CESTAT Kolkata Quashes ₹7.06 Crore Excise Demand, Says PSU Appellant Cannot Be Alleged To Have Acted Mala Fide

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Kolkata has set aside a ₹7.06 crore central excise demand against public sector undertaking Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd., observing that the appellant, being a PSU, could not be alleged to have acted with mala fide intent to clear goods clandestinely.A coram of Judicial Member Ashok Jindal and Technical Member K. Anpazhakan observed, "Further, the appellant being a public sector undertaking, we are of the opinion that the appellant...

Madras High Court Quashes ₹13.48 Cr Misreporting Penalty On Ennore Tank Terminals For Vague Notice

The Madras High Court on 20 July set aside a penalty of over Rs. 13.48 crore imposed on Ennore Tank Terminals Private Limited, holding that the Income Tax Department cannot penalise a taxpayer for alleged misreporting of income unless it clearly informs the taxpayer of the basis for such allegation in the show cause notice. Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy held that proceedings for misreporting of income carry serious consequences, including a penalty of 200% of the tax payable on...

CENVAT Credit Not Available On DEPB Scrip-Based Duty Payment Before 31 August 2004: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court on 23 July held that CENVAT credit cannot be claimed on additional customs duty adjusted through DEPB scrips for imports made before 31 August 2004, as such credit was available only where the duty was paid in cash. A Division Bench of Justices G. Jayachandran and N. Mala allowed the Revenue's appeal against Computer Graphics Ltd, holding that the taxpayer was not entitled to CENVAT credit on duty discharged through DEPB scrips and upholding the extended limitation period,...

CGST Act Has No Provision To Exempt Mandatory Pre-Deposit For Appeal: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has recently held that there is no provision under the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017, to exempt an assessee from the mandatory pre-deposit required for filing a statutory appeal.A division bench of Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Shail Jain thus declined to entertain a trader's writ petition challenging cancellation of a GST registration.According to the petitioner, its GST registration had been cancelled on the allegation that the firm was non-existent and...

Mandatory 7.5% Customs Appeal Pre-Deposit Cannot Be Waived Or Reduced: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has recently held that the mandatory pre-deposit required for filing an appeal before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) under Section 129E of the Customs Act, 1962 cannot be waived or reduced, as the Act contains no provision permitting such reduction.A division bench of Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Shail Jain passed the order while disposing of four writ petitions filed by importers challenging orders passed by the customs authorities and...

Supreme Court Upholds Excise Duty On Pharmaceutical Samples Removed For Testing Over Record-Keeping Lapse

The Supreme Court has held that a taxpayer who fails to maintain the prescribed records for pharmaceutical samples removed for testing cannot avoid excise duty by contending that the goods had not attained marketability.It upheld the excise duty demand against Hicure Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd.A bench of Justice K.V. Viswanathan and Justice Arun Palli applied its earlier decision in ITC Ltd. v. Collector of Central Excise to the facts of the case. Referring to that ruling, the bench observed, "It...

LiveLawBiz Indirect Tax Weekly Round-Up: July 20 - July 26, 2026

SUPREME COURTSupreme Court Holds BPCL, HPCL Liable For ₹16.6 Crore Service Tax For Marketing MGL's CNGCase Title : Commissioner of Service Tax, Mumbai v. M/s Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. & Ors. Case Number : Civil Appeal Nos. 2471–2473 of 2015 CITATION : 2026 LLBiz SC 243The Supreme Court on Monday held that Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) are liable to pay more than ₹16.6 crore in service tax for facilitating the sale of...

Gauhati High Court Quashes Income Tax Reassessment After AO Cites 'Paucity of Time' For Not Verifying Transactions

The Gauhati High Court has quashed reassessment proceedings initiated under Income Tax Act, holding that the Assessing Officer (AO) reopened the assessment without first verifying the petitioner's transactions. Referring to the AO's own recorded reasons that beneficiary-wise transactions could not be identified "due to paucity of time", Justice N. Unni Krishnan Nair held, "The recording of reason by the Assessing Officer in paragraph 5 of being unable to carry out investigation for identifying...

LiveLawBiz Direct Tax Weekly Round-Up: July 20 - July 26, 2026

SUPREME COURTSupreme Court Refuses To Entertain PIL Seeking Transfer Of Benami Act Appeals To ITAT, Allows RepresentationCase Title : PARVEEN KUMAR BANSAL Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. Case Number : W.P.(C) No. 843/2026The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a PIL seeking transfer of appellate jurisdiction under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 (PBPT Act) from the Appellate Tribunal constituted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to the...

Ex-Gratia Payment Under Pfizer VRS Is Capital Receipt, Not Taxable as Income From Other Sources: ITAT Pune

The Pune Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has held that the ex gratia amount received by an employee under Pfizer Healthcare India Pvt. Ltd.'s voluntary retirement scheme is a capital receipt and cannot be taxed as income from other sources. Observing that it had consistently taken the same view in identical cases involving other employees of the company, the bench ruled, "We find that the identical issue had come up before the tribunal in the case of other employees of M/s....

Madras High Court Upholds 14.5% VAT On Vestige's Food Supplements, Rejects Ayurvedic Medicine Claim

The Madras High Court on 24 July held that products purchased and sold as food supplements cannot later be classified as proprietary Ayurvedic medicines merely to claim a concessional rate of Value Added Tax (VAT). A Division Bench of Justices G. Jayachandran and N. Mala dismissed the tax revision filed by Vestige Marketing Private Limited and upheld the levy of 14.5% VAT on the products, holding that the company had purchased the goods as food supplements under the Central Sales Tax (CST)...

Andhra Pradesh High Court Quashes GST Detention Over Expired E-Way Bill After Vehicle Breakdown

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on 16 July held that GST authorities cannot invoke detention proceedings merely because an e-way bill had expired when the delay in delivery of goods was caused by a vehicle breakdown and there was no evidence of tax evasion. A Division Bench of Justices Ninala Jayasurya and T.C.D. Sekhar allowed the writ petition filed by SLV Elite Spaces LLP and directed the GST authorities to drop further proceedings initiated under Section 129 of the GST Act (which provides for...