Gujarat High Court Faults CESTAT For 'Difficult To Decipher' Remand Order In Customs Classification Dispute

The Gujarat High Court has recently set aside a CESTAT order remanding a customs classification dispute, questioning how the tribunal directed the adjudicating authority to re-examine CBEC circulars despite an earlier Gujarat High Court judgment requiring the Union of India to undertake that exercise."We fail to understand how the Tribunal, in the facts of the present case, adopted the very same directions and remanded the matter to the Adjudicating Authority to re-look into the said Circulars,...

Gujarat High Court Upholds Rule Requiring Agricultural Science Degree For Agricultural Land Valuers

The Gujarat High Court has recently upheld the constitutional validity of the requirement that applicants seeking registration as valuers of agricultural land must possess a degree in Agricultural Science. It held that the qualification bears a rational nexus with the object sought to be achieved under Rule 8A of the Wealth Tax Rules, 1957, and does not violate Articles 14 or 19 of the Constitution. "We find neither any ambiguity in the impugned provision nor any inconsistency between the...

Income Tax Amendment Of 2012 Allowing Officers To Dispute Any Property Value Not Retroactive: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court ruled that the 2012 amendment to Section 55A(a) of the Income Tax Act, which expanded the Assessing Officer's power to refer capital assets for valuation, cannot be applied retrospectively.The court ruled that assessments relating to the period prior to 1 July 2012 would continue to be governed by the unamended provision and, on that basis, quashed a reassessment notice issued to the assessee.A Division Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Vaibhavi D. Nanavati passed...

Gujarat High Court Quashes Reassessment Based On Presumption Drawn From Sister Concern's 'On-Money' Collection

The Gujarat High Court has quashed reassessment proceedings initiated under the Income Tax Act, holding that a completed assessment cannot be reopened merely on the presumption that an assessee collected unaccounted cash ("on-money") from buyers over and above the recorded sale price because its sister concern was found to have done so. The court held that the reopening against Datta Projects was based entirely on presumptions and surmises, without any material linking the assessee to...

Gujarat High Court Dismisses LANXESS Belgium's Writ Against Anti-Dumping Duty, Holds CESTAT Proper Forum

The Gujarat High Court on 7 July held that disputes concerning the methodology used by the Designated Authority to determine dumping and injury margins in anti-dumping proceedings must be raised before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), and not through a writ petition unless exceptional circumstances exist. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and Vaibhavi D. Nanavati dismissed the writ petition filed by Belgian exporter LANXESS Belgium N.V. challenging the...

Assessing Officer Not Deemed to Have Noticed Facts Disclosed in Wealth Tax Return: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court has recently held that an Assessing Officer is not deemed to have noticed facts disclosed in a wealth tax return while examining an income tax return. It refused to interfere with reassessment proceedings initiated against a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) over an unexplained cash payment of more than ₹1.02 crore towards the purchase of immovable property. A Division Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Vaibhavi D. Nanavati dismissed the writ petition filed by...

Gujarat High Court Bars Vimal Oil Reassessment Over Past Tax Liability, Cites IBC Clean Slate Principle

The Gujarat High Court on 30 June quashed reassessment proceedings against Vimal Oil and Foods Ltd., holding that the Assessing Officer cannot reopen an assessment of a company sold as a going concern under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) on mere assumptions without verifying whether any income had actually escaped assessment. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and Vaibhavi D. Nanavati allowed the batch of writ petitions filed by the company and quashed the notice issued under...

GST Refund Interest Must Run From Original Application Date After Illegal Rejection: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court on 2 July held that GST authorities cannot deny interest on refunds by treating a refund application filed pursuant to a Court order as a fresh application, ruling that where the original rejection of a refund claim is set aside as illegal, interest under Section 56 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act (which provides for interest on delayed refunds) must be calculated from the date of the original refund application. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Supehia...

Gujarat High Court Quashes ₹41.53 Cr Excise Notice Against Jindal Saw, Backs Finality Of HPC Certificates

The Gujarat High Court on 15 July quashed a Rs. 41.53 crore central excise recovery notice issued to Jindal Saw Ltd., holding that the Commissioner of Central Excise had no jurisdiction to question eligibility certificates issued by the High Powered Committee under the exemption notification. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and Vaibhavi D. Nanavati held that allegations of fraud or misrepresentation in obtaining such certificates could only be examined by the statutory committee that...

Arbitrator's Hasty Closure of Evidence During COVID Violated Section 18, Vitiating Award: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court has set aside an arbitral award after finding that the arbitrator unnecessarily hastened to close a party's right to lead evidence during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.The Court held that such treatment violated the requirement under Section 18 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 to treat the parties equally and give each side a full opportunity to present its case. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D.N. Ray set aside...

Gujarat High Court Quashes Income Tax Reassessment Over Pre-2012 Property Valuation Rule

The Gujarat High Court has quashed an income tax reassessment notice issued over the valuation of land sold in 2009. It held that the reassessment in the case was unsustainable because the assessing officer sought to adopt a lower fair market value despite the unamended law governing the assessment. A division bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Vaibhavi D. Nanavati held that the amendment made to Section 55A through the Finance Act, 2012 applied only prospectively. It therefore could not...

Gujarat HC Holds Reassessment Notice Cannot Be Challenged After Assessment Order, Directs Appeal Remedy

The Gujarat High Court on 29 June held that a reassessment notice cannot be challenged through a writ petition after reassessment proceedings have culminated in an assessment order. A Division Bench comprising Justices A.S. Supehia and Vaibhavi D. Nanavati dismissed the writ petitions filed by Jitendra Shankarlal Mistri and others, holding that the petitioners could avail the statutory remedy of appeal against the reassessment orders before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals). The...