by the Commercial Tax Department, holding that the product qualifies as an aromatic chemical and...

Gujarat High Court Dismissed Appeal In GULAB vs ROSE Trademark Dispute, Warns Trial Court Against Superfluous Judgments

The Gujarat High Court has recently dismissed an appeal filed by Mangrol Oil Mill in its trademark dispute over “GULAB” groundnut oil. The Court refused to interfere with a Commercial Court order that denied interim injunction against Vikas Oil Industries, which markets edible oil under the mark “ROSE”. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Sanjeev J. Thaker upheld the November 30, 2024 order of the Commercial Court at Morbi. The trial court had rejected the plaintiffs'...

Re-Export Option Lapses If Redemption Fine Paid After 120 Days: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court on 6 February, held that the 120-day timeline for payment of redemption fine under Section 125(3) of the Customs Act, 1962 is mandatory, and failure to pay within this period renders the re-export option void. A Bench comprising Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi dismissed the writ petition filed by Goodwill Industries, while directing the refund of Rs. 12 lakh redemption fine and retaining the Rs. 8 lakh penalty imposed by the Adjudicating Authority. The...

Gujarat High Court Quashes ₹98 Lakh GST SCN, Says Construction ITC Bar Not Applicable To Leasehold Rights Transfer

The Gujarat High Court has held that Section 17(5)(d) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, which blocks input tax credit on goods or services used for construction of immovable property on one's own account, did not apply in a case where the taxpayer had only transferred leasehold rights and had undertaken no construction activity. A Division Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi quashed a show cause notice issued under Section 74(1) of the Act and directed the...

Common Independent Director Not 'Common Management': Gujarat High Court Sets Aside GeM Bid Rejection

The Gujarat High Court has held that an Independent Director cannot be treated as part of the common management of a company for the purpose of disqualifying bids under Clause 29 of the Government e-Marketplace General Terms and Conditions, setting aside the rejection of NR Agarwal Industries Ltd's technical bid in a public tender. A Division Bench of Justice Bhargav D. Karia and Justice L.S. Pirzada observed, “the Independent Director stands on a different foot than the Director whether he is...