Tax
Bombay High Court Sets Aside ₹21.93 Crore Stamp Duty Demand Against Wadhwa Constructions
The Bombay High Court on 7 September set aside a stamp duty demand of about Rs. 21.93 crore against Wadhwa Constructions & Infrastructure Private Limited in connection with a Joint Development Agreement, holding that the valuation had wrongly taken into account development rights and benefits that did not exist on the date of the agreement. A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Amit Borkar set aside the valuation adopted by the Collector of Stamps and the appellate authority. He observed that...
Bombay High Court Dismisses Revenue Appeal Against Millennium Beer Industries Over ₹21.92 Cr Service Tax
The Bombay High Court on 3 September dismissed the Revenue's appeal against the setting aside of a Rs. 21.92 crore demand against Millennium Beer Industries Ltd., holding that the extended period of limitation cannot be invoked to raise a service tax demand without establishing fraud, collusion or suppression of facts with an intent to evade tax, and A Division Bench of Justices Nitin B. Suryawanshi and Abasaheb D. Shinde also held that the Revenue cannot take different stands in substantially...
Calcutta High Court Directs Post-Decisional Hearing On ₹4.43 Crore ITC Blocking
The Calcutta High Court on 1 September directed GST authorities to grant a post-decisional personal hearing to a company whose Electronic Credit Ledger was blocked to the extent of Rs. 4.43 crore, holding that it must be given an opportunity to substantiate the genuineness of its purchases and suppliers. Justice Smita Das De disposed of a writ petition filed by SPL Steel Processors Private Limited challenging the blocking of its Electronic Credit Ledger for the period from 1 February 2026 to 17...
No Separate DCGI Approval Needed For Service Tax Exemption On Drug Testing: CESTAT Chennai
The Chennai bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has recently held that Service Tax exemption for clinical testing of newly developed drugs cannot be denied merely because a Clinical Research Organisation (CRO) does not have a separate approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).The tribunal found that the drug Sponsors had obtained DCGI-approved permissions for the clinical trials. Consortium Clinical Research Pvt. Ltd. (CCRP), acting as the...
Omission Of Specified Domestic Transactions From Transfer Pricing Regime Prospective: ITAT New Delhi
The Delhi Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on 2 September held that the omission of specified domestic transactions from the transfer pricing regime cannot operate retrospectively where the legislature has expressly provided that the amendment will apply prospectively. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Satbeer Singh Godara and Accountant Member Manish Agarwal upheld the transfer pricing proceedings against Dixon Technologies (India) Ltd. for Assessment Year 2013-14 involving an adjustment...
Karnataka High Court Directs Authorities To Decide Contractor's ₹2.99 Crore GST Claims
The Karnataka High Court on 29 August directed government authorities to consider and decide a civil contractor's claim for payment of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on road construction and improvement works. Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum noted that government authorities must examine a civil contractor's claim for payment of GST on road construction and improvement works by scrutinising the tender conditions, invoices, bills and payments to determine whether the GST component had already been...
Madhya Pradesh High Court Upholds State Power To Levy ₹1,000 Per Seat For Permit Violations
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on 25 August upheld the State Legislature's power to impose an additional levy on vehicles plying without a valid permit or in violation of permit conditions, holding that the levy is regulatory and compensatory rather than punitive. A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Pradeep Mittal dismissed a challenge to Section 13(2)(a) of the Madhya Pradesh Motoryan Karadhan Adhiniyam, 1991, as substituted by the 2025 amendment. The...
GST Council Meeting Gets A New Date On Clash With BRICS Summit
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council Meeting has been postponed to October 7, 2026 owing to logistical clashes with the upcoming BRICS Summit. India is hosting the annual BRICS conference at New Delhi this year and discussions on economic balance amidst the West-Asia Crisis is expected.The GST Council met last time more than a year ago on September 3, 2025. In the last meeting, simplified slabs and a higher 40% slab for sin and luxury goods were recommended by the council.The GST Council...
CESTAT Chennai Allows JSW Steel ₹1.62 Crore Refund After Excess Export Duty Remained Unassessed Until 2015
The Chennai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) at Chennai has allowed JSW Steel Ltd.'s claim for a ₹1.62 crore refund of excess export duty. It held that the limitation period could not be counted from the date of the original payment when the excess amount was identified only upon reassessment in 2015.The bench comprising Judicial Member Ajayan T.V. and Technical Member Vasa Seshagiri Rao observed that the additional amount paid by JSW Steel was never...
ITAT Delhi Sets Aside ₹1.53 Crore EDC TDS Demand Against DLF Homes
The Delhi Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has set aside an appellate order upholding a ₹1.53 crore tax demand against DLF Homes Panchkula Private Limited over External Development Charges. The tribunal sent the matter back to the Assessing Officer to verify whether Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA/HSVP) had met the conditions under the Income Tax Act that could protect the developer from being treated as an assessee-in-default.If those conditions are fulfilled, DLF Homes cannot be saddled...
Madras High Court Directs Provisional Release Of Imported Equipment, Rejects Reliance On Later Amendment
The Madras High Court has directed Customs authorities to consider the provisional release of consignments of second-hand highly specialised equipment.Justice Hemant Chandangoudar held that a later amendment to the applicable exemption notification could not be relied upon to deny release of goods covered by Bills of Lading issued before the amendment came into force.The petitioner had imported second-hand highly specialised equipment, namely digital multifunction print and copying...
Airport Entry-Ticket Licensee Liable For Service Tax Only From June 1, 2007: Madras High Court
The Madras High Court has ruled that an airport entry-ticket licensee was liable to pay service tax only from June 1, 2007, and not for the earlier period.The court observed that the law was amended from that date to specifically bring the renting of immovable property within the service tax net. For the period before June 1, 2007, it noted that the Delhi High Court had ruled that service tax did not apply to the rental/licence fee in question.“...the appellant is liable to pay service tax as an...