Punjab and Haryana High Court Grants Bail To Company Director In Fraudulent ITC Availment Case

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted bail to a GST accused after noting the challenge that the grounds of arrest were not furnished in writing. The Court reiterated that failure to give written grounds violates statutory safeguards and weakens an accused's right to seek bail. Justice Surya Partap Singh granted bail to Baldeep Singh Sapra, Director of PMI Smelting Private Limited. He was arrested by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) in a case alleging fraudulent...

Mere Stock Shortage Not Proof Of Clandestine Removal: CESTAT Allahabad

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) at Allahabad has held that a shortage of goods found during a departmental inspection cannot, by itself, justify allegations of clandestine removal. The final outcome came after a split verdict was resolved by a third member, S.S. Garg, who agreed that stock shortages alone cannot be treated as proof of illegal clearances. Garg underlined that “mere shortage of goods does not lead to the conclusion that the goods have been removed...

Crop Compensation Paid To Farmers For Transmission Lines Passing Their Land Not Taxable: CESTAT Ahmedabad

The Ahmedabad Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that crop compensation charges paid to farmers for laying electricity transmission lines are not liable to service tax. A coram of Judicial Member Ajaya Krishna Vishvesha and Technical Member Satendra Vikram Singh said these payments are compensatory in nature and not consideration for any service. The tribunal held that developing and maintaining a transmission network is a statutory duty of a...

Wrong PIN Code In E-Way Bill Alone Cannot Trigger Seizure Or Penalty Under GST Act: Allahabad High Court Reaffirms

The Allahabad High Court has once again made it clear that GST authorities cannot detain goods or impose penalties merely because of a wrong PIN Code in an e-way bill, if the addresses of the consignor and consignee are otherwise correct. A single-judge bench of Justice Piyush Agrawal held that proceedings under Section 129 of the GST Act are are not justified for clerical mistakes. Relying on a binding circular issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs and his own earlier...

Madras High Court Directs Consolidated GST Adjudication After Trader Receives Two Assessments For Same Year

After a Chennai-based trader received two separate GST assessment orders for the same financial year, the Madras High Court remanded the matter for consolidated adjudication by a single authority. A single-judge bench of Justice C Saravanan noted that, for the same tax period, “two officers who are the Respondents in the respective Writ Petitions filed respective impugned orders,” and proceeded to consider the grievance raised by the trader. The dispute relates to two assessment orders issued...

Immunity From Penalty Cannot Be Denied Once Conditions Under Income Tax Act Are Met: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has recently clarified that the income tax department cannot deny immunity from penalty for under-reporting of income once a taxpayer meets the conditions prescribed under the law.A bench of Justice Om Narayan Rai said Section 270AA of the Income Tax Act leaves no discretion with the Assessing Officer. The provision allows immunity where the taxpayer has paid the tax demand, has not filed an appeal, and has applied for immunity within the prescribed time. It also requires...

Income Tax | Shares Received On Amalgamation Can Be Taxed as Business Income If Held As Stock-in-Trade: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that when shares held as stock-in-trade are replaced with shares of another company under an amalgamation scheme, the allotment can result in taxable business income, provided the new shares can be realised in money and have a definite value. The bench, consisting of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, opined that "where the shares of an amalgamating company, held as stock-in-trade, are substituted by shares of the amalgamated company pursuant to a scheme of...

Delhi High Court Pulls Up Income Tax CPC For Tax Recovery Despite Stay, Issues Directions For Coordination

The Delhi High Court has pulled up the Income Tax Department's Centralised Processing Centre for recovering tax dues from a taxpayer even though a stay on recovery was already in place, saying such lapses are unacceptable in a fully digitized system. A division bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Vinod Kumar said the department cannot plead ignorance once a stay order is passed. “In the era of computerization, where even assessments are made online, Income Tax returns are filed online, appeals...

Calcutta High Court Halts GST Recovery From Trader's Electronic Credit Ledger Pending Rectification Plea

The Calcutta High Court has stepped in to stop GST recovery from a trader's electronic credit ledger, saying the department must first decide a pending rectification plea that could wipe out the entire demand. Justice Om Narayan Rai passed the order on December 22, 2025, while hearing a writ petition filed by Tirupati Traders. In a brief but clear order, the court said that if the rectification application is allowed, “the demand raised by the order in original may not survive,” and...

Delhi High Court Gives Customs One Last Chance Over ₹5,000 Costs In Touch Screen Tariff Case

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (January 6) gave the Customs Department one last chance to clear objections to its plea seeking recall of Rs 5 thousand in costs imposed for not filing replies in a batch of petitions challenging a customs duty hike on Interactive Flat Panel Displays.The court warned that if the objections are not removed within a week, the recall application will stand rejected automatically.A division bench of Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Ajay Digpaul noted that the...

'Land or Water' Excludes Railways: Chhattisgarh High Court Strikes Down Transit Fee On Iron Ore Moved By Rail

The Chhattisgarh High Court has held that the state government has no authority to levy transit fees on iron ore transported through railways. The court ruled that such a levy is beyond the scope of the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and violates Article 265 of the Constitution. A division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi held that Section 41 of the Act permits the State to regulate transit of forest produce only “by land or water.” It does not extend to...

GST Exemption On Health Insurance Applies Only To Individual, Not Group Policies: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has dismissed pleas by retired bank employees seeking GST exemption on group health insurance premiums, holding that a 2025 Central government notification limits the benefit to individual health insurance policies. A single-judge bench of Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. said, “It is further clarified in the Explanation in the said notification that the said exemption shall apply to a contract of insurance where the insured is an individual or an individual and family of the...