Karnataka High Court
IT Reassessment Notices Issued After Limitation Period Invalid Despite Ashish Agarwal Ruling: Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court has recently held that reassessment proceedings initiated after the expiry of the statutorily surviving period of limitation under the Income Tax Act are invalid. This remains so even where the revenue seeks to sustain the reassessment notice on the basis of the Supreme Court's directions in Union of India v. Ashish Agarwal. In Ashish Agarwal, the Supreme Court protected reassessment notices issued under the old law during the transition to the new reassessment regime...
Services For Private Railway Sidings Are Exempt From Tax: Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court on 8 January held that services rendered for the construction of private railway sidings are eligible for service tax exemption. A Division Bench comprising Justice S.G. Pandit and Justice K.V. Aravind was hearing an appeal filed by the Commissioner of Central Tax, Bengaluru East Commissionerate, challenging an order of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT). The Bench held: “There is no indication in the notification, nor any exception...
Karnataka High Court Upholds Award Against Kotak Securities Over Unauthorised Share Sale
The Karnataka High Court has dismissed an appeal by Kotak Securities Limited and declined to interfere with an arbitral award holding the broker liable for unauthorised sale of shares and wrongful charging of interest. A bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C.M. Poonacha upheld the findings of the arbitral tribunal as well as the commercial court. The court found no merit in Kotak's attempt to reopen the dispute by advancing a new case at the appellate stage. “We do not consider it...
Arbitration Clause In Partnership Reconstitution Deed Not Enforceable Against Non-Signatory: Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court has held that an arbitration clause contained in a partnership reconstitution deed cannot be enforced b a person who has not signed the deed, and that in such circumstances, the court cannot appoint an arbitrator under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. Justice Lalitha Kanneganti made the observation in an order dated January 7 while hearing a petition filed by two outgoing partners of Shree Raghavendra Industries, seeking appointment of an arbitrator under an...
Karnataka High Court Refuses Daughter's Plea For Parents' Interim Bail In GST Evasion Case
The Karnataka High Court has declined to grant interim bail to a husband and wife arrested in a GST enforcement action, holding that the case did not present circumstances warranting the court's intervention at the writ stage. A Single Judge Bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna, in an order pronounced on January 12, noted that the court did not find any illegality in the manner of arrest and that statutory remedies for seeking bail were already available under criminal law. “Therefore, the facts in...
Differential GST On Pre-GST Works Contracts To Be Reimbursed By State Agencies: Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court ruled that the additional GST liability arising out of the shift from the pre-GST VAT (Value Added Tax) regime to the GST regime in ongoing works contracts cannot be imposed on contractors.The bench consists of Justice M Nagaprasanna, who directed the State Departments and government agencies to reimburse the differential GST to contractors.All the contracts were awarded prior to July 2017 under the KVAT regime, where the contract rates factored in VAT and...
Karnataka HC Quashes GST Refund Rejection, Says Limitation Runs From Original Application, Not Revised Filing
The Karnataka High Court has quashed the rejection of a GST refund claim as time-barred, holding that the limitation period must be computed from the date on which the taxpayer originally applied for the refund and not from a revised application filed after a deficiency memo. The bench of Justice S R Krishna Kumar observed that, in the instant case, the refund application filed on July 4, 2024 was well within the prescribed limitation period and that a subsequent application filed pursuant to a...
Mandatory Pre-Deposit For Customs Appeal Cannot Be Waived For Financially Sound Appellant: Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court has held that the mandatory pre-deposit required to pursue a customs appeal cannot be waived for a financially sound appellant/importer. In a recently uploaded order pronounced on November 7, 2025, Justice M. Nagaprasanna said the pre-deposit under Section 129-E of the Customs Act does not deny access to justice. “It is a statutory discipline that applies uniformly to all appellants. The statute's mandate endures, subsists and is unyielding, until constitutional...
IGST | Marketing & Technical Support Services To Foreign Parent Qualify As Export Of Services, Not Intermediary: Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court held that marketing and technical support services provided by the assessee to its foreign parent qualify as export of services under the IGST Act (Integrated Goods and Services Tax) and do not constitute intermediary services. Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar noted that the place of supply of these services is outside India, satisfying all conditions for export of services, and the assessee is eligible for a refund of IGST paid. In the case at hand, the assessee/petitioner...
Custodial Interrogation Not Mandatory For GST Offences Punishable Up to 5 Years: Karnataka High Court Grants Bail In ₹31 Cr Tax Evasion Case
The Karnataka High Court held that custodial interrogation is not mandatory in GST offences punishable with imprisonment up to five years, even though such offences are economic in nature. The bench further stated that the prescribed punishment under the CGST (Central Goods and Services Tax) Act must be considered while determining the gravity of the offence.Justice Shivashankar Amarannavar stated that one of the most prominent criminal sanctions imposed with regard to economic offences is that...