Supreme Court Allows ₹2.9 Crore GST Refund On Coal To SAIL, Rejects Revenue Challenge

The Supreme Court on 23 January 2026 dismissed a Special Leave Petition filed by the Revenue, challenging a refund of about Rs. 2.9 crore granted to the Steel Authority of India's (SAIL) Bokaro plant in the initial years of the GST rollout. A Division Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K.V. Viswanathan upheld a decision of the Jharkhand High Court that allowed the refund of unutilised Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Compensation Cess on coal, despite a gross delay of 676 days. The Bench...

Supreme Court Dismisses Revenue Plea Against Gujarat HC Order Quashing Adani Wilmar Income Tax Reassessment

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with a Gujarat High Court judgment that had quashed the reopening of Adani Wilmar Limited's income tax assessment for the 2013–14 assessment year, dismissing a special leave petition filed by the revenue. A Bench of Justice B. V. Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said it was not inclined to step in after examining the record. “Having regard to the facts of this case, we are not inclined to interfere in the matter. The SLP is dismissed. The...

Supreme Court Refuses To Entertain Ola Parent ANI's Plea Against Delayed Service Tax Order

The Supreme Court of India has declined to interfere with a Bombay High Court order directing ANI Technologies Private Limited, the parent company of Ola Cabs, to pursue a statutory appeal against a service tax demand. A Bench of the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi held that no valid ground was made out to disturb the High Court's decision. The court agreed that the writ petition was rightly not entertained. The dispute relates to a service tax adjudication order...

Supreme Court Slaps Rs 5 Lakh Costs On Union Govt For Stalling IRS Officer's ITAT Appointment

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed a petition filed by Captain Pramod Kumar Bajaj, a former Indian Revenue Service officer and ex-Army personnel, holding that he was subjected to sustained institutional bias, mala fide conduct and deliberate obstruction by departmental authorities in relation to his appointment as Member (Accountant) of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. It also imposed costs of Rs 5 lakh on the Union Government for rank procrastination and deliberate obstruction in his...

Supreme Court Declines To Interfere With HC Decision Treating Education Consultancy To Foreign Universities As Export

The Supreme Court recently refused to interfere with a Delhi High Court judgment that had held that educational consultancy services provided by Indian entities to foreign universities qualify as exports of services and are not taxable as intermediary services under the GST law. A Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma dismissed the Special Leave Petition filed by the Revenue. The Court also extended by two months the time granted to the Department to process the...

Supreme Court To Examine If PF, ESI Deposits Late Under Welfare Laws but Paid Before IT Return Are Deductible

The Supreme Court has recently said that it will examine a long-standing dispute under the Income Tax Act on whether employees' provident fund and ESI contributions, deposited late under labour welfare laws, can still be allowed as deductions if paid before the income tax return due date. A Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Sandeep Mehta, while hearing a petition filed by Woodland (Aero Club) Private Limited, noted that High Courts across the country have taken conflicting views on...

Supreme Court Asks NCLT To Re-Examine RP Appointment In Finefacilis Personal Guarantor Insolvency

The Supreme Court recently sent the issue of appointing a resolution professional in insolvency proceedings against a personal guarantor of Finefacilis Management Private Limited on a plea by Samman Capital back to the National Company Law Tribunal. It directed the tribunal to hear objections on whether the appointment followed the procedure under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The NCLT has been asked to pass a fresh order on the Section 95 application (Personal Guarantor Insolvency) ...

Only Civil Court Can Extend Arbitration Time Even When Arbitrator Is Appointed By High Court: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that an application seeking extension of time for an arbitral tribunal under Section 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act lies before the civil court, even in cases where the High Court has appointed the arbitrator. The court clarified that the High Court's role ends with the appointment of the arbitrator and does not continue during the arbitration. A Bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice R. Mahadevan said the jurisdiction exercised by a...

'Would US Courts Do the Same?' Supreme Court Questions Pfizer On Plea To Access Indian Company's Documents

The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned whether foreign courts and Western authorities would reciprocate when Indian courts seek assistance through Letters Rogatory, while hearing a plea by US pharmaceutical major Pfizer. A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was considering Pfizer's challenge to a Madras High Court judgment refusing to enforce Letters Rogatory issued by a United States court to obtain documents and testimony from Chennai-based Softgel...

Supreme Court Grants Time As Telsonic, Roop Ultrasonix Explore Settlement Over Rights Issue

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted additional time to the parties in a dispute between Telsonic Holding AG and Roop Ultrasonix Ltd after they informed the court that they were trying to reach an amicable settlement. The court was hearing appeals filed by Telsonic Holding AG challenging a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order that had set aside an earlier ruling of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai relating to a rights issue by Roop Ultrasonix. A bench of...

Supreme Court Issues Notice On Union's Appeal Against Bombay High Court Ruling On IGST Penalties

The Supreme Court recently issued notice on a Special Leave Petition filed by the Union government challenging a Bombay High Court ruling, which held that, prior to a 2024 amendment, the Customs Tariff Act did not permit the levy of interest, penalty, confiscation, or redemption fine on Integrated Goods and Services Tax collected on imported goods.A bench of Justice K.V. Viswanathan and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi passed the order after hearing the Additional Solicitor General for the Revenue and...

Supreme Court Stays Probe Into Exclusive Capital, Allows NCLAT Proceedings To Continue

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the investigation ordered into the affairs of Exclusive Capital Limited, an NBFC, while issuing notice in an appeal filed by the company and its promoters. It, however, clarified that the proceedings pending before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal have not been stayed and would continue in accordance with law. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and K. Vinod Chandran directed that the investigation initiated pursuant to the order passed by the...