Assessment u/s 153A - principles of natural justice has been violated by the respondent, while passing the impugned assessment orders - as per assessee no fair hearing was given to him by the Assessing Officer - whether the respondent has afforded a fair hearing to the petitioner in the assessment proceedings and whether the objections raised by the petitioner were considered by the respondent? - HELD THAT:- As seen from the impugned assessment orders, adequate opportunity of hearing was provided to the petitioner by the respondent and only thereafter, the impugned assessment orders for the seven assessment years have been passed. As seen from the impugned assessment orders, each and every objection raised by the petitioner has been considered by the respondent. As seen from the impugned assessment orders, each and every objection raised ....... + More

Levy and quantification of penalty and compounding fee - Addition of expenditure incurred as fee for minor deviation from the initially sanctioned plan and to bring the actually constructed structure in conformity with the modified plan as per building bye laws of the assessee on the ground that such payment amounted to penalty not falling under Section 37(1) - HELD THAT:- Admittedly, the first substantial question of law has been answered against the assessee by a Bench of this Court vide order [2013 (10) TMI 1545 - KARNATAKA HIGH COURT] It is also not in dispute that against the aforesaid order, an appeal has been filed which is pending before the Supreme Court. Therefore, in the facts and circumstances of the case, we deem it appropriate to direct the Assessing Officer to give effect to his order with regard to the issue involved in th....... + More

Nature of expenditure - Revenue expenditure u/s 37(1) or capital expenditure - royalty payment for user of technical know-how and intellectual property rights along with the right to manufacture for a temporary period - HELD THAT:- Distinction between capital and revenue expenditure with reference to acquisition of technical information and know-how has been spelled out in various cases and the primary test to ascertain whether a expenditure is a capital expenditure or revenue expenditure is the same viz., enduring nature test, which means where the expenditure is incurred which gives enduring benefit, it will be treated as capital expenditure.See HONDA SIEL CARS INDIA LTD. [2017 (6) TMI 524 - SUPREME COURT]. In the present case from perusal of the relevant clauses of the agreement, it is clear that the assessee is a joint venture company....... + More

Rectification u/s 254 - Addition u/s 68 - non-consideration of certain facts in Order of the Tribunal - HELD THAT:- Rectification of the earlier order dated 16.3.2016 passed by the Tribunal falls within the four corners of Section 254 and when once the learned Tribunal, particularly, the same Member of the Tribunal admitted that the record or Paper Book before the Tribunal already contained relevant material which was lost sight of and ignored by the learned Tribunal, there was a justifiable cause for recall and rectification of the earlier order and considering the materials which was already on record of the learned Tribunal and the learned Tribunal, therefore, rectified the order and granted the requisite relief by deleting the additions under Section 68 of the Act with respect to the said two Dealers. Contention of Revenue that the sa....... + More

Reopening of assessment u/s 147 - assessee has not disclosed the fact regarding handing over of possession of the property to the developer pursuant to JVA - tribunal holding that disclosure of JVA and advance receipt from JVA amounts to disclosure - whether handing over of possession which would amount to transfer under Section 2(47) liable for capital gains was not disclosed by the assessee? - HELD THAT:- From perusal of the reasons recorded by the Assessing Officer while re opening the assessment, it is evident that Assessing Officer has recorded a finding that due to non disclosure of transaction of joint development agreement entered into by the assessee with M/s Godrej Properties Ltd. on 22.01.2004, towards transfer of land, the income has escaped assessment. AO has recorded reasons for arriving at the conclusion that income has esc....... + More

Entitled to deduction u/s 10B - Tribunal held that the Appellant's Unit 1 was not entitled to deduction for the assessment year 2008-09, on the basis that the ten consecutive assessment years for the purposes of the said provision would begin from the assessment year 1997-98, when the Appellant commenced manufacture, and not from the assessment year 1999-00 when the Appellant actually started claiming the relief under Section 10B - HELD THAT:- Section 10B of the Act prior to amendment by Income Tax (second Amendment) Act, 1998 with effect from 01.04.1999 granted tax holiday for a period of five years falling within a period of eight years beginning with the Assessment Year in which the manufacture / production of article or things has begun. Once an assessee began manufacture, it could choose the year from which it would start claimin....... + More

Disallowance u/s.14A - Tribunal setting aside and remitting the issue to the file of the AO to reconsider in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Bombay High Court in the case of M/s. Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd. [2010 (8) TMI 77 - BOMBAY HIGH COURT] - HELD THAT:- Singular contention that the Tribunal while passing the impugned order has directed the Assessing Officer to decide the issue in view of the law laid down by the Bombay High Court in the case of ‘M/S. GODREJ & BOYCE MANUFACTURING CO. LTD.’, [2010 (8) TMI 77 - BOMBAY HIGH COURT] and there are several other judgments on the issue, which have been remitted for consideration before the Assessing Officer and the order of the Tribunal be modified and the Assessing Officer be directed to decide the issue remitted to him as per the extant position....... + More

Entitlement for prior period expenses and expenditure on excise transport fees - not claimed in original return and assessing authority has not made any addition in this regard or otherwise - whether the Tribunal is right in law in not remitting back the matter back to assessing authority to consider the issue as same was not adjudicated earlier? - HELD THAT:- It is well settled in law that Tribunal is the final fact finding authority and this Court in exercise of powers under Section 260A of the Act can interfere with the findings of fact only when the same are shown to be perverse - See ‘SUDARSHAN SILKS & SAREES VS. CIT’ [2008 (4) TMI 5 - SUPREME COURT] Rule 46A(3) of the Income Tax Rules, 1962 applies to the appellate authority namely Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) and not the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. It is ....... + More

Amortisation and brokerage expenses with respect to securities of (held to maturity) HTM category - Allowable revenue expenses or not? - whether loss on sale of securities of (held to maturity) category is allowable as a deduction? - HELD THAT:- The finding of fact is to the effect that securities are held as stock-in-trade and that the income from sale there from is offered to tax as revenue. In the light of the admitted facts as seen from the order of the authorities, the expenditure incurred by the assessee towards broken 4 period is liable to be allowed as revenue expenditure. There is no infirmity in the order of the Tribunal in this regard. The question stands answered in favour of the assessee, following the judgment of the Bombay High Court in American Express International Banking Corporation Vs. CIT [2002 (9) TMI 96 - BOMBAY HIGH COURT] - Decided against revenue.

Disallowance of godown rent - assessee has neither filed copy of rent agreement in support of tenancy nor filed a confirmation in support of the claim - CIT(A) noted that the confirmation has been filed without the details of PAN No., complete address and identity of the person, thus confirmed addition - HELD THAT:- The entire claim of payment of rent cannot be denied when the assessee is utilizing godown for his business purposes. Though the godown has been owned by the father of the assessee however the liability to pay rent cannot be denied merely because of relationship between the tenant and the landlord being son and father. Thus without conducting any enquiry either by the AO or by the CIT(A) through remand report, the disallowance of the entire claim of godown rent is not justified. Once the assessee has produced the confirmation ....... + More

Disallowance u/s.14A r.w.r. 8D - Computation of deduction - HELD THAT:- AO had duly recorded his satisfaction as to why the computation mechanism provided by the assessee is incorrect and also had applied the computation mechanism provided in Rule 8D(2)(iii) of the Rules by considering all the investments. Special Bench of Delhi Tribunal in the case of Vireet Investments vs. ACIT [2017 (6) TMI 1124 - ITAT DELHI] categorically held that only those investments which had actually yielded exempt income should be considered for the purpose of working out the disallowance under third limb of Rule 8D(2) of the Rules. Assessee had furnished the workings for the same on without prejudice basis in page 7 of the paper book. The ld. AO is directed to go through the same and re-compute the disallowance u/s.14A by considering only those investments whi....... + More

Excess rent paid to the related party - Scope of the term Relative - Disallowance invoking the provision of section 40A(2)(b) - Whether expenditure incurred by the assessee is purely for the purpose of business and payment of Rent has not been found to be excessive or unreasonable? - HELD THAT:- As assessee has contended that the recipient at Serial No.(1) and (3) namely Alka Bajaj and Preeti Bajaj are sister-in-law of the assessee and therefore do not fall in the definition of relative as provided u/s 2(41). This fact is not disputed by the Revenue and therefore, the payment to these two persons would not fall in the ambit of provisions of section 40A(2) when the transaction is not with the relative of the assessee as provided u/s 40A(2)(b)(i) -There is no dispute that the definition of the term “relative” provided u/s 2(41) ....... + More

Addition u/s 68 and 69 - CIT-A deleted addition admitting additional evidence - HELD THAT:- There is no proper averment by the Assessing Officer with regard to the admission of additional evidences particularly when huge additions have been made which included the amount added u/ss. 68 & 69 which are carried forward from the earlier years, and this fact is clearly borne out from the material already on record before Assessing Officer. The additional evidences were in the form of confirmed copy of ledger accounts, confirmations and bank statement, etc. Since, as brought on record by the Ld. CIT(A) there was a clear violation of natural justice by the Assessing Officer, therefore, we hold that Ld. CIT(A) was justified in not only admitting the additional evidence but has also given due opportunity to the Assessing Officer to examine the....... + More

Deduction u/s 80I & 80 IA - whether as appellant is engaged in manufacture of LPG for which 80%(appx.)of gas was processed, the authorities below erred in holding that appellant is not an industrial undertakings engaged in manufacture or production of different article or thing? - disallowance of 50% of LPG profits on an estimated basis -HELD THAT:- As decided in own case [2020 (10) TMI 1125 - ITAT DELHI] issue in favour of assessee. Amortization of leasehold expenses - amortization of leasehold expenses paid by the assessee to various local government authorities for lease on rent. The AO was of the firm belief that the same is of capital in nature and hence, not allowable - HELD THAT:- We find that this issue is no more res integra as the same has been decided against the assessee and in favour of the revenue by the Hon’ble De....... + More

TP Adjustment - adjustment on account of adjustment of software development services segment for exclusion of only two comparables namely Infosys technologies Ltd and Tata Elexi Ltd - HELD THAT:- Infosys technologies Ltd - In view of huge turnover of the comparable company, relying on the decision of Pentair water private limited [2016 (5) TMI 137 - BOMBAY HIGH COURT] and Agnity India technologies Ltd [2013 (7) TMI 696 - DELHI HIGH COURT] the above comparable is directed to be excluded. Tata Elxis Ltd - comparable company is a design company that blends technology, creative and engineering to help customers transform ideas into world-class products and solutions. DRP though has considered the above functions of the comparable company however it is directed that the comparable company provides software development services which are simila....... + More

Exemption u/s 10A - denial of exemption as no evidence for software export made through STPI and clearance received from STPI given - HELD THAT:- Assessee has discharged the burden with regard to software development and export of software services by furnishing necessary information to the STPI and also before the AO. Merely because of some defects, the same cannot be brushed aside and deny the exemption claimed by the assessee u/s 10A - It is for the department to establish that the assessee has not made software exports or prove that the information furnished by the assessee is false or incorrect. No such exercise was done by the department. No adverse observations were made by the STPI with regard to exports. Though PF, ESI payment does not establish the salary payments, they definitely show that the assessee has engaged the personnel....... + More

Addition u/s 68 - Loan taken from shell company - HELD THAT:- Assessee is engaged in the business of providing security personals consisting of security guards to provide security to various industries, individuals etc. During this year, Assessee has taken unsecured loans from 7 parties to the extent of ₹ 6 crores and the details are already placed on record. All these companies gave the unsecured loans through the banking channel and the assessee has already declared the details of the parties in its tax audit report with the details like address, PAN and details of loan taken. In order to verify, the assessing officer issued the show cause notice and summons to all the parties. Assessee has submitted all the relevant information required to substantiate that the transactions are genuine. The assessee has received the funds through....... + More

Penalty @30% on undisclosed income u/s 271AAB - No search was conducted u/s 132 but only survey u/s 133A was conducted - HELD THAT:- From plain reading of section 271AAB, it is observed that for invoking penalty u/s 271AAB, search u/s 132 is required to be initiated, whereas in this case, there is no evidence put forth by the department initiating search u/s 132 of the act Since no search was conducted u/s 132 and only survey u/s 133A was conducted and the assessment order was passed u/s 153C r.w.s. 143(3) of the act. Therefore, we hold that the Ld.CIT(A) has rightly cancelled the penalty levied u/s 271AAB of the Act and we do not find any reason to interfere with the order of the Ld.CIT(A) and the same is upheld. - Decided in favour of assessee.

Levy of penalty u/s 271D - assessee had received the amounts in cash as loan from HUF - CIT(A) found that the transactions between the assessee company and the HUF were trade transactions and the same cannot be held as loan between the assessee and the HUF - sufficient and reasonable cause for receiving the cash from HUF - HELD THAT:- It is undisputed fact that HUF is undertaking gold savings scheme and has been collecting the subscriptions from subscribers and advancing amount to the company for jewellery redemption purchases made by scheme subscribers. Though it is placed under the unsecured loans, prima facie, it is business transaction since, HUF has deposited the amounts with the assessee company for redemption of jewellery purchases under the scheme. Therefore, though the assessee has placed the same as unsecured loans, the cash rec....... + More

Revision u/s 263 - scrutiny assessment - as per CIT undisclosed income, the excess stock and excess cash required to be brought to tax @60% as per section 69 r.w.s. 115BBE, however AO taxed the same at normal rates - HELD THAT:- On going through the assessment order, we find that though the AO made the addition of as undisclosed income, no addition was made u/s 69 - AO did not invoke section 68/69 separately in the assessment order. The income required to be taxed @60% in case the undisclosed income representing section 68 to section 69C of the Act. In this case, the AO has not invoked any such section. AO called for the information regarding excess stock and excess cash and also called for explanation of the assessee as to why both the items should not be taxed u/s 69 applying the tax rate @60%. The assessee furnished explanation and exp....... + More

Denying deduction u/s 54F(3) - as per the joint development agreement dated 29/07/2010, the transfer of land given for development purpose amounts to transfer within the meaning of section 2(47) and thus development agreement dated 29/07/2010 is antivirus to the provisions of section 54F(3) - assessee stressed that she has purchased only land to construct a residential house and transferred the said land to the developer, therefore ld.AR argued that the assessee has not violated any of the provisions of section 54 F(3) - HELD THAT:- From combined reading of the development agreement, MoU and facts placed before us it is understood that the assessee has sold the 03 pieces of land and constructed a residential unit within the time specified in section 54F - As per the statement of facts placed before CIT(A) the entire transaction was comple....... + More

Bogus purchases u/s 69C - CIT-A restricted the addition to 25% of the alleged bogus purchases - HELD THAT:- As relying on own case [2018 (2) TMI 346 - ITAT MUMBAI] we direct the ld. AO to adopt the profit percentage @12.5% minus gross profit already declared by the assessee with regard to the disputed purchases. No arguments by way of any contrary decisions were submitted by the ld. DR before us with regard to the impugned issue. Accordingly, the grounds raised by the assessee as well as by the revenue on merits are disposed off in the aforesaid manner.

Denial of carry forwarding of short-term capital loss - assessee’s case is that the assessee was never heard on this aspect and was never asked to produce any material in support of their claim - HELD THAT:- Refering to submission on behalf of the assessee that given an opportunity, the assessee would cooperate with AO for verification of the claim of the assessee in respect of carry forward short term capital loss thus the assessee is entitled to an opportunity to submit the material, if any, for verification of the entitlement to carry forward short term capital loss and therefore, we set aside the impugned finding of the ld. CIT(A) and remand the matter to the file AO for verification of the claim - Decided i favour of assessee for statistical purposes. Unexplained investment - assessee has been contending before the authorities ....... + More

Dismissal of appeal for non prosecution by CIT(A) - as argued CIT-A failed to apply his mind to the issues which arose from the impugned order - HELD THAT:- We are not impressed with the dismissal of the appeal by the CIT(A) for non-prosecution, without application of mind by him to the issues which were assailed by the assessee by preferring the appeal before him. Once an appeal is preferred before the CIT(A) then it is obligatory on his part to dispose off the same on merits. We are of a strong conviction that it is not open for the CIT(A) to summarily dismiss the appeal on account of non-prosecution of the same by the assessee. Rather, a perusal of Sec.251(1)(a) and (b), as well as the Explanation to Sec. 251(2) reveals that the CIT(A) remains under a statutory obligation to apply his mind to all the issues which arises from the impugn....... + More

Penalty u/s 271(1)(c) - defective notice u/s 274 - non striking of irrelevant words in notice - Addition u/s 68 - HELD THAT:- In notice, irrelevant words in the penalty notice have not been struck of and, thus, the notice does not specify as to under which the limb of section 271(1)(c) was the penalty being proposed to imposed. Right from the assessment proceedings, AO has been inconsistent in his approach regarding the imposition of penalty. In the assessment order AO has recorded satisfaction for imposition penalty for furnishing of inaccurate particulars of income whereas in the notice dated 03.03.2014 issued u/s 274 penalty proceedings have been initiated for concealing particulars of income/furnishing inaccurate particulars. In the penalty order, the penalty has been imposed for furnishing inaccurate particulars of the income as the ....... + More

Classification of services - Online Information and Database Retrieval Services - Type-3 test administrative solution offered by the Respondent Company to its clients in India - minimum human intervention - levy of integrated tax on the supply of said services to non-taxable online recipients in India - lower Authority had held that the Type-3 test does not qualify for classification as OIDAR service - HELD THAT:- There is no dispute on the fact that there is an element of human intervention involved in the process of scoring the essay responses in the Type-3 test. What needs to be decided is whether the extent of human intervention is ‘minimum’ or not. Since there are no guidelines in Indian laws regarding the concept of minimum human intervention in electronically provided services, we refer to the European Commission VAT Co....... + More

Profiteering - Respondent had not passed on the benefit of rate reduction to the Applicant as well as other Customers as per the provisions of Section 171 (1) of the CGST Act, 2017 - HELD THAT:- It has been revealed that the Respondent had not passed on the benefit of rate reduction to the above Applicant as well as other Customers for the period from 15.11.2017 to 31.10.2018 and hence, the Respondent has violated the provisions of Section 171 (1) of the CGST Act, 2017. It is also revealed from the perusal of the CGST Act and the Rules framed under it that no penalty had been prescribed for violation of the provisions of Section 171 (1) of the above Act, therefore, the Respondent was issued show cause notice to state why penalty should not be imposed on him for violation of the above provisions as per Section 122 (1) (i) of the above Act ....... + More

Profiteering - Respondent had not passed on the benefit of rate reduction to the Applicant as well as other Customers as per the provisions of Section 171 (1) of the CGST Act, 2017 - HELD THAT:- It has been revealed that the Respondent had not passed on the benefit of rate reduction to the above Applicant as well as other Customers for the period from 15.11.2017 to 31.10.2018 and hence, the Respondent has violated the provisions of Section 171 (1) of the CGST Act, 2017. It is also revealed from the perusal of the CGST Act and the Rules framed under it that no penalty had been prescribed for violation of the provisions of Section 171 (1) of the above Act, therefore, the Respondent was issued show cause notice to state why penalty should not be imposed on him for violation of the above provisions as per Section 122 (1) (i) of the above Act ....... + More

Detention of goods alongwith vehicle - transportation in one segment not being covered by a valid e-way bill - HELD THAT:- If the petitioner furnishes a bank guarantee for the amount demanded in Ext.P9 notice, then the respondents shall permit a clearance, and thereafter proceed to pass the final adjudication order under Section 129(3) of the GST Act. Petition disposed off.

Detention of goods alongwith vehicle - reason for detention is mis-match in the value of the goods transported, as shown in the e-way bill and job work invoice that accompanied the transportation of the goods - HELD THAT:- Inasmuch as the detention of the goods was during the return journey from the job-workers premises to the petitioner's premises, the documents that ought to have accompanied the transportation were the job work invoice, the delivery challan and the e-way bill. In the instant case, it is not in dispute that the consignment was covered by the job-work invoice, an e-way bill as also the delivery challan that originally accompanied the goods on its transportation from Ernakulam to the job worker's premises in Salem. As per the statutory provisions, when goods are sent to other premises for job work, it is the same d....... + More

Direction to respondents to issue necessary instructions, directions and orders to the jurisdictional officers to give effect to the rectified GSTR-3B returns filed manually by the petitioner for the months of July to September 2017 - HELD THAT:- Issue notice. List the matter on 13th January, 2021.

Reimbursement of differential tax amount arising out of change in tax regime from Value Added Tax (VAT) to Goods and Service Tax (GST) with effect from 01.07.2017 - grievance of the petitioner is that in view of the introduction of the GST, petitioner is required to pay tax which was not envisaged while entering into the agreement - HELD THAT:- The Government has now come out with a revised guidelines in this respect in supersession of the guidelines issued vide Finance Department letter dated 07.12.2017. Additional Counter Affidavit of O.P.-authority has been filed in similar cases annexing the revised guidelines relating to works contract under GST issued by the Government of Odisha, Finance Department vide Office memorandum No. FIN-CTI-TAX- 0045-2017/38535/F Dated 10.12.2018. Petitioner shall make a comprehensive representation before ....... + More

Detention of goods alongwith vehicle - Allegation of attempt to sale goods in between - detention on the ground that prima facie the 'documents tendered were found to be defective' - mismatch between the goods in movement and the documents tendered - remedy of appeal under Section 107 of the TGST Act - HELD THAT:- Without there being any order/decision passed by the 1st respondent and communicated to the petitioner, the petitioner cannot be expected to file appeal invoking Section 107 of the TGST Act, 2017 - the plea of the 1st respondent that the petitioner should avail the remedy of appeal under Sec. 107 of the TGST Act is rejected. Any defect, if any, in the documentation accompanying the goods for purpose of levy of tax and penalty has to be looked at also in terms of the Circular dt. 13.4.2018 and Circular dt. 14.09.2018 issu....... + More

Confiscation of goods - solver ornaments - unaccounted stocks - Section 67 of the Central Goods and Service Act, 2017 - Whether the 1st respondent is authorised to pass the impugned proceedings dated 04.02.2020? - HELD THAT:- The argument of the petitioners that the 1st respondent is not legally authorised to issue the impugned proceedings is not correct in view of the Gazette notification No.37 of Revenue Department (CT-II) dated 30.06.2017 filed by the learned Government Pleader. Section 68(3) of the CGST Act confers power on “the Proper Officer” to intercept any conveyance on the way and require the person in-charge of the said conveyance to produce the documents prescribed under sub-section (1) of Section 68 and the devices for verification in which case the said person shall be liable to produce the same and also allow th....... + More

Profiteering - base prices of 1383 goods had been increased by the Respondents after the rate of tax was reduced - allegation that the Respondents had not passed on the benefit of reduction in the rate of GST - contravention of provisions of Section 171(1) of the CGST Act, 2017 - penalty - HELD THAT:- It would be appropriate to state that as has been discussed in paras supra (i) the pre and post reduction base prices have been correctly computed excluding the discounts as per the provisions of Section 15(1) and 15(3)(a) and hence there is no mistake in calculating the same. Therefore, the comparison of prices made by the Respondents as per the Annexure attached with their submissions dated 19.06.2019 is not correct (ii) It is also apparent from the plain reading of Section 171(1) that the benefit of tax reduction has to be passed on by co....... + More

Refund of excess tax paid - principles of natural justice - appellant has mainly contested in their appeal memo that the adjudicating authority has passed the impugned orders in original without granting sufficient opportunity of personal hearing in the matter - HELD THAT:- The adjudicating authority while rejecting the refund claims of the appellant neither considered their first request for seeking of some other date as per adjudicating authority's convenience nor discussed any relevant provisions of law/rules for rejection of their refund claims. It is also found that non-passing of speaking order indeed amount to denial of natural justice. Before passing of orders atleast their request for seeking of some other date for personal hearing in the matter should have been considered and at least speaking order should have been passed b....... + More

Profiteering - Proceedings before the National Anti-profiteering Authority - section 171 of the Goods and Services Tax Act - main contention of the Petitioner is of violation of the principles of natural justice - It was held by High Court that The term profiteering, under the Act and Rules, is used in a pejorative sense. Such a finding can severely dent the business reputation. The Authority is newly established. Therefore, as a guidance to this Authority, highlighting the importance of fair decision-making is necessary. HELD THAT:- Considering the fact that after the impugned order, the matter has already proceeded before the authority - There is no need to interfere with the present SLP. SLP disposed off.

Detention of goods alongwith vehicle - expired E-Way bill - HELD THAT:- The learned counsel for the petitioner submits, however, that there is an issue regarding the legality of inclusion of the cess component in the quantification of the amount liable to be paid under Section 129 of the GST Act, the respondents are directed to release the goods and vehicle on the petitioner furnishing a Bank guarantee for the amount demanded in Ext.P10 order. Petition disposed off.

Decision to be made on petitioner's representation - HELD THAT:- This Court directs the Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC) to decide the petitioner’s representation dated 30th June, 2020 along with the additional representation to be made within two weeks, within eight weeks from the date of filing of the additional representation. All the rights and contentions of the parties are left open. Petition disposed off.

Grant of Anticipatory Bail - allegation of illegal input tax credit taken by the M/s Milk Food Ltd. - fake form created for passing fake credit by issuing Bogus invoices - It is contended by Ld. Defence counsel that despite the fact that adjudication in this case is yet to be carried out despite that accused persons are ready to deposit 10% of the total tentative liability which has been allegedby the department by way of its reply. In support of his averment Ld. Counsel has also relied on the judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court in C. Pradeeep Petitioners(s) v. The Commissioner of GST and central Excise, Selam and Anr. [2019 (11) TMI 659 - SUPREME COURT] HELD THAT:- Admittedly the total amount as liability of the of the applicants is yet to be adjudicated and assessed. Liability which has been raised by the department is the tentative w....... + More

Detention of goods alongwith vehicle - goods were not accompanied by the relevant E-way bills - Section 129(3) of the U.P. GST Act - HELD THAT:- A perusal of the appellate order shows that the Appellate Authority has decided the appeal in the absence of the counsel for the appellant. There is no reasons not to believe the version of the counsel for the petitioner to the extent that the counsel for the appellant could not appear on account of his suffering from high fever and no useful purpose would be served in keeping the present writ petition pending. The matter is remanded to the Appellate Authority to decide the appeal afresh, after affording an opportunity of hearing to the counsel for the appellant - Petition allowed by way of remand.

Grant of Bail - allegation of fraudulent availment of input tax credit - passing of forged GST - HELD THAT:- Taking into consideration the nature of allegations against the petitioner, his length of custody, the pendency of investigation, the offence being compoundable and the severity of punishment under Section 132 of the CGST Act; but, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, this Court deems it just and proper to enlarge the petitioner on bail. The bail application is allowed and it is directed that accused-petitioner Subhash Chandra Tyagi S/o Late Shri Chiranji Lal shall be released on bail under Section 439 Cr.P.C. in connection with afore-mentioned FIR registered at concerned Police Station, provided he furnishes a personal bond in the sum of ₹ 1,00,000/- together with two sureties in the sum of ₹ 50,00....... + More

Provisional attachment of petitioner's Bank Account - Section 83 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 - HELD THAT:- Respondent No.1 states that if directions are issued by the Court for time-bound disposal of the above representation, it will be abided by promptly. It is directed that the aforementioned representation of the Petitioner be decided by a reasoned order not later than 4th December, 2020 and the decision thereon be communicated to the Petitioner not later than 8th December, 2020. The submissions of the Petitioner in the present petition and any additional submissions the Petitioner wishes to make in writing within the next two days, shall also be taken into account while passing such order. Petition disposed off.

Release of detained goods alongwith vehicle - expired E-way bill - HELD THAT:- It is clear from Rule 138(10) that the specific period for which an e-way bill is valid is evident from the table under that rule. Serial Nos.1 and 2 deals with cargo other than Over Dimensional Cargo [hereinafter 'ODC'] and serial Nos.3 and 4 with ODC. ODC is cargo having dimensions in excess of the vehicle in which it is carried. The contention of the appellant is that the amendment by which an insertion was made in 2019 takes in multimodal shipment in which at least one leg involves transport by ship and whether it be an ODC or goods other than ODC. Enabling proviso under Rule 138(10) - HELD THAT:- We perfectly agree with the submission of the learned Senior Government Pleader that this would only enable the consignee to update the e-way bill extendi....... + More

Grant of Bail - input tax credit - fake firms - Offence under Section 132(1)(f) of the C.G.S.T. Act - HELD THAT:- It is directed that accused petitioners shall be released on bail provided each of them furnish a personal bond in the sum of ₹ 5,00,000/- together with two sureties in the sum of ₹ 2,50,000/- each to the satisfaction of the learned trial court with the stipulation that they shall appear before that Court and any court to which the matter is transferred, on all subsequent dates of hearing and as and when called upon to do so.

Second Bail application - Jurisdiction - applicants were intercepted on Faizabad Road but search proceedings were conducted at the office of Lucknow which is much away from the place of interception - HELD THAT:- Considering the facts that the accused are in jail since 7.12.2018, offence is punishable upto seven years of imprisonment, charges have not been framed till date, trial in the case has not proceeded, the department has not been able to produce the punch witnesses before the adjudicating authority and also the fact that in Covid-19 situation, trial is held up which may take sufficient time, case for bail is made out. Let the applicants Manoj Kumar Soni and Sameer Gadtaula involved in Case Crime No. 06/2018 under Sections 104, 110, 111, 135 Customs Act, 1962, registered at Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Lucknow Zonal Unit, U....... + More

Smuggling - Gold - Foreign Currency - Baggage Rules - appellant denied having any legal documents or any approval/ permission from the Reserve Bank of India - HELD THAT:- The appellant had improperly attempted to export the foreign currency totally valued at on 30.7.2018 i.e. at the time of his departure, by bring the said impugned goods in Customs Area as well as by taking many such deliberate overt steps such as (i) booking of Air ticket PNR670P21N for 30.07.2018 by Air India Express flight IX 195 to go to Dubai; (ii) His carrying the said foreign currency in a concealed manner in his baggage for avoiding detection in X-ray at the airport; (iii) His name was very much in the Passenger Air Manifest evidencing that he was going from Jaipur to Dubai on 30.07.2018; (iv)the recovery and seizure of impugned goods from his accompanied baggage ....... + More

Principles of natural justice - rejection of cross-examination of petitioners - Section 138(B) of the Customs Act, 1962 - HELD THAT:- This Court is of the considered view that the petitioner has approached this Court prematurely without allowing the respondents to pass final orders. The petitioner has made it clear before the respondents that they intend to cross examine the witnesses, which were referred to by the respondents in the annexures attached to the show cause notice dated 17.10.2018. The respondents have rejected the request of the petitioner, but till date, final order has not been passed. If the respondents have not followed the statutory provisions as mandated under the Customs Act, 1962 by not allowing the petitioner to cross examine the witnesses, the petitioner is always at liberty to challenge the final order as and when....... + More

Smuggling - Gold - Baggage Rules - Conspiracy - absolute confiscation - levy of penalty u/s Section 112(a) - HELD THAT:- At the outset the Government observes that the officers of AIU have acted impulsively, and somewhat prematurely the passenger Shri Sahubar Sathik Hithayadullah was intercepted as soon as he stepped out of the Aircraft, at the aerobridge. It is therefore clear that the passenger was prevented from filing a declaration as required under Section 77 of the Customs Act, 1962. As a plan/conspiracy was in existence, the officers having specific intelligence could have made the interceptions after the transfer of the gold near the lifts. Further, the seizure of the gold took place at the aerobridge and according to the mahazar, the Respondent has not received the gold from the passenger nor has he come into contact with him or ....... + More

Deadlocks/inordinate delays for clearance of import cargo. due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown - the Learned Single Judge ordered that the payment of container detention charges or other penal charges by the petitioners for release of the cargo covered by Bills of Lading shall be provisional and subject to further orders in the writ petitions. - HELD THAT:- True, at the time of considering the interim relief, the Court is bound to consider whether, (1) there is prima facie case, (2) balance of convenience, and (3) likelihood of irreparable hardship. Writ court though not specifically adverted to the above, reading of the impugned order reflects the same. On the aspect of violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, that the earlier interim order in W.P. (C) No. 10177/2020, dated 25-5-2020 has not been followed, it could be deduced ....... + More

Absolute Confiscation - quantum of penalty - import of Adult Toy - prohibited goods or not - Obscene Item or not - HELD THAT:- The appraiser/AA has to give his justification how he has to come to conclusion that it was an adult toy. As per Notification No. 1/1964-Cus. only an article with respect to any obscenity is restricted. The imported item massager cannot be connected with any obscenity. As held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of AJAY GOSWAMI VERSUS UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS [2006 (12) TMI 500 - SUPREME COURT] the definition of obscenity differs from culture to culture, between communities within a single culture and also individuals within those communities. Moreover, this is imported for personal use and a single piece. Without any evidence the impugned order has been passed. Therefore, the contention of the departm....... + More

EPCG Scheme - non-issuance of Occupation Certificate - Construction of a multistoried building for operating a hotel - the cost included the cost of imported goods against which customs duty was not paid, as the goods imported were against 50 EPCG licenses - HELD THAT:- Since an application is pending, I am not going into the merits of the case. The EPCG committee is requested to consider the application filed by the petitioner on 9th August, 2020 within four weeks from today. The committee is also requested to pass a reasoned order after giving opportunity of hearing, not only to the petitioner but also to the customs authority, if required. As the petitioner has already alienated with the goods, imported without payment of customs duty, the customs authority may proceed to encash the bank guarantee for realising the customs duty but suc....... + More

Direction to the respondent to finalise the bills of entry filed by the petitioner for clearance of goods - polyester knitted fabrics - period 2013 to 2016 - HELD THAT:- Keeping in view the limited prayer made in the writ petition, the same is disposed of with a direction to the respondent to finalise the bills of entry filed by the petitioner for clearance of goods namely polyester knitted fabrics during the period 2013 to 2016 within a period of six weeks - Petition disposed off.

Reclaim of goods after surrender of rights in warehoused Goods (after import) u/s 23(3) - Due to increased customs duty, the plaintiffs could not take the delivery of the goods - Decree of mandatory injunction directing the defendants to deliver 58 bales, 76 bales and 61 bales respectively of the goods amenable to customs duty - defendants took the plea that the plaintiffs themselves have surrendered the goods in terms of Section 23(3) of the Customs Act vide letter dated 10-12-1985 and therefore, no cause for the plaintiffs to file the suit was made out - Section 23 of Customs Act - HELD THAT:- Learned Counsel for the respondents could not show any such document or evidence that they have availed of the remedy provided under the Customs Act. The Customs Act which being a special Act has provided remedial action against the orders of the ....... + More

Maintainability of appeal - non-deposit of pre-deposit amount - Principles of Natural Justice - grounds urged in the appeal is that the third respondent ought to have extended an opportunity to the petitioner to cross-examine the officers who allegedly conducted search and seizure proceedings - HELD THAT:- In the present case, the appeal is dismissed on the ground that the petitioner did not deposit 50% of the demand in terms of the order dated 2-2-2016. It must also be mentioned that the directors of the petitioner’s company also did not deposit 50% of the penalty imposed on them, and further it must also be mentioned that there is no dispute that none appeared for the petitioner on 18-10-2016 when the appeal was listed for orders on an application filed for recall of the order dated 2-2-2016. The CESTAT’s order is not an ord....... + More

Smuggling - gold chain - gold bangles - gold anklet - Reopening of adjudication proceedings - section 124 of Customs Act - HELD THAT:- There is no force and merit in the submission of the Learned Counsel for the petitioner. The reference to Section 124 of the Customs Act in not issuing any notice in writing for confiscation or imposition of the penalty cannot be agitated after the lapse of three years. Alleged non-adherence to the provisions of Section 124 by issuing a separate notice before imposition of penalty and confiscation, cannot be raised for the first time in the writ petition, that too after a gap of three years. However, on going through the adjudication order of Ext. P3, the petitioner suffered a statement which was not found to be sufficient and was served with Ext. P2 summons to appear and explain along with the documents r....... + More

Implementation of order passed by this Tribunal and for early hearing of the said application - restoration of CHA license not stayed - HELD THAT:- In view of the fact that operation of the order dated 21.11.2019 has not been stayed or vacated by the higher appellate forum, the Revenue has left with no alternative, but to implement the order of the Tribunal in true letter and spirit. However, since it is contended that the order dated 21.11.2019 has already been appealed against by Revenue, we direct that the Revenue should obtained the stay order from the Hon’ble Bombay High Court in staying operation of the order dated 21.11.2019, if any, or to implement the said order passed by the Tribunal on expiry of the period of one month. Registry is directed to list the matter for reporting compliance on 16.11.2020.

Classification of goods - consignment imported under SKD condition - Exemption for the purpose of assessment for countervailing duty - Import of components for manufacturing colour Doppler SSD-4000 Ultra Sound Scanners - HELD THAT:- When the goods are presented in SKD condition, Revenue does not have authority of law to separate different parts and components and classify them differently in view of Rule 2(a) of General Rules for Interpretation of the Customs Tariff. If Revenue wants to remove certain parts from the SKD package and classify differently, then Revenue has to establish that remaining parts, if assembled together have essential character of final product. Revenue has not brought forward any such evidence. Further, CBIC issued clarification which is reproduced in foregoing paragraph. The said clarification relies on Chapter No....... + More

Gross overvaluation to fraudulently avail export benefits - Petitioner placed in the Denied Entity List (DEL) - Availment of fraudulent Special MEIS benefits - misdeclaration and forgery of documents - HELD THAT:- Any refusal to grant, suspend or cancel any licence, certificate, scrip or any instrument bestowing financial or fiscal benefits, can only be “by an order in writing”. In fact, Section 9(4) expressly mandates that suspension or cancellation of any licence, certificate, scrip or any instrument bestowing financial or fiscal benefits can only be “for good and sufficient reasons”. The requirement of giving reasons cannot therefore, be dispensed with and is mandatory - Even otherwise, it is now firmly established that even an administrative decision having civil consequences must record reasons as a mandatory ....... + More

Permission for re-export of imported diamonds on paying the penalty and redemption fine - Import of rough diamonds without KP (Kimberly Process) certificate - challenge on the ground that there was only a procedural defect in the import carried out and there is now a certificate issued as required under Exhibit P5 Circular - HELD THAT:- Exhibit P10 is not a KP Certificate issued for the export of goods from UAE, which alone would validate its import into India. Exhibit P10 is a mere 'Technical Certificate' issued for sending back the goods to UAE, from which country the goods were sourced from. The certificate enables export, to carry out which the appellant would have to first get the goods released by paying the redemption fee and penalty since already the goods are confiscated. A reading of Exhibit P5, hence, makes it mandatory....... + More

Physical presence of the petitioner for enquiry - Detention of goods - permission to petitioners to have food and medicines if enquiry by the officers of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence Office (DRI) were to stretch for long duration - HELD THAT:- Food and medicines are essential requirements. Shri. Aravind has fairly submitted that petitioners may carry food and medicine. This petition is disposed of with following: (i) Petitioners shall appear on 17.11.2020 in DRI office for further enquiry; (ii) They shall be permitted to carry their own food and medicines; and (iii) Enquiry shall be conducted during the office hours and completed as expeditiously as possible.

Application for out of turn hearing of the appeal - HELD THAT:- Because of the unavoidable circumstances, the matter could not be listed for hearing as there was no sitting of Bench. In the meantime, the appellants have filed this Miscellaneous Application on 17.06.2020 for early hearing of the matter. When the appeal has already been listed on board for hearing, there was no occasion to file this Miscellaneous Application. Subsequently, in view of Public Notice No.1 of 2020 dated 30.06.2020, the appellants were required to file their application as per format as prescribed in Annexure-II. I find from the records that they have filed the application in Annexure-II on 20.08.2020. The Miscellaneous Application for out of turn hearing of the appeal is dismissed as infructuous.

Maintainability of appeal - time limitation - appellant submits that the period of limitation has been calculated from the date of issuance of the order which is 3rd October 2018 whereas the statutory provisions provided that the period of limitation should be calculated from the date of receipt of the order - HELD THAT:- If the date of receipt of the order is taken into consideration, it is observed that the appeal was filed within the statutory period of 60(sixty) days and there was no delay in filing the appeal - Since the learned Commissioner(Appeals) has not decided the appeal before him on merits, but dismissed the same as time barred, it would be appropriate to remand the matter to the learned Commissioner(Appeals) to decide the appeal on merits. It is also categorically mentioned that there is no delay in filing the appeal before the lower appellate authority, therefore, there is no occasion to visit the aspect of limitation. Appeal allowed by way of remand.

Levy of Light Dues Charges and Port Charges - applicant has made a grievance that respondent No.1 is levying “light dues charges’ for the entire one months’ period though the ship was delivered to the applicant on 11.11.2020 - HELD THAT:- All the contentions of the parties regarding the legality and justifiability of the quantum of charges claimed by the Port Trust can be considered while determining the entitlement of the parties to the amount to be deposited with the office of Sheriff of Mumbai. All the contentions are, thus, kept open for consideration. The applicant - M/s. NKD Maritime Limited shall deposit a sum of Rs. ₹ 1,58,59,737/- with the office of Sheriff of Mumbai by tomorrow, 19.11.2020 - matter be listed on 2nd December 2020.

Continuation of Suspension of Customs Broker License - Smuggling - foreign origin cigarettes - Regulation 19(2) of CBLR, 2013 - appellant has failed to verify the antecedent and functioning of the client by using reliable and independent sources - violation of provisions of Regulation 11(n) of CBLR, 2013 - cross-examination not allowed - Violation of principles of natural justice - HELD THAT:- The learned Commissioner has not allowed cross-examination at his level but depended on the enquiry report wherein the cross-examination of Mr. Maswood Ahmed but it was held that cross-examination of Shri Abid Ali could not be undertaken. We find that this is not the spirit of the order of this Bench. Instead of delegating the directions given by this Bench to the Enquiry Officer, the Commissioner should have himself allowed the cross-examination as....... + More

Restoration of name of the Company in the Register of Companies, maintained by the Registrar of Companies - Section 252 of the Companies Act, 2013 - HELD THAT:- The provision pertaining to the restoration of the name of the Company as provided in Section 252 (3) of Companies Act. I had gone through the report dated 06.07.2020 submitted by Registrar of Companies in the instant appeal. I have also gone through the latest Balance Sheets and Financial Statements of the Company for the year ending 31st March 2019 and also the Income Tax Return Acknowledgment for the Assessment Year 2019-20. I have given careful consideration to the submission made by the learned counsel for the Appellant in regard to the production of NOC etc. This Tribunal is of the opinion that it would be just and equitable to order restoration of the name of the Company in....... + More

Direction to respondents to permit the petitioners to get reappointed as Directors of any Company or appointed in any other Company without any hindrance - Section 164(2)(a) of the Companies Act, 2013 - HELD THAT:- The Hon'ble Division Bench in MEETHELAVEETIL KAITHERI MURALIDHARAN, KAMAL ANEESMOHAMED, SATHISH KUMAR GOPAL, GOVINDASAMY BALASUBRAMANIAM, PAARI SENTHIL KUMAR, PAARI DHANALAKSHMI, VERSUS UNION OF INDIA, THE REGISTRAR OF COMPANIES TAMIL NADU, CHENNAI, [2020 (10) TMI 595 - MADRAS HIGH COURT] dealt with the powers of the RoC in the light of Sections 164 and 167(1) of the Companies Act, 2013 and Rule 14 of the Companies (Appointment and Qualifications of Directors) Rules, 2014 and also has elaborately considered as to whether the RoC is entitled to deactivate the Director Identification Number (DIN) by referring to the Rules 19,....... + More

Approval of Scheme of Arrangement by way of Demerger - section 230-232 of Companies Act, 2013, and other applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Companies (Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamations) Rules, 2016 - HELD THAT:- Directions issued for convening of various meetings - directions regarding issuance of various notices issued. Application allowed.

Approval for composite scheme of arrangement and amalgamation - Section 230-232 of Companies Act, 2013 - HELD THAT:- This Tribunal is of the considered view that the scheme as contemplated amongst the petitioner companies seems to be prima facie beneficial to the company and will not be in any way detrimental to the interest of the shareholders of the company. In view of absence of any other objections having been placed on record before this Tribunal and since all the requisite statutory compliances having been fulfilled, this Tribunal sanctions the scheme of arrangement appended as annexure "A1" with the company petition as well as the prayer made therein. Learned senior counsel for the petitioner-companies submitted that no investigation proceedings are pending against the transferor or transferee companies under the provisio....... + More

Oppression and Mismanagement - Extraordinary General Meeting held or not - It is the case of the petitioner that there was no extraordinary general meeting for passing resolution for sale of a major portion of the land held by respondent No. 1-company - HELD THAT:- The alleged agreement of sale was not produced before the Advocate Commissioner. Not only the said document was not produced before the Advocate Commissioner, but even before the Tribunal it was not furnished. It is not known why respondents Nos. 1 to 4 are withholding the said document from being produced. The petitioner being a shareholder is entitled to have the information related to sale of a big chunk of land of respondent No. 1-company. The majority shareholders are running the company. Thus, the petitioner, a minority shareholder is being oppressed. Thus, neither proof ....... + More

Transfer and registration of shares - deletion of entries made in furtherance to conversion of 2,00,00,000 partly up equity shares into fully paid-up equity shares - It is submitted that the petitioner is coercing the respondents to buy at exorbitant price, its 2,40,70,000 shares which were purchased by the petitioner from various banks during 2011-12 at an average price of ₹ 1.11 per share - HELD THAT:- Partly paid-up shares were issued in 2003-04, which was long prior to the applicant purchasing the shares of respondent No. 1-company from the banks. The petitioner is aware of the authorised capital of respondent No. 1-company. There is no irregularity in calling for conversion of partly paid shares into fully paid shares, because respondent No. 1-company needed money for payment to the banks to avoid proceedings under the SARFAESI....... + More

Restoration of the name of the Respondents Company in the register maintained by the Registrar of Companies - Section 252(3) of the Companies Act, 2013 - HELD THAT:- The provisions pertaining to restoration of the name of the company has been provided in Section 252 of the Companies Act, 2013 which includes that, if it is just and equitable to restore the name of the respondent- company in the Registrar of Companies, it may direct the RoC to restore the name in its Register - The appellant Income-tax hasbeen able to satisfy this Bench that they are the aggrieved party within the meaning of Sec.252(1) read with Section 252(3) of Companies Act, 2013 and great prejudice will be caused to Revenue and public at large, if the name of the respondent company is not restored back. The Appellant has filed its affidavit of service on 05.02.2020, whe....... + More

Approval of Scheme of Arrangement for the demerger - Section 230-232 of Companies Act - HELD THAT:- Direction for dispensation of various meetings issued - directions for issuance of various meetings issued - application disposed off.

Approval of scheme of amalgamation - Section 230-232 of the Companies Act, 2013 - HELD THAT:- In compliance of Sub-Section(5) of Section 230 of the Act and Rule 8 of the Companies (CAA) Rules, 2016, all the applicant companies shall send notices under Sub-Section (3) of Section 230 read with Rule 6 of the Rules with a copy of the Scheme of Arrangement, the explanatory statement and the disclosures mentioned in Rule 6 to (a) the Central Government through the Regional Director, South Eastern Region; (b) the Registrar of Companies, Kerala and (c) the Income Tax Authorities immediately at any rate within a week from the date of receipt of this order. The said notices be sent either by Registered Post or by Speed Post or by Hand Delivery at the Offices of the authorities as required by Sub Rule (2) of Rule 8 of the Rules. The aforesaid author....... + More

Restoration of name of the company in the Register of Companies - Section 252 of the Companies Act, 2013 - HELD THAT:- The Appellant has submitted sufficient evidence that it has been in operation during the period preceding strike off, therefore it could not be termed as a defunct company as per section 252 of the Act. Thus, taking into consideration the provisions of Section 252(1) of the Companies Act, 2013, which vests this Tribunal with a discretion where the Company, whose name has been struck off, and such Company is able to demonstrate that it is just to do so, can restore the name of the Company, in the Register and in the interest of all stakeholders, including the Appellant itself, who seeks restoration of the name of the Company in the register maintained by Registrar of Companies, the company deserve to be restored. Application restored - appeal allowed.

Approval of Scheme of Amalgamation - section 230 and 232 of the Companies Act, 2013 r/w the Companies (Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamations) Rules 2016 - HELD THAT:- Perusal of the scheme shows that the accounting treatment is in conformity with the established accounting standards. In short, there is no apprehension that any of the creditors would lose or be prejudiced if the proposed scheme is sanctioned. The said Scheme of Amalgamation will not cast any additional burden on the stakeholders and also will not prejudicially affect the interests of any class of the creditors in any manner. The Appointed date of the said Scheme is 01st April, 2018 - Petitioner Companies have stated that the scheme Proposed does not fall within the ambit of sections 5 and 6 of the Competition Act, 2002. The scheme does not require any modification as....... + More

Transmission of shares - estoppel by conduct - Appellants are alleging that the respondents are putting pressure on the Appellants for transmission of 5000 equity shares erstwhile held by Mr. Mondal in the Appellant No.1 Company without complying with the Indian Laws Intestate Succession - HELD THAT:- It is very much clear that both the Appellants and the Respondents are known to each other for a long time and knows each other families also. It is not in dispute that the Appellant No.2 has purchased the share of California, US based Company on the same identity from the Respondents. It is also not in dispute that in the objections filed by the Appellant before the Tribunal, they have not raised the issue of mother as an inheritor. The Appellants (Respondent at Tribunal) have raised only the issue of production of probate and appropriate l....... + More

Permission to file written submissions - HELD THAT:- Issue notice of this application to the respondents. Mr. Rohit Sud, the learned counsel accepts notice for all the legal heirs of the second respondent-Mr. Ashwini Chopra except for Mrs. Sudarshan Chopra. Mr. Ekansh Mishra, the learned counsel accepts notice for respondents No. 1, 3, 4 & 6. The applicant's counsel shall collect the notices from the Registry and send the same by speed post immediately to all respondents attaching therewith copy of the application and the entire paper book and the copy of this order. List on 21.09.2020.

Liquidation proceedings - Scope of the term "Party" - Transfer the winding up petition pending to the National Company Law Tribunal - circumstances under which a winding up proceeding pending on the file of a High court could be transferred to the NCLT - at whose instance, such transfer could be ordered? - HELD THAT:- The transferability of a winding up proceeding, both under Rule 5 as well as under Rule 6, is directly linked to the service of the winding up petition on the respondent under Rule 26 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959. If the winding up petition has already been served on the respondent in terms of Rule 26 of the 1959 Rules, the proceedings are not liable to be transferred. But if service of the winding up petition on the respondent in terms of Rule 26 had not been completed, such winding up proceedings, whether....... + More

Transfer of Equity Shares - Section 56 of the Companies Act, 2013 - specific case of the Appellant is that in the ‘Share Transfer Form’ SH- 4 furnished by the Respondent, the distinctive number of the share was not mentioned, corresponding certificate numbers were not mentioned, witness signature and name was not found, the Transferee’s details was not mentioned - HELD THAT:- It is the version of the Respondent that the Appellants’ ‘Grounds of Appeal’ and the ‘Questions of Law’ are based on non-existent ‘Articles of Association’ dated 18.02.1992 which is a forged and fabricated document with a view to mislead this Tribunal in reversing the findings of the impugned order. For the fraudulent acts committed by the Company and its Directors an investigation is to be ordered and a dir....... + More

Reduction of capital - repayment of excess capital - sections 66 and 52 of the Companies Act, 2013, read with the National Company Law Tribunal (Procedure for Reduction of Share Capital of the Company) Rules, 2016, and the applicable provisions of the National Company Law Tribunal Rules, 2016 - HELD THAT:- Section 66 of the Companies Act, 2013, deals with reduction of share capital of a company limited by shares or guarantee, after applying to the Tribunal, and based on a special resolution passed by the board of directors in this regard. This section provides for reduction of share capital either through extinguishment or reduction of the liability on any of the shares of a company in respect of the share capital which is not paid-up, or on cancellation of any paid-up share capital which is lost or is unrepresented by available assets, o....... + More

Grant of Leave to proceed with the suit - HELD THAT:- To have smooth and proper trial of the suit in question, it will be in the fitness of the things that the appellant / plaintiff is allowed to have the trial of the suit filed by the plaintiff against the defendants at the Delhi High Court itself upon its restoration by Delhi High Court as leave to proceed with the suit has been granted by the Company Judge now, as required under Section 446 of the Companies Act, 1956 since the appellant / plaintiff has undertaken to reimburse the cost of the Official Liquidator, Madras to contest the suit at Delhi in view of the shortage of the funds of the Company in liquidation M/s.Rayalaseema Commodities Limited and has agreed to make the initial deposit of ₹ 3,00,000/- subject to the account of the same being furnished by the said Official Li....... + More

Sanction of Scheme of Amalgamation - sections 230 to 232 and other applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 - HELD THAT:- From the material on record, the scheme appears to be fair and reasonable and does not violate of any provisions of law and is not contrary to public policy. Since all the requisite statutory compliances have been fulfilled, Petition is made absolute in terms of prayer made in the petition. Hence ordered. The scheme, with the appointed date fixed as August 1, 2018 placed at page Nos. 196 to 211, annexure F to the company scheme petition is hereby sanctioned. It shall be binding on the petitioner and the companies involved in the scheme and all concerned including their respective shareholders, secured creditors, unsecured creditors/trade creditors and employees - application allowed.

Sanction of Amalgamation Scheme - sections 230 to 232 of the Companies Act, 2013 read with rule 15(1) of the Companies (Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamations) Rules, 2016 - HELD THAT:- It has been stated by the Regional Director that, on a consideration of the materials on record, the scheme of amalgamation appears to be fair, reasonable and is not detrimental against the members or creditors or contrary to public policy and the same can be approved. In his report, the Regional Director, MCA has concluded that the scheme appears to be fair, reasonable and not detrimental against the members or creditors or contrary to public policy and the same can be approved. The scheme in question will enable consolidation of all companies indirectly and jointly held by the HMK group and RR group, and helps in streamlining operations, reducing ov....... + More

Waiver of the requirements for filing Company Petition - Oppression and Mismanagement - Section 241 read with Section 244 of Companies Act - removal of the First Director form the management of the company - HELD THAT:- It is undisputed that the Respondent was managing the affairs of the appellant No.1 as managing director as per Joint Venture Agreement dated 20.1.2020 and the same was not incorporated in the AoA of appellant No.1. The notice circulated on 6.5.2019 and resolution passed on 14.5.2019 also establishes that one of the Agenda items was to withdraw the rights, powers, privileges of Respondent as Managing Director. Therefore, it cannot be ignored that Respondent was Managing Director of the appellant No.1. It is not disputed that the Respondent is member of appellant No.1 and holding 0.04% shareholding. It is also not disputed ....... + More

Jurisdiction of the NCLT to hear applications under Section 43 after the approval of the Resolution Plan - Whether an application filed under Section 43 for avoidance of preferential transactions can survive beyond the conclusion of the resolution process and the role of the RP in filing/pursuing such applications? Structure of the IBC 2016 and Role of Resolution Professionals - HELD THAT:- Under Section 31, if the NCLT is satisfied with the Resolution Plan, it shall approve the same which shall be binding on the Corporate Debtor, all its employees, members, creditors, Central and State Governments, including all local authorities to whom dues may be owed, and all other stakeholders and guarantors. The NCLT has to also satisfy itself that the Resolution Plan has sufficient provisions for its implementation. Once a Resolution Plan is appro....... + More

Maintainability of application - initiation of CIRP - Corporate Debtor failed to make repayment of its dues - default made by employees of Operational Creditor - existence of debt and dispute or not - HELD THAT:- The intent of Legislature is very vital for interpreting any law, which can be well deduced from the words of Section 8(2)(a) of I&B Code ‘existence of a dispute if any’. It can be easily inferred that dispute shall not be limited to instances specified in the definition as provided under Section 5(6), as it has far arms, apart from pending Suit or Arbitration as provided Under Section 5(6) of IBC. The IBC is not a substitute for a recovery forum - Section 9 of the IBC makes it very clear for the Adjudicating Authority to admit the application “if no notice of dispute is received by the Operational Creditor ....... + More

Approval of Resolution plan - Whether a third party company, i.e. Facor Power Limited (FPL) can be dealt with in a Resolution Plan under corporate insolvency resolution process against the Corporate Debtor 'Ferro Alloys Corporation Limited' (FACL)? - HELD THAT:- The Resolution Professional submits that in accordance with Regulation 27 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Insolvency Resolution Process of Corporate Persons) Regulation 2016, (in short CIRP Regulation), two independent valuers were appointed to conduct a valuation of the assets of the Corporate Debtor (including the shares held by the Corporate Debtor in FPL), in order to arrive at the fair value and liquidation value of the Corporate Debtor. Further, a detailed presentation on the Valuation Report was duly discussed with the Members of the erstwhile COC o....... + More

Liquidation of Corporate Debtor - section 33 & 34 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 - exemption of Lockdown period from the filling of the instant application - HELD THAT:- It is found that there is no possibility of receiving any Resolution Plan. Therefore, the CoC has resolved for liquidation of the Corporate Debtor vide its Sixth meeting dated 17.02.2020. It is also to be noted that this Adjudicating Authority has no jurisdiction to interfere in the commercial wisdom of the CoC as observed in K. Sasidhar's case [2019 (11) TMI 731 - SUPREME COURT]. The Adjudicating Authority passes an order for initiation of liquidation of the Corporate Debtor viz., Neuromed Imaging Centre Private Limited - Application allowed.

Inclusion of name of applicant in the CoC - related party or not - Applicant states that the Respondent/IRP acted in violation of the well established principles of the judicial process - whether this Deed of Assignment was entered to keep bunch of their men in the CoC? - HELD THAT:- The Corporate Debtor was already a sinking ship in a very deep financial crisis. At that point of time, the loan was assigned to the Applicant may be with a foresight to put their men in the CoC Meeting. However, the decision of the Respondent/IRP that Applicant is a "Related Party" is not challenged in this application. The Applicant states that during the meeting of committee of creditors a biased opinion was formed by the Financial Creditors and the creditors alleged that Gita Power is a "Related Party" of the Corporate Debtor. Therefor....... + More

Maintainability of application - Assignment of Debt - It is argued that the Notice issued by SBI as Consortium Leader was already withdrawn and subsequent individual action of State Bank of India and Order passed in view of that action under SARFAESI cannot be reason for Adjudicating Authority to dismiss the Application under Section 7 as not maintainable - Argument is that action under Section 7 of IBC is not adversarial but to save the Corporate Debtor by bringing about resolution so that the debts can be fairly paid - time limitation - HELD THAT:- It is apparent that the Adjudicating Authority did not apply itself to the Orders which were being relied on by the Corporate Debtor and simply recorded that it is not empowered to pass any Order over jurisdiction of Hon’ble High Court or to clarify interim orders passed by the Hon&rsqu....... + More

Time Limitation - Deed of Guarantee - failure to prove default or not - legally enforceable debt or not - Whether dismissal of such reference in the given circumstances would attract Regulation 19(7) of BIFR Regulations to hold that such reference was never made for having been declined to be registered? - HELD THAT:- The answer lies in Regulation 19 itself. Regulation 19(3) provides that a reference may be filed either by delivering it at the office of the Board or by sending it by registered post. Regulation 19(4) provides that on receipt of a reference the Secretary/ Registrar shall cause to be endorsed on each reference the date on which it is filed or received in the office of the Board. Regulation 19(5) provides that if on scrutiny, the reference is found to be in order, it shall be registered, assigned a serial number and submitted....... + More

Maintainability of application - initiation of CIRP - claim against Corporate Debtor second time on the same set of claims, initially made on principal borrower - Respondent stood Guarantor for the Principal Borrower - Borrower committed default in repayment of loan - when Application under Section 7 had been admitted against the Principal Borrower whether the present Application by the same Financial Creditor could be admitted against Corporate Guarantor on same set of claims and default. HELD THAT:- It is clear that in the matter of guarantee, CIRP can proceed against Principal Borrower as well as Guarantor. We are unable to agree with the arguments of Learned Counsel for Respondent that when for same debt claim is made in CIRP against Borrower, in the CIRP against Guarantor the amount must be said to be not due or not payable in law. U....... + More

Validity of CIRP initiated - fraudulent or malicious intent or purpose other than Resolution of Insolvency and Liquidation of the Corporate Debtor or otherwise? - time limitation u/s 7 - HELD THAT:- Although the suit was filed in time the Winding up Petition was beyond three years of the default and when such Winding up Petition was transferred in view of the Rules to the NCLT to convert the same into a proceeding under Section 7 of IBC, it was found that as the Winding up Petition itself was time-barred from the date of default, the same could not be proceeded further as Application under Section 7. When developments in the present matter are seen, if IBHL classified the Borrower Entities as NPA in November, 1997, even if the suits were filed in 1998 and 1999, that would not be relevant or helpful to extend time of Limitation for the pur....... + More

Entertainment of claims made by creditors after approval of Resolution Plan - whether after approval of Resolution Plan by the Adjudicating Authority, the claims made by the creditors can be entertained? - HELD THAT:- Once the Resolution Plan is finalized and approved, it shall be binding upon all the stakeholders and nobody shall have the power to change it. Even the Adjudicating Authority will not have a binding say on the approval of the Resolution Plan or on the commercial wisdom of the COC. The dues and liability as mentioned in the Resolution Plan as on the commencement of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP), which is the day on which the Plan is approved by the Adjudicating Authority, shall be binding on every stakeholder and the Resolution Applicant shall be bound to pay only those which are mentioned in the Resolut....... + More

Winding up of Company - whether the Company Court would retain jurisdiction to hear the winding up petition? - HELD THAT:- It is clear from the Judgment that the learned Judge was of the view that the Company Court retains jurisdiction over winding-up petitions which were filed before the IBC came into force. In that view of the matter, the Court held that the Official Liquidator acting as the Provisional Liquidator could retain the symbolic possession of the assets and properties of the Company (in liquidation). It was also decided that questions of title to the flats, etc. were declaratory in nature and could hence only be decided by this Court. The important part of the Judgment however is the point of time when this Court reasserts its jurisdiction for deciding the issues related to the Company (in liquidation). This Court is informed....... + More

Maintainability of petition - availability of alternate remedy of appeal provided under Section 61 of the I.B. Code - Whether notification issued under Section 4 of the MPID Act and consequent attachment of the property including the bank account of the corporate debtor can be challenged by approaching NCLT under Section 60(5) of the I.B. Code? HELD THAT:- Full Bench of this Court in the case between Vijay C. Pulijal vs. State of Maharashtra [2005 (9) TMI 303 - HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY] held that the provisions of MPID Act are ultravires for want of legislative competence of the State legislature. The Full Bench of this Court took a view that the MPID Act transgressed into the field reserved for Parliament. The Full Bench held that the subject matter covered by the MPID Act squarely falls within the ambit of section 58-A and 58-AA of the Comp....... + More

Direction to 2nd Respondent to release the machinery in possession with the 1st Respondent/Corporate Debtor and transfer the possession of the same to the Applicant - HELD THAT:- In the statement, in regard to payment for the security arrangements of the Corporate Debtor it is stated that even though three securities have been arranged to guard the Corporate Debtor premises to keep the machineries, the Resolution Professional has limited it into two securities charges and claimed the six months charges of ₹ 1,90,080. Since the applicant undertake to make payment of ₹ 75,000/- in addition to ₹ 38,414/- already paid by them, the Resolution Professional should accept that amount, as the Corporate Debtor property is still under the possession of the Resolution Professional, the Resolution Professional has also to bear a part....... + More

Permission to applicant/State of Kerala to use the Corporate Debtor Hospital, RIMS Hospital, Erattupetta as Covid Hospital for Covid patients with immediate effect - Section 33(1)(b) of IBC, 2016 - HELD THAT:- The request of the applicant District Collector seems to be reasonable in view of the pandemic condition in the State of Kerala, due to Covid-19. Hence this M.A is allowed with the following conditions: - I. A detailed inventorisation of the subject property be carried out in the presence of the officials of the Applicant, the representative of the Liquidator prior to handing over of the premises to the applicant. II. During the acquisition of the Corporate Debtor (Hospital)the applicant cannot change or make any permanent structure in the aforesaid premises. III. The subject property (Hospital) be taken over by the Applicant on &ls....... + More

Exclusion of lockdown period w.e.f. 25.03.2020 to 30.06.2020 from the CIRP period - Section 60(5) of the IBC Code, 2016 read with Regulation 40(C) of the IBBI (IRP for Corporate Persons) Regulations, 2016 and read with Rule 11 of NCLT Rules, 2016 - HELD THAT:- The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No(s). 3/2020 in Re: cognizance for extension of Limitation, vide order dated 23.03.2020, [2020 (5) TMI 418 - SC ORDER] observed as under:-"This Court has taken Suo Motu cognizance of the situation arising out of the challenge faced by the country on account of Covid-19 Virus and resultant difficulties that may be faced by litigants across the country in filing their petitions/applications/suits/appeals/all other proceedings within the period of limitation prescribed under the general law of limitation or ....... + More

Permission for withdrawal of Resolution Plan post CoC's approval - HELD THAT:- It is very interesting to note that the factors which Adjudicating Authority is now capable to consider for limited judicial view are not mentioned in Section 30(2). This is a significant departure in judicial approach whereas earlier it was generally held that the role of NCLT was limited to see that Resolution Plan confirms to the requirements of Section 30(2) on the assumption that both RP and CoC had already seen aspects mentioned therein and merits of the Commercial wisdom of CoC could not be interfered with The CoC must take into consideration interest of all stakeholders in the best possible manner and for that purpose, it should follow the principle of fair play and reasonableness while supervising CIRP and approving the Resolution Plan. Consequentl....... + More

Dissolution of the Corporate Debtor - Section 54 of the IBC - Whether the pendency of any Investigation on the Corporate Debtor creates a bar for passing on order of dissolution of a Company? HELD THAT:- When a company gets dissolved under Section 248, it will cease to operate except for the purpose of realising the amount due to the company and for the payment or discharge of the liabilities or obligations of the company. Though the Legislature has specifically made such a provision when dissolution takes place by virtue of Section 248 of Companies Act 2013, such exception cannot be presumed to be available as a thumb rule in situations when dissolution takes place via other modes especially under the I & B Code, 2016, where no such provision is expressly available. It is evident that the pendency of an Investigation creates a bar fo....... + More

Liquidation order - no privity of contract - financial debt - Applicant Bank has claimed that it has got absolute right to file claim Petition before the Liquidator and the said claim is squarely falling within the purview of "financial debt" and alleged that the Liquidator has erroneously rejected the claim Petition on the ground that there is no privity of contract between 1st and 2nd Respondents - HELD THAT:- The Appellant Bank has filed its claim in relation to the dues pending from COGIL before the Liquidator of NOCL. However, COGIL had filed its claim before the Liquidator, which stood rejected and against the said order of rejection, no appeal seems to have been preferred by COGIL before this Tribunal. Since COGIL has filed its claim before the Liquidator of NOCL, it will not in any way entitle the Appellant Bank to make ....... + More

Exclusion of time period from time period for completion of CIRP of Corporate Debtor - extension of 120 days from 01.07.2020 to 28.10.2020 for completion of CIRP of Corporate Debtor - HELD THAT:- In this case, the CIRP period of 180 days has already been extended by another 90 days vide this Adjudicating Authority's order dated 05.11.2019 and by virtue of section 12 of IBC, 2016, a period another 60 days was extended vide order dated 11.02.2020. The period of 270 days + 60 days came to an end on 09.02.2020 and 09.04.2020 respectively. Now that the Applicant herein is seeking exclusion of period lost due to outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. Considering the submissions, facts and circumstances of case, interest envisaged by the Prospective Resolution Applicant for resolution of Corporate Debtor and in view of the decision of CoC in its 17t....... + More

Approval of Resolution Plan - Directions to the Committee of Creditors (CoC) requiring the CoC to consider Final Resolution Plan - directions to amend the Request For Resolution Plan (RFRP) issued by the Resolution Professional - main contention of the learned counsel for the applicants is that certain clauses in the RFRP are in contravention of the provisions of the SARFAESI Act and the RBI Guidelines. HELD THAT:- The Resolution Plan was rejected on the ground that M/s. Prudent ARC will not invest in equity and will not become a shareholder of the Corporate Debtor. RFRP provides that in case of Consortium, all the parties in the Consortium to be jointly and severally liable for implementation of the Plan. This objection has been raised by the Resolution Professional from time to time. However, the Plan was not amended to include M/s. Pru....... + More

Money Laundering - Modification of the ex parte ad interim order - maintenance of status quo in respect of attached properties - acquittal of the accused - it was alleged that the present applicants with other accused were intentionally aiding and facilitating the payment of alleged quid pro-quo of ₹ 200 crores as a reward for alleged undue favours shown to company - HELD THAT:- The plea of petitioner/ED raised in these applications for early hearing was that since this Court is to demit the office on 30th November, 2020 and arguments on behalf of petitioner in Crl.L.P. 185/2020 stand concluded and part arguments on behalf of respondents have already been advanced, the leave petitions should, therefore, be heard expeditiously and in case, the arguments remain inconclusive, the petitioners will have to address all the arguments afres....... + More

Money Laundering - proceeds of crime -reasons to believe - It is alleged that the appellant no.1 Mr. Bharat Yadav has acquired properties in his name as well as in the name of his family members from the proceeds of above mentioned crimes including the alleged crime of robbery, dacoity, extortion and offences relating to arms under Arms Act, 1959, since 1988 onwards. It is also alleged that appellant no.1 Mr. Bharat Yadav has acquired aforesaid immovable properties after 01.07.2005 (i.e. after PMLA came into force), from his criminal activities, in his name or in the name of his family members. HELD THAT:- The Ld. Adjudicating Authority has not examined whether the satisfaction of the Complainant regarding reasons to believe is in accordance with law - On perusal of the PAO, it is seen that the Deputy Director has only mention the verbati....... + More

Money Laundering - Provisional Attachment Orders - attachment of certain properties of the petitioners for a period of 180 days from the date of the said order - petitioners filed the present petition on 15.06.2020 claiming therein that as the period of 180 days from the date of the Provisional Attachment Orders had expired, in terms of Section 5(3) of the Act, the said order ceased to have effect and therefore, the Adjudicating Authority had become functus officio and the proceedings in the complaint cannot proceed - HELD THAT:- The submission of the learned counsel for the respondents that as the delay in proceedings before the Adjudicating Authority cannot be blamed on the respondents, the respondents must not be penalized and the time period should be extended, cannot be accepted. It is not a question of penalization of the respondent....... + More

Money Laundering - proceeds of crime - submission of Shri Venegaonkar is that the applicant has failed to discharge the burden and has failed to produce even prima facie material in support of his contention. Shri Venegaonkar specifically deny the submission of Shri Ponda that the applicant was not a member of COD of IFIN at any point of time - HELD THAT:- From the material placed by the respondent, it can be seen that the applicant was involved in the infrastructure projects and the documents from the Ministry of Corporate affairs rather corroborate the submission of the respondent. He was involved into various infrastructure projects and therefore, in various Special Purpose vehicles or various infrastructure Limited companies, his name feature as a Director. The submission of Mr.Ponda therefore thus require a mention, just for its reje....... + More

Release of attached properties - Attachment of immovable properties - continued attachment of the FDRs - concealment of proceeds of crime or not - HELD THAT:- The Tribunal in the present case, in its impugned order dated 26.07.2019, agreed with most of the contentions raised on behalf of Kamats and Alemaos and even concluded in para 78, that the properties attached in the matter are liable to be released 'in the light of the reasons stated in earlier paras'. However, instead of setting aside the attachment, the Tribunal issued a host of directions in para 79, perhaps not even contemplated under the PMLA, by simply observing that there is a need to strike a balance in these matters since the trial is pending before the Special Court - Once the Tribunal concluded that the attachment orders were liable to be set aside, it could not h....... + More

Release of Provisional Attachment of properties/funds - relief prayed proceeds on the premise that the petitioner was a young boy and a student of Purdue University, Indiana, United States of America and, was in no manner connected with the commission of the scheduled offence or in possession of proceeds of crime and therefore, the attachment of his properties was illegal - HELD THAT:- In terms of the directions passed by this Court vide order 17.08.2020, the Adjudicating Authority, under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, has finally adjudicated the provisional attachment orders No.02/2020 dated 18.02.2020 and 06/2020 dated 30.06.2020, vide their orders dated 21.09.2020 and 25.09.2020, respectively - It is an admitted position that the said orders dated 21.09.2020 and 25.09.2020 respectively, rendered by the Adju....... + More

Disposal of representations dated 21.08.2018 by passing a reasonable and speaking order, within a reasonable time period that may be fixed by this Court - HELD THAT:- The interest of the petitioner is only private and if the same is a public interest, the locus will be tested in a different way. The term dual test is whether the petitioner is a person aggrieved, as admittedly, he is an advocate and had never traded with the NSE nor had suffered any loss on account of the alleged co-location service. The petitioner being a complete stranger, there is no cause of action for him to maintain a writ petition, much less, any cause of action that arose within the jurisdiction of this court to maintain a writ petition here. Therefore, on the ground of maintainability itself the petitioner has to be nonsuited. Admittedly, there were issues when co....... + More

Recording of the ECIR - it is contended that the recording of the ECIR is itself bad in law since the Directorate of Enforcement (‘ED’) has not followed the procedure prescribed under law, including the mandatory provisions of Chapter XII of the Cr.P.C. HELD THAT:- List on 14th October 2020.

Validity of provisional order of attachment - statutory appeal before the first respondent, along with the petition for condonation of delay - HELD THAT:- This Court directs the appellate Tribunal/Prevention of Money Laundering, New Delhi, to accord priority and give disposal to petition and the connected petitions, in accordance with law, as expeditiously as possible and not later than three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. Petition disposed off.

Money Laundering- proceeds of crime - It has been alleged that Sri Manoj Singh had acquired proceeds of crime and placed the said proceeds of crime in the form of fixed deposit and other deposits - HELD THAT:- In course of investigation by the Vigilance Bureau, it was detected that so far as the valuation of gold and diamonds are concerned, the jewellery was not physically taken to the Valuer, but instead the Valuer had given a back dated valuation report and in lieu thereof, he was given an amount of ₹ 1,26,042/-. Sri Ramesh Kumar Soni, the Valuer in his statement under Section 15 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act has specifically stated about the valuation being made after the gold and diamonds were brought before him by the accused which is contrary to what has been stated by him before the Vigilance Bureau. In course of ....... + More

Provisional attachment order - assets in respect of which the said attachment order has been passed are certain fixed deposits - said fixed deposits are currently lying with the HDFC Bank - HELD THAT:- In the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case where the amount, if frozen or attached, would continue to remain under the custody of the ED, this Court deems it appropriate to direct the said amount of ₹ 42,85,32,698.63/- from the provisionally attached bank account to be transferred to the account of the NHB by the HDFC Bank. Remaining amounts provisional attachment order shall continue and the Petitioner would be free to agitate its pleas before the Adjudicating Authority under the PMLA. Payment to the NHB shall be a pro-tem measure in the peculiar facts and shall abide by the final orders of the Adjudicating Authority. If th....... + More

Provisional attachment order - It is alleged that the police without any justification and cause have implicated the petitioner in a frivolous case on the basis of a disclosure statement made by one Mushfiq Ahmad Lone in FIR No.254 /2009 for offences under Section 120, 120-B, 121, 121/A RPC and 11, 18, 20 and 40A of ULA(P) Act of Police Station, Saddar, Srinagar - HELD THAT:- It is clear that whosoever, directly or indirectly, attempts to indulge or knowingly assists or is knowingly part or is actually involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime etc. etc. is guilty of offence of money laundering. The expressions used in the provision are “directly” and “knowingly assists”. These expressions convey that it is not necessary that proceeds of crime should have been actually and directly con....... + More

Grant of Bail - fraudulent high value forex outward remittances/transactions exceeding ₹ 3500 crores, taken place in the current accounts - outward remittances made without making corresponding imports into the domestic tariff area and without disclosing the beneficial owners inside the country and outside the country and end-use of the proceeds of crime in the other country - HELD THAT:- The petitioner have committed very serious offence in nature and there are ample chances to tamper the evidences and hamper the witnesses. Now the respondent laid charge sheet and the same has been taken cognizance in C.C.No.26 of 2019 on the file of the Principal Session Judge, Chennai and it is pending. This Court already dismissed the bail petition on two occasions and this Court does not find any change of circumstances to consider the bail app....... + More

Grant of Order of Status Quo - provisional attachment order - Ad-interim stay of the operation of impugned order - Eviction notice - HELD THAT:- There is no dispute that the aforesaid appellants are either FIR or ECIR named accused and that there is no allegations against these appellants that the aforesaid amounts that have been paid to the builders are out of proceeds of crime and that it is not denied by the Respondent that the aforesaid amounts have not been paid by these appellants and that it is an admitted fact that the appellants are not physically residing in the aforesaid flats and the flats are under lock and key. Having due regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, justice would be served, at this stage, if the conditional order of status quo is passed with respect to the aforesaid properties. Both the parties are dir....... + More

Money Laundering - Release of petitioner from Jail - allegation of extortion - keeping in jail custody beyond the period the maximum sentence which could be awarded pertaining to alleged offence though he has been remanded in judicial custody by a judicial order passed by the Court of competent jurisdiction - judicial order of remand - valid order of remand beyond the period of maximum sentence could have been awarded to the accused (the petitioner) in view of the protection provided under Article 20 and 21 of the Constitution of India or not - period of custody in jail. Maintainability of application - availability of alternative remedy - HELD THAT:- There is no absolute bar to entertain the writ application in the event of availability of alternative remedy subject to the condition mentioned herein above. If the issue falls under the af....... + More

Permission for withdrawal of petition - Validity of provisional attachment order - Proceeds of crime - petitioner seeks to withdraw the writ petition today on the ground that the provisional order of attachment no longer remains in force by efflux of time under Section 5 of The Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 - HELD THAT:- his Court is of the view that under Section 5(1)(b) of the PMLA, an order of provisional attachment remains in force only for a period of 180 days from the date of the order passed by the Director with regard to the proceeds of crime which the concerned Director has reasons to believe are likely to be concealed, transferred or dealt with in a manner which may frustrate any proceedings relating to confiscation of such proceeds of crime under Chapter III of the PMLA - Section 8(3) deals with a situation where the....... + More

Money Laundering - illegal collection of money - Grant of Anticipatory Bail - corruption and criminal conspiracy in which the ACB/EOW raided few offices and residences - allegation that Applicant Anil Tuteja received an amount of ₹ 2,21,94,000 and Applicant Alok Shukla received an amount of ₹ 1,51,43,000 illegally during the period from 30.5.2014 to 18.2.2015 and 1.7.2014 to 18.2.2015, respectively - HELD THAT:- There is concurrent jurisdiction of the High Court and the Court of Session for entertaining an application preferred under Section 438 Cr.P.C. and an application filed by the Applicant under Section 438 Cr.P.C. directly before the High Court is maintainable. From the speech of the then Finance Minister, it is also clear that the provisions of Section 24 of PMLA only apply after framing of a charge against the accused ....... + More

Contempt petition - release of freezed Bank accounts of petitioner - contention of petitioner is that despite order dated 14.11.2019 quashing the freezing of the bank account, respondent Bank had not permitted the operations of the bank account - HELD THAT:- There is no wilful default on part of the respondent bank in not permitting operation of the bank account for the period that they were seeking clarification from the Enforcement Directorate as well as the Income Tax Department. The bank seems to have acted only by way of an abundant caution in seeking a clarification from the Enforcement Directorate as well as from the Income Tax Department. The cautious approach of the bank seems justified in view of the fact that the Enforcement Directorate has passed a further provisional attachment order attaching the amount of ₹ 19,22,11,271/-, which was the credit balance in the subject account. Petition dismissed.

Grant of Regular bail - Money Laundering - siphoning of funds - the allegation is that the amount was given by RFL to entities which were, directly or indirectly, owned or controlled by the applicant, or in which the applicant otherwise had financial interest, including companies linked to RHC - it was held by High Court that this court is persuaded to the applicant to regular bail in the proceedings registered under sections 3/4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002. HELD THAT:- Issue Notice - List for hearing in the next week.

Grant of Interim Bail/Parole - categorization by way of exclusion of UTPs lodged in the jails in Delhi as under trial prisoners qua the alleged commission of offences - allegations levelled against the petitioner herein through the alleged commission of economic offences inter alia punishable under the PMLA Act, 2002 as also qua an offence punishable under Section 409 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 which is punishable with the imprisonment for life or that which it may extend to ten years and to a fine - HELD THAT:- The Hon’ble High Powered Committee whilst considering the representation of the applicant observed also to the effect that the submissions made in the representation, related to the applicant only, but, that the Committee, was not formed to look into merits or demerits of an individual case for being released on interim ....... + More

Validity of Downgrading petitioner's bank loans' rating to 'IND BB+' from 'IND BBB - Covid-19 pandemic outbreak - Reserve Bank of India has announced moratorium for the period upto 31st May, 2020 vide Circular dated 27.03.2020 - objection regarding territorial jurisdiction - whether third respondent cannot be characterised as “State” within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India? - HELD THAT:- Even though the third respondent may be located in Mumbai, in as much as part of the cause of action arose within the territorial limits of this Court, this writ petition cannot be dismissed on the ground of lack of territorial jurisdiction. Likewise, reliance on the ouster clauses in the rating agreement is equally misplaced. As third respondent is a private body and not a “State” within t....... + More

Whether the Board obliged to grant a personal hearing to the petitioner while considering an exemption application under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Share Based Employee Benefits) Regulations, 2014 - HELD THAT:- It is a settled position that the requirement of compliance with the principle of natural justice can vary in different situations and conditions. Even where situations where principles of natural justice require an opportunity of hearing, it does not in all circumstances mean a personal hearing. A “reasonable opportunity of being heard” to the applicant before deciding exemption application. Therefore whenever it is found necessary to provide for an opportunity, SEBI has expressly incorporated it in such provisions. No such stipulation is found in the Regulation at hand. Apprehension expressed by the S....... + More

Interpretation of Statute - Whether Section 14 and 238 of IBC 2016 have an overriding effect on the provision of Section 28 of SEBI Act? - HELD THAT:- IBC which is a complete code in itself was enacted in the year 2016 and the law makers after considering the various acts prevailing at that time have framed the IBC to have a faster resolution process at par with developed countries with the primary objective of maximisation of value of assets to all stake holders. The preamble of IBC clearly mentions that the objective of the Code is maximisation of value of assets, to promote entrepreneurship, availability of credit and balance the interest of all stake holders in a time bound manner, whereas the primary object of SEBI is to protect the interest of the investors in securities market and to promote the development to regulate the securiti....... + More

Credit Rating Rationales - factors required to be considered by ICRA while deciding the rating - praying for a decree of declaration, declaring the Credit Rating Rationales dated 24th April, 2020 and 30th April, 2020 passed by the defendant or any other similar credit rating rationale downgrading the plaintiff’s credit rating from BBB+ (stable outlook) to BBB (negative outlook) as null, void, unenforceable and ineffective - also seeks decree of mandatory injunction directing the defendant to withdraw the said credit rating rationales from the physical as well as electronic records of the defendant including on the world wide web - charge of Violation of rating methodologies or the CRA Regulations or the Master Circular - Whether the defendant-ICRA has a right to publish the rating despite being objected to by the plaintiff/JPL? HELD....... + More

Failure to close the trading window - provisions of Clause 4 of Minimum Standards for Code of Conduct to Regulate, Monitor and Report Trading by Insiders mentioned in Schedule B read with Regulation 9(1) of PIT Regulations, 2015 - As alleged that the acquisition of AIMIN by Ecap was a price sensitive information which had come into existence on January 25, 2017 upon signing of Term Sheet - HELD THAT:- Price movement of the scrip of EFSL at the relevant point of time. Corporate announcement was made on the platform of BSE at 18:56:48 hours on April 05, 2017 i.e. after the market had closed on the said day. The scrip of EFSL had closed at ₹ 167.90 on the said day. However, I note that the scrip had opened at ₹ 175.95 the next day. This shows that the price of the scrip of EFSL had registered a spike of 4.79% on April 06, 2017. E....... + More

Unpublished price sensitive information being shared on a messaging platform 'Whatsapp' - whether the appellant is entitled for inspection and for supply of all the documents in possession of the adjudicating authority including those documents upon which no reliance has been placed by the Adjudicating Officer ('AO') of the Securities and Exchange Board of India ('SEBI' )? - HELD THAT:- Concept of fairness and principles of natural justice are in-built in Rule 4 of the Rules of 1995 and that the AO is required to supply the documents relied upon while serving the show cause notice. This is essential for the person to file an efficacious reply in his defence. The contention that the appellant is entitled for copies of all the documents in possession of the AO which has not been relied upon at the preliminary stage w....... + More

Guilty of causing false media report causing the rise in the price of the scrip - temporary prohibitory order - WTM directing the present appellants to disgorge an amount of ₹ 22,69,461/-along with interest at the rate of 12% per annum from December 22, 2008 - HELD THAT:- Appellants submitted that there is a delay in the proceeding, the documents filed by the appellants themselves would show that before the WTM they were pressing time and again for more documents from the respondents before filing reply to the show cause notice. Even though a compact disk was supplied to them the demand continued which ultimately led to filing of reply belatedly. Though the practice of keeping temporary prohibitory order continuing for a long period cannot be accepted, it is to be noted that ultimately the said order is revoked. Therefore, the issue....... + More

Acquisition of the shares by promoters - increase in the collective shareholding of all the appellants - the promoters, from 29.42% to 61.10% which was more than threshold limit of 5% - no public announcement was made - violation of provisions of Regulation 3(2) read with Regulation 13(1) of the SAST Regulations, 2011 - HELD THAT:- There should be common objective of purchase of shares or voting rights amongst the members to make them persons acting in concert. In the present case, while two promoters had an objective to dispose of their shares, the appellant No. 1 Susheel Somani had an objective to acquire the shares. This itself would show that there was no common cause between the appellant No. 1 Susheel Somani and the two transferors. Therefore, though the promoter group holdings in the company remained constant, the same would be irr....... + More

Collective Investment Schemes - show cause as to why the Yatra Art Fund should not register itself with SEBI in the prescribed corporate form, as otherwise the collective investment scheme carried out by the Trust would be illegal - SCN also mentioned that all amounts collected should be refunded within a period of 30 days from the said show cause notice - HELD THAT:- The statutory scheme is that, if a collective investment scheme, as defined, is to be floated by a person, it could only be done in the form of a collective investment management company and in no other form. This is the reason why Section 11AA uses the expression "company" in sub-Section (2) and not the word "person" (as the CIS Regulations of 1999 had come into force on 15-10-1999; Section 11AA being enacted and coming into force on 22-2-2000). Once the....... + More

Insider trading - circumstantial evidence as to whether a person is guilty of insider trading - HELD THAT:- Appellant had passed on the price sensitive information regarding the open offer to the Tippees. Such inference taken from the immediate and proximate facts and circumstances surrounding the events is reasonable and logical which any prudent man would arrive at such a conclusion. The Supreme Court in Kanhaiyalal Patel 2017 (9) TMI 1269 - SUPREME COURT held that an inferential conclusion from proved and admitted facts would be permissible and legally justified so long as the same is reasonable. In the light of the aforesaid, the decisions cited by the learned counsel for the appellant on the issue that a person cannot be held guilty only on the strength of proximity of relationship with the Tippee are distinguishable on facts and are....... + More

Orders for release of securities - learned senior counsel sought intervention of this Tribunal to stay such orders as well as to allow the appellant to dispose of the securities worth ₹ 21.62 crores and thereafter releasing the remaining securities given by Respondent No. 2 to the appellant - HELD THAT:- We pass the following interim directions - The parties shall appear before NSE, either physically or through Video Conference, on June 24, 2020. NSE shall give the contact details and arrangements for the said meeting to the parties at least one day in advance. (b) Based on the database of NSE and other parties rights in respect of the securities in question shall be reconciled/determined within one week thereafter. (c) This Tribunal will hear the matter further on Friday, July 03, 2020. In the interim status quo shall be maintained....... + More

Withhold of money by SEBI - penalty for violation of Regulations 3 and 4 of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 2003 - During the pendency of the appeal, the Recovery Officer of SEBI recovered an amount - HELD THAT:- Once the order of the AO imposing a penalty was set aside, there was no justification for SEBI to withhold any amount which was recovered pursuant to the order of the AO. Such retention of the amount after the order of the AO has been set aside, is without any authority of law. The fact that no direction for refund of the amount was issued by the Tribunal is immaterial. Once the order has been set aside, there is no amount to be recovered and consequently any amount so recovered has to be refunded immediately. Respondent has a....... + More

Maintainability of the Writ Petition - whether IGRP of the First Respondent has jurisdiction to re-examine the complaint of the Third Respondent pursuant to the direction issued by the Second Respondent after having arrived at the conclusion that the admissible claim of the Third Respondent against the Petitioner was 'NIL' and relegated the parties to take further course of action under the Exchange Regulations in the earlier order dated 18.10.2016, which has attained finality having remained unchallenged in the manner recognized by law - HELD THAT:- There cannot be any doubt that the attempt to re-examine the complaint of the Third Respondent against the Petitioner by IGRP of the First Respondent without any specific provision to that effect in IGRM devised by the Second Respondent in Circular No. CIR/MRD/ICC/30/2013 dated 26.09........ + More

Reversal trades - manipulative and unfair trading - 5 Entities restrained from accessing or dealing in the securities market directly or indirectly for a period of 5 - 7 years - Further 11 entities, who have already undergone a debarment of more than 5 years from the date of the interim order have been directed to disgorge an amount of ₹ 3,05,99,174/- jointly and severally along with the 5 entities who have now been restrained along with interest @ 12% p.a. from December 17, 2012 till the date of payment - HELD THAT:- In a scheme of manipulative and unfair trading it is not necessary that every participant should be indulging in every type of trading violation or even in the same/similar magnitude. Once they are found to be part of a group trying to manipulate the volume or price of the scrip they became party to the violation. Hair....... + More

Liability of the Company and directors - repayment of the money collected through issuance of Secured Optionally Convertible Debentures - HELD THAT:- WTM relying on the provisions of sub section 2 of Section 73 of the Companies Act has observed that the liability of the Company and directors would remain until the whole of the subscription amount along with interest is refunded to the allottees. This being the position the appellant cannot escape from the liability of the repayment. In the case of Sayanti Sen [2019 (8) TMI 1441 - SECURITIES APPELLATE TRIBUNAL, MUMBAI] this Tribunal has observed that WTM in the impugned order therein had given a categorical finding that one Shri Shib Narayan Das was responsible for the affairs of the company. In the present case the appellant during the relevant period being a promoter director of GIIPL ca....... + More

Period of limitation to initiate proceedings - proceedings were launched by respondent SEBI after a period seven years - Manipulation of scrips - Shares were either sold in off-market or through market to the connected entities in order to create a volume manipulation in the said scrips - HELD THAT:- Power to initiate the proceedings must be exercised by the authorities within a reasonable time. This would depend upon the facts and circumstances of the case, nature of the default / statute and prejudice caused to the noticee. In the present case, the appellant neither put a plea of prejudice before the AO nor before us. It was simply stated that since the proceedings were launched by respondent SEBI after a period seven years, the same should be quashed on the ground of delay. The record would show that all the documents concerning the de....... + More

Public offer of shares - no private placement as per assessee company as per WTM - offer to more than 49 persons - violation of the provisions of the Companies Act - HELD THAT:- Evidence indicates that an invitation was made by the management of the company to selected persons for subscription or purchase by less than fifty persons. Such persons receiving the offer or invitation was not calculated directly or indirectly to be availed of by other persons, and consequently such invitation or offer could not be treated as an offer or invitation to the public. The finding of the WTM on this aspect is absolutely perverse. The reasoning given that merely because three allottees had made the complaints indicates that the offer or invitation falls in the category of one which is calculated to result directly or indirectly in the shares, debenture....... + More

Money mobilization - Public issue - Whether the Company came out with the Offer of RPS [Redeemable Preference Share] as stated in the Interim Order? - whether the Offer of RPS is in violation of Section 56, Section 60 and Section 73 of Companies Act, 1956? - HELD THAT:- As neither the company nor the directors have disputed the same. Also perused the documents/information obtained from the 'MCA 21 Portal' and other documents available on records. It is noted, that OIL has issued and allotted RPS to 4,191 investors during the financial years 2011-12 and 2012-13 and raised a total amount of ₹ 5,46,48,000/- - number of allottees and funds mobilized has been collated from the information from Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) Portal and the documents submitted with the complaint received by SEBI. Therefore, it is possible that....... + More

Non-compliance of summons issued by SEBI - whether the appellant has violated provisions of Section 11C(3) of the SEBI Act? - whether clause 43 of the Listing Agreement has been violated by not disclosing to the Stock Exchange the alleged variations between the projected utilization of funds and the actual utilization of funds raised through the preferential allotment? - HELD THAT:- Though the appellant may be charged with non-submission of full information the submission of the appellant that the management of the appellant was new etc. has to be given some weightage while imposing the penalty. Given this and the facts of the matter, we are of the view that the amount of penalty at the rate of ₹ 10 lakh on this violation is on the higher side particularly when the appellant did provide part of the information readily available with....... + More

Violation of Section 6A(4)(b)(iii) of the Insurance Act, 1938 - transfer of shares made without previous approval of the authority and, therefore, such transfer of shares are null and void ab initio - HELD THAT:- Referring to communication of IRDAI vide their letter dated February 4, 2020 and their reply filed before this Tribunal, it is apparently clear that damage control measures have been adopted by Respondent No. 1 subsequent to the impugned orders dated December 4, 2019 and December 27, 2019. The communication/order of IRDAI dated February 4, 2020 has largely diluted its own order dated December 4, 2019 and December 27, 2019. The stand of the Respondent No. 1 as depicted in paragraph No. 21 of their reply makes is apparently clear that prior to any transfer of the shares in question, the authority is required to be in a position to ....... + More

Restrictions on dealing in foreign exchange - diversion of exported goods, non-realisation of export proceeds, non-clearance of imported bills and write off/ set off - HELD THAT:- Trend Setters Group of Companies had failed to submit Bill of Entry as evidence for actual import of the goods. Trend Setters Group of Companies did not realised the substantial portion of export proceeds and it is also established that except filing a Suit before a Sub-Court in Ernakulam, Kerala and writing to the RBI for write off/ set off, no other steps have been taken. In other words, no sufficient and visible efforts have been by/ on behalf of the Trend Setters Group of Companies to realise the export proceeds. Who was/were the person/persons responsible for the diversion of export goods / non-realisation of export proceeds and remittances of payment towar....... + More

Extension of the usance period of the Letter of Credit Facility sanctioned to the writ petitioners from 180 days to 270 days - distinction between the usance period of a Letter of Credit and the period of a Trade Credit - HELD THAT:- The argument that the 2018 Regulations brought about a change in policy regarding the usance period for credit does not hold water, since the said Regulations and the Master Direction on External Commercial Borrowings and Trade Credits dated July 1, 2015, updated up to October 6, 2015, relate to loans extended by overseas banks. The germane consideration in the present case is, rather, the Master Direction - Import of Goods and Services dated January 1, 2016 (updated lastly on April 1, 2019). Trade Credit Policy - Revised Framework formulated by the RBI on March 13, 2019 does not alter the position as far as ....... + More

Detention Orders at the pre-execution stage - Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA Act) - HELD THAT:- Proposals for invoking the provisions of the COFEPOSA Act were mooted in the second week of October 2019 - overseas evidence was received from SPA Dubai in the first week of November 2019. The proposal to detain the petitioners was further analysed keeping in view the strong tendency to indulge in smuggling activities in future. The proposal for preventive detention of the petitioners was sent to the Detaining Authority on 02.01.2020. The proposal was placed before the Central Screening Committee on 13.01.2020, and the recommendations of the Central Screening Committee (CSC) were submitted to the Detaining Authority on 14.01.2020. The proposals were examined by the Detaining Authority....... + More

Seizure and attachment of the bank account of the petitioner's father - grievance of the petitioner before this Court is that the bank account mentioned in the writ petition is not allowed to be operated by the petitioner under the guise of investigating the matter under FEMA and no order of attachment was passed by the first respondent at any point of time in respect of the said bank account and therefore, the petitioner cannot be prevented from operating the bank account - HELD THAT:- Investigation under FEMA is pending and the investigation conducted so far reveals that the amount inter alia lying in the subject matter bank account appears to have been involved in violation of provisions of FEMA. Though such counter affidavit is filed, when a specific question is put to the leaned counsel for the first respondent by this Court as t....... + More

Proceeding against a Director of a company for contravention of provisions of FERA, 1973 - Non-executive Director responsibility for the conduct of business of the Company - notice dated 19.02.2001 was issued by the Deputy Director, Enforcement Directorate to decide as to whether the adjudication proceedings as contemplated in Section 51 should be held against the Directors for contravention - HELD THAT:- The appellant had not submitted any reply to show cause notice dated 19.02.2001 which though was addressed to the Company and all Directors and the reply was sent only by the Company Secretary on 26.03.2001. The representation dated 29.10.2003 was the first representation submitted by the appellant before the adjudicating officer during course of personal hearing. What is said by a person who is called for personal hearing even though gi....... + More

Permission for Direct Investment in certain cases - direct investment in joint venture or wholly owned subsidiary outside India - application the petitioner seeks permission for remission of USD 54.99 Million on or before 31st July, 2020 - HELD THAT:- What prima facie appears is that based on a communication written by Directorate of Enforcement containing cryptic information the RBI/respondent has chosen to withhold permission to the petitioner. The discretion under clause 9 of the abovenoted Regulations has to be exercised by RBI the respondent based on cogent facts and materials and not at the mere directions of Directorate of Enforcement. It was for the respondent/RBI to exercise its discretion in the facts and circumstances of the case keeping in view its own permissions given and subsequent facts and events that may have taken place....... + More

Permission for Direct Investment in certain cases - on the saying of the concerned Enforcement Directorate, permission is being refused to the petitioner - HELD THAT:- In case an Indian party does not satisfy the eligibility norms of Regulation 6 then it may apply for RBI for approval. It is Regulation 6 which states that permission cannot be given in case the investigations are pending by the Law Enforcement agencies. Regulation 9 does not provide any such stipulation. Hence, prima facie the petitioner was correct in having approached RBI under Regulation 9. Counsel for RBI has pointed out to some inquiry initiated recently as mentioned in communication dated 14.08.2019 by Enforcement Directorate. The petitioner refutes this. We cannot help noticing that the corporate guarantee and the loans have prima facie been taken with the prior per....... + More

Organisation of a political nature as barred from receiving foreign contributions - Sections 5 (1) and 5 (4) of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 and Rules 3 (i), 3 (v) and 3 (vi) of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2011 as violative of Articles 14, 19 (1) (a), 19 (1) (c) and 21 of the Constitution of India - Guidelines for declaration of an organisation to be an organisation of a political nature not being a political party are found in Rule 3 of the Rules - principal challenge of the Appellant-organisation to Section 5 (1) of the Act is on the ground that the terms ‘activity, ideology and programme’ are vague and have not been defined in the Act which result in conferring unbridled and unfettered power on the executive. Therefore, the Appellant-organisation contended that Section 5 (1) is violative ....... + More

Violation of provisions of Section 10(6) of the FEMA Act - Responsibility of Authorised person - goods had arrived in India, but the Company failed to submit Bill of Entry and did not take delivery of the goods - goods not released and as such kept in bonded warehouse - defence of the appellant that he could not be made responsible for the stated contravention. For, he became the Managing Director of the Company much later i.e. on 22.10.2001 - HELD THAT:- In the present case, the finding of fact is that the import of goods for which the foreign exchange was procured and remitted was not completed as the Bill of Entry remained to be submitted and the goods were kept in the bonded warehouse and the Company took no steps to clear the same. As a result, Section 10(6) of the FEMA Act is clearly attracted being a case of not using the procured ....... + More

Preventive detention - Powers in relation to absconding persons - COFEPOSA Act - delay in detaining the detenu - whether the detenu is absconding? - HELD THAT:- Ground is answered by the Learned Government Advocate to contend that the appropriate Government has not taken a decision as to whether the detenu is absconding or not. We are of the view that such an explanation by the State is unacceptable. After the issuance of an order of preventive detention the detenu requires to be arrested forthwith. If not, the procedure under Section 7 of the COFEPOSA Act requires to be complied with. They have failed to do so. The contention of the Learned Government Advocate runs contrary to the facts of the case. Therefore, such a contention cannot be accepted. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the Judgment in the case of Manju Ramesh Nahar v. Union ....... + More

Offence under FERA - violation of provisions of Section 9(1)(b) of FERA - seizure of currency office premises - violation of provisions of FERA solely on the basis of the statement of Ashish Jain recorded on 4.10.1995? - penalty imposed - HELD THAT:- In the present case, neither the Adjudicating Authority (Deputy Director, Enforcement Directorate) nor the appellate authority (Special Director, Appeals) had applied their minds on the question whether the statement made by Ashish Jain was voluntary in view of its retraction on the very next day. In fact, the Tribunal had proceeded on the basis that it was accepted by the Appellate Authority (Special Director, Appeals) that the statement of Ashish Jain had no evidentiary value. This Court is of the view that the statement of Sh. Ashish Jain could not be relied upon as, first of all, it was r....... + More

Business Auxiliary Services - promotion or marketing of goods produced or provided by or belonging to the client - transfer of right to use - demand of interest and penalties - extended period of limitation - HELD THAT:- The issue has been dealt by this Tribunal in appellant’s own case for the earlier period, wherein this Tribunal observed that The imposition of restrictions or conditions in respect of the usage and consumption of the concentrate, by the seller cannot alter that position. Hence there are no merit in the submission of the Authorized Representative that this transaction was not a truncation of sale but only “transfer to use”. As issue has already been settled in favour of the appellant, therefore, no demand of service tax is sustainable against the appellant - appeal allowed - decided in favor of appellant.

Rejection of Declaration under the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 - direction to the respondents to consider afresh such application (declaration) as per the scheme - alleged non-payment of service tax dues pertain to the period from April, 2013 to June, 2017 - HELD THAT:- From a conjoint reading of sub sections (1), (2) and (3) of section 127, the picture that emerges is that if the amount estimated by the Designated Committee is equal to the amount declared by the declarant, then the Designated Committee shall issue a statement in electronic form indicating the amount payable by the declarant. However, if the amount estimated by the Designated Committee is higher than the amount declared by the declarant, the Designated Committee shall give an opportunity of hearing to the declarant - Once the determined amount i....... + More

Recovery of arrears of duty - Section 121(c) of Finance Act - Validity of circular dated 25.09.2019 - HELD THAT:- The words “amount payable” has been defined in Section 121 (e) of the Act. It means the amount calculated by the authority as the amount of tax dues less the tax relief. Thus, the amount of tax dues being the amount in arrears in terms of provisions of Section 124(1) (c) read with Section 121(c) of the Finance (No.2) Act, 2019 is the amount of duty which is in arrears as per order in original dated 29.03.2019 i.e. ₹ 1,74,66,374/which has been reflected in the SVLDRS3, by the designated authority who computed the amount of tax relief under Section 124(1)(c) at ₹ 69,86,549.60/. Thus the balance amount as estimated amount payable has been determined at ₹ 1,04,79,824.40. Thus, neither the circular app....... + More

Refund of Excess Service tax paid - rejection on the ground of time limitation - HELD THAT:- Identical issue came up for consideration before the Gwalior Bench of this Court in THE COMMISSIONER, CGST AND CENTRAL EXCISE VERSUS M/S NATIONAL FERTILIZERS LIMITED [2019 (8) TMI 1592 - MADHYA PRADESH HIGH COURT], wherein, while relying on the decision in COMMISSIONER OF C. EX., MUMBAI-II VERSUS ALLIED PHOTOGRAPHICS INDIA LTD. [2004 (3) TMI 63 - SUPREME COURT] and M/S. STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA LTD. VERSUS COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE, RAIPUR [2019 (5) TMI 657 - SUPREME COURT] it was held that the Tribunal has grossly erred in law in holding that the claim for refund rejected for the reason being time barred, should be treated as within time and the "claims are to be processed", which deserves to be and is hereby set aside. Even shifti....... + More

Works Contract Services - business of construction of buildings and civil structures for last several decades - It is the case of the petitioner that, services rendered by the petitioner were actually in the nature of ‘Works Contract’ because petitioner entered into a contract with its client, wherein, transfer of property in goods involved in execution of such contract was leviable to tax - period from October, 2005 to March, 2006 - HELD THAT:- It emerges on record that the petitioner no.1 was rendering services classifiable as ‘works contract’. This fact has neither been disputed by the Commissioner nor by the Tribunal. That only because the petitioner no.1 registered itself for the service tax under the head of ‘commercial / industrial construction services’, the petitioner cannot be fasten its liabi....... + More

Rectification of Mistake - error apparent on the record - typographical error or not - the foreign exchange in respect of appeal has been realised on 27.04.2016, 27.05.2016 & 28.06.2016 but the claim was filed only on 28.07.2017 - HELD THAT:- There was indeed a typographical error in mentioning the date of receipt of foreign exchange as 27.04.2016 instead of 27.07.2016. However, since this is not a case pertaining to the transitional period where the exports were made prior to 01.03.2016 and refund claim filed after the date, the ratio of the judgment of the Hon’ble Larger Bench in the case of CCE & CST, BENGALURU SERVICE TAX-I VERSUS M/S. SPAN INFOTECH (INDIA) PVT. LTD. [2018 (2) TMI 946 - CESTAT BANGALORE] does not apply. It does not come to the rescue of the appellant since the application for refund was filed after one y....... + More

Recovery of Refund of service tax already granted - service tax paid under a mistake of law? - relevant date - Section 11B of the Central Excise Act - Business Auxiliary Service - HELD THAT:- When a payment is made erroneously, the relevant date is the date of payment. However, when an order in original is passed imposing the liability and a payment is made in consequence of that, the relevant date is the date on which an appeal or revision from the order is allowed. In the present case, as is discernible from Annexure-B, a show cause notice was issued 06.11.2007, prior to which the assessee had made payments on 31.03.2007 and 23.05.2007. Hence the payments now sought for refund were made even prior to the show cause notice issued. The show cause notice culminated in, the order-in-original dated 02.03.2012, which obviously is with respect....... + More

Maintainability of petition - only point of dispute is that Assessee could not file the Appeal within the prescribed time limit of 4 weeks as granted by the learned Single Judge due to overriding reasons and indulgence is now sought to file the said Appeal before the Commissioner within 4 weeks from now - HELD THAT:- The time limit given by the learned Single Judge does not deserve to be extended except subject to the condition of deposit of 50% of the demand under the impugned order dated 27.9.2010. It is directed that subject to deposit of ₹ 1,50,000/- by the Petitioner/Assessee within 4 weeks from today and filing of the Appeal within 4 weeks from today, the Appeal may be heard and decided on merits in accordance with law by the Commissioner of Service Tax (Appeals) - appeal disposed off.

Non-payment of service tax - Management or Business Consultant Service or Information Technology Software Service? - modification and customization of software, install the software for use on the equipment for trading, providing support through remote access using the internet as a medium, sending engineers to the site of customers, provide additional training required by the customer from time to time - HELD THAT:- The learned Commissioner after examining the services rendered by he appellant has come to the conclusion that the activities carried out by the appellant is covered under the category of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software Application and the same is rightly classifiable under the category of Management or Business Consultant service and are liable for service tax - After carefully considering the definition of Manag....... + More

Recovery of Refund of service tax - foreign agency commission rendered - services rendered prior to 18.04.2006 - Applicability of Section 66A in the Finance Act, 1994 - HELD THAT:- This Court in SOUTHERN SURFACE FINISHERS AND THRICHUR DISTRICT PADDY MARKETING AND PROCESSING CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY LIMITED VERSUS THE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE, MUVATTUPUZHA AND THE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE, THRISSUR [2018 (11) TMI 1208 - KERALA HIGH COURT] considered the Constitution Bench decision and found that the mistake if committed by the assessee, whether it be on law or facts; the remedy would be only under the statute. If that be so, the questions of law have to be answered in favour of the Revenue and against the assessee. But, however, we notice that the amounts have been refunded to the assessee as per the order of th....... + More

Works Contract Service - exemption under Sl. No. 12(a)/12A of Notification No. 25/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012 - erection, commissioning and installation of transmission lines for various Government companies / corporations - service tax on the reimbursement of amount towards crop compensation, right of way, from the service recipient, being incidental to the works contract executed - Difference of Opinion. HELD THAT:- In view of difference of opinion, the following question(s) arise for consideration. 1. Whether the view of Member (Judicial) is correct, holding that within the extended meaning of Article 243W, read with 12th Schedule of the Constitution, ‘Transmission and Distribution of Electricity’ is included; Or as held by learned Member (Technical) that ‘Transmission and Distribution of Electricity’ is not includ....... + More

Taxable Service or not - payment of remuneration in the nature and form of commission based on percentage of profit to whole time directors - reverse charge mechanism (RCM) - demand of service tax on fixed part as well as the variable pay - benefit of N/N. 30/2012-S.T., dated 20th June 2012 - It is the case of the Department that the said remuneration paid to the Directors would constitute ‘service’ liable to service tax in the hands of appellant assessee under reverse charge mechanism - HELD THAT:- Section 2(94) of Companies Act, 2013, duly defines ‘whole-time director’ to include a director in the whole-time employment of the company. A whole-time Director refers to a Director who has been in employment of the company on a full-time basis and is also entitled to receive remuneration. The certificate issued by the....... + More

CENVAT Credit - proper invoices or not - validity of invoices/ bills issued to their office which is unregistered - requirement of Central Excise Registration or ISD Registration for availing CENVAT credit on the invoices issued on a different address - rule 4A of the 1994 Rules read with rule 9 of the 2004 Rules. HELD THAT:- Once the requirement of rule 4A of the 1994 Rules and rule 9 of the 2004 Rules are satisfied, the benefit of CENVAT credit could not have been demanded. Thus, the Commissioner was not justified in denying the benefit of CENVAT credit on the unregistered premises. The Commissioner has further held that the benefit of CENVAT credit for services received by the Appellant on the strength of invoices addressed to another unit is not admissible as the Appellant failed to take Central Registration or ISD Registration to ava....... + More

Valuation - inclusion of balance amount which is in the nature of Travelling Expenses and Boarding Expenses - reimbursable expenses or not - HELD THAT:- The demand is made on the amount that has been incurred by the appellant for travelling as well as lodging expenses. These are nothing but reimbursable expenses and the appellant has paid service on Audit Fee received as consideration for the service rendered - Demand do not sustain - appeal allowed - decided in favor of appellant.

Validity of appeal preferred by the respondent against an order of assessment under the Finance Act, 1994 - amnesty scheme in vogue - According to the petitioner, if he had been informed of the appeal having been preferred by the revenue, when the amnesty scheme was in vogue, he would have applied for the Amnesty scheme with a view to put the quietus to the matter and would not have had to contest the appeal preferred by the revenue - HELD THAT:- The petitioner has no statutory right to be informed of an appellate right exercised by the revenue, before a communication to that effect is sent to him by the appellate authority prior to the hearing of the appeal. The petitioner cannot also be seen as prejudiced in any manner merely because the intimation of the revenue appeal was received by him after the expiry of the amnesty scheme. His opt....... + More

Application for early hearing of the present appeal - recovery of portion of the service tax amounting to ₹ 50,00,000/-, which was already deposited by the appellant on 08/03/2013 itself - HELD THAT:- This is a fit case for granting early hearing and accordingly, the early hearing application is allowed - Registry is directed to list this case for final hearing on 09/11/2020.

CENVAT Credit - input services - service tax paid on the insurance premium paid to DICGC - service tax paid on the commission paid to the brokers for underwriting the government securities etc and for making investments in securities to maintain mandatory SLR as per the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 - levy of penalty. HELD THAT:- Matter referred to Hon’ble President for referring the matter to larger bench, for resolving the issues as follows: a. Whether the interpretation of the legal provisions contained in Section 65 and 66 of the Finance Act, 1994 made in the decision of the CESTAT, in case of South India Bank, satisfy to the test laid down by the five member bench of Hon’ble Supreme Court in case of Dilip Kumar and Co, referred above. b. Whether the CENVAT credit of the Service Tax paid on the services availed to fulfill a....... + More

Non-imposition of penalty u/s 76 of FA - Commercial or Industrial Construction Services - Department submits that Section 78 of Finance Act, 1984 was amended w.e.f. 10.05.2008 only to provide that penalty under Section 76 need not be imposed if penalty under Section 78 is imposed - Effect of amendment, retrospective or prospective? - Difference of Opinion. HELD THAT:- In view of the difference of opinion, the following questions arise for consideration by the learned 3rd Member:- (1) Whether penalty under Section 76 and 78 are prescribed for different type of violations and are mutually exclusive as held by Member (Judicial) OR that both the penalties can be imposed simultaneously as held by Member (Technical). (2) Whether the amendment brought in Section 78 by Finance Act, 2008 by addition of proviso (w.e.f. 10.5.2008) providing that whe....... + More

Nature of services - applicability of service tax or VAT - glass bottles and crate rentals - Supply of tangible goods service or not - Appellant has contended that the supply of glass bottles and crates amounted to deemed sale, which was liable to VAT/sales tax as the effective control and possession of the goods were transferred by the Appellant - extended period of limitation - demand of interest and penalty - HELD THAT:- The issue is settled by the judgment of the Hon’ble Andhra Pradesh High Court in the Writ Petitions No. 21115/2005, No. 856/2006 and No. 25588/2007 [2013 (1) TMI 1009 - ANDHRA PRADESH HIGH COURT], where it was held that such crate rentals would be liable to VAT/Sales tax on the ground that it amounted to deemed sale of crates inasmuch as there was transfer of right to use with effective control and possession of ....... + More

Tax Relief under the SVLDR Scheme - application for Tax Relief rejected on the ground that there is error in filling up Form No.SVLDRS-1 - HELD THAT:- In the present case there is no dispute about the petitioner being issued with Audit Note dated 04.04.2019 which mentions not only the duty demand but also the service tax recovered from the petitioner, and thus, there has been quantification of the duty demand in a sum of ₹ 23,86,861/- and acceptance of service tax recovered in ₹ 8,09,269/- during audit before the 30th day of June, 2019. There is also no dispute that the petitioner satisfies the other conditions of the SVLDR Scheme and is entitled to avail the tax relief. If these facts cannot be disputed and the conditions as contemplated under the SVLDR Scheme are satisfied, an accrued substantive right by way of Tax relief c....... + More

CENVAT Credit - input services - sales commission paid to sister concern - outward transportation from factory to the buyers premises for the period from April 2008 to April 2010 - HELD THAT:- As per clause (3) of the Agreement entered into between the appellant and FMGIL, FMGIL promotes sale of products of the appellant by doing various activities including promotion and marketing of the products of the appellant, seeking orders, assistance in sale of products, maintaining good relations with customers, providing consultation and advice in relation to the above, receiving orders from customers in relation to the products, notifying the customers/prospective customers of all the terms and conditions of sale as determined by the appellants. Further, the input service as defined under Rule 2(l) of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 explicitly includ....... + More

CENVAT Credit - input service - Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation to the banks for insuring the deposits of the public - HELD THAT:- The issue decided in the case of BANK OF MAHARASHTRA, BANK OF BARODA (FORMERLY KNOWN AS DENA BANK) , BANK OF BARODA, UNION BANK OF INDIA, STATE BANK OF INDIA VERSUS COMMISSIONER, CGST & CX, PUNE-II, COMMISSIONER OF SERVICE TAX-I AND IV, MUMBAI, COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE [2020 (10) TMI 300 - BOMBAY HIGH COURT], where it was held that All the appeals are remanded back to the CESTAT for fresh decision in conformity with the decision rendered by the larger bench. Appeal is remanded back to the CESTAT for fresh decision in conformity with the decision rendered by the Larger Bench - appeal allowed.

Validity of delayed adjudication of SCN - Inordinate delay of 13 years in adjudication of SCN - whether in the facts and circumstances of the case, such delayed adjudication of the show-cause notices would be just, proper and legal? - HELD THAT:- This Court held that a show-cause notice issued a decade back should not be allowed to be adjudicated upon by the revenue merely because there is no period of limitation prescribed in the statute to complete such proceedings. Larger public interest requires that revenue should adjudicate the show-cause notice expeditiously and within a reasonable period. What would be the reasonable period would depend upon the facts and circumstances of each case but certainly a period of 13 years cannot be termed as a reasonable period. Secondly, regarding keeping the show-cause notice in the dormant list or th....... + More

Refund of amount paid as supervision charges - Interest for the amount paid as supervision charges - Board’s circular dated 23.04.2003 - HELD THAT:- It was observed by the board that even though the circular dated 01.01.2002 does not envisage any physical supervision of such storage premises /godown by the Central Excise, the field formations are still collecting merchant overtime charges / charges on cost recovery basis as per earlier concept of physical supervision of godowns / storage places in terms of Board’s Circular dated 14.04.1986. Therefore, the board’s circular dated 01.01.2002 and the earlier instructions of the State have stood modified to the said extent. Thus, the over-time supervision charges could not have been charged by the respondents. Therefore, the appellant was entitled for refund of the over-time ....... + More

Rectification of Mistake - Refund of CENVAT Credit - Appellant Company has submitted that they have not received the refund order in question and the Revenue sought time but no proof has been provided by the Revenue with regard to service of communication of adjustment of refund amount and the same has been recorded by this Tribunal in the order itself - HELD THAT:- The appellant has claimed that the amount of ₹ 18,28,984/- has been debited on various dates and also intimated to the department through various letters with regard to adjustment of the amount of ₹ 18,28,984/-. The said fact has not been controverted by the Revenue during the course of argument. Moreover, it has been recorded by the Tribunal that no show cause notice has not been issued to the appellant for appropriation of the said amount paid by the appellant. F....... + More

Interest on refund claim - Section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944 - interest denied on the finding that the adjudication of the claim attained finality only after dismissal of the proceedings before the High Court on 18-7-2005; whereas the Department had already paid refund amount to the appellant on 26-6-2005 - Circular No. 670/61/2002-CX.8, dated 1-10-2002 - HELD THAT:- The approval of the dictum of the Rajasthan High Court in JK. CEMENT WORKS VERSUS ASSTT. COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE & CUSTOMS [2004 (2) TMI 78 - RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT], which directly deals with the claim of the appellant before this Court who had made application for refund on 30-12-1999 and, therefore, the statutory interest ought to commence after non-payment within three months from the date of application, being the starting point envisaged by Section 1....... + More

CENVAT Credit - LAM ( Low Ash Metallurgical) COKE - fake invoices without supply of goods - time limitation - main basis of denying the Cenvat credit to the appellants are the two letters received by the department, one from the Municipal Commissioner and the other from the Postal authorities - HELD THAT:- The best evidence would have been for departmental officers to physically visit the place and draw a panchnama after making enquiries from the locality. No such documentary evidence is there on record - The department has not denied that the dealer, M/s Dankuni Steel Ltd was registered with the jurisdictional Central Excise formation. As per extant departmental instructions the premises were required to be physically inspected within 5 days of granting registration. It has to be presumed that these instructions were duly followed. In th....... + More

Duplication of appeal filed - against one impugned order two appeals were filed - HELD THAT:- Only one appeal needs to be filed against impugned order therefore, the second appeal No. E/12975/2019 and Cross Objection No. E/CO/10114/2020 are dismissed as infructuous.

Refund claim - rejection of refund claim as being time-barred by computing the period upto the date of second presentation before the Tiruchirapalli Commissionerate - HELD THAT:- The refund claim has been first presented on 31-3-2010, the refund sanctioning authority has erred in computing the time-limit reckoning 16-8-2011 as the date of filing refund claim. The time-limit has to be computed from the date of clearance of the goods to the date of first presentation of the claim. The refund would be then well within time. The rejection of refund claim on the ground of being time-barred is set aside. The refund sanctioning authority is directed to look into the merits of the claim. The matter is remanded back to the refund sanctioning authority, who is directed to consider the claim on merits - Appeal allowed by way of remand.

Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 - Misdeclaration in SVLDRS-1 Form - rejection of benefit under the scheme on the ground that the amount of penalty had not been stated in the SVLDRS-1 form which makes it an incorrect declaration - HELD THAT:- The issue as to whether an inadvertent mistake as regards the penalty imposed being not correctly stated in the SVLDRS-1 form, it has been decided by this Court in its judgment [2020 (6) TMI 38 - GAUHATI HIGH COURT] where it was held that This writ petition also stands disposed of by requiring the petitioner to submit an application before the respondent authorities for correction to be made in the information provided in the Form SVLDRS-1 as regards the penalty imposed and upon such application being made, the respondent authorities would pass a reasoned speaking order thereon - Petition disposed off.

Maintainability of appeal - monetary amount involved in the appeal - HELD THAT:- The matters are covered by the Litigation Policy of the Government being F.No.390/Misc./116/2017-JC dated 22.08.2019. Since the quantum of dispute in the present appeals is well within the amount as notified in the Litigation Policy before the Tribunal, it is deemed appropriate to dispose of the appeals in terms of litigation policy vide Board’s instruction being F.No.390/Misc./116/2017-JC dated 22.08.2019. The appeals are disposed off under the National Litigation Policy.

CENVAT credit - electricity - captive consumption - common Cenvat availed inputs and input services in the generation of electricity without maintenance of separate records - Rule 6(3)(i) of the CCR - extended period of limitation - interest - penalty - HELD THAT:- The self-same issue had fallen for consideration of the Hon’ble Allahabad High Court in the GULARIA CHINI MILLS AND OTHERS VERSUS UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS [2013 (7) TMI 159 - ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT] wherein the Hon’ble Court observed that electrical energy generated from Bagasse is not covered under Chapter 27 of the CETA and is therefore, non-excisable thereby not attracting the provisions of Rule 6 at all as observed from para 22, 26 & 32 thereof. The said decision has also been upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the UNION OF INDIA VERSUS DSCL SUGAR L....... + More

Grant of Anticipatory Bail - excise duty evasion case of ₹ 150 crores - It is submitted that investigation in the present case has already been concluded and the amount deposited by the applicant/accused is sought to be adjusted towards the final adjudicated amount - HELD THAT:- The applicant/accused is alleged to be involved in a duty evasion case of ₹ 150 crores. Even during the course of investigation, it is informed that he was not forthcoming on certain vital issues of investigation and he is giving evasive replies to the query of the investigating agency - Ld. SPP has informed the court that applicant accused is involved in the commission of an offence u/s 9 (b), (bb), (bbb) and (bbbb) of the Central Excise Act, 1944. It is further informed by Ld. counsel for department that applicant/accused is playing hide and seek and....... + More

Maintainability of appeal - non-compliance with the requirement of pre-deposit - section 35F of the Central Excise Act, 1944 - HELD THAT:- The learned Commissioner(Appeals) has not decided the case on merits, but has dismissed the appeal on the ground of non-compliance with the provisions of section 35F of the Central Excise Act, 1944. After filing appeal before the Tribunal, the appellant has deposited an amount of ₹ 10,00,000/-, which is sufficient to hear their appeal on merits. The appeal filed by the appellant is allowed by way of remand to learned Commissioner(Appeals) for deciding the case on merits, without insisting on any further pre-deposit - Appeal allowed by way of remand.

Application for early hearing of the appeal - application has been filed on the ground that the amount involved in the matter is quite substantial and also recurring in nature - HELD THAT:- Since we do not find any NOC available on the file from the earlier counsel, i.e. Shri Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan, filed uptil now, we are not in position to hold that this early hearing application has been properly constituted and hence should not be maintainable. The Registry is directed to consider listing the appeal after three weeks on or about 26.11.2020 for final hearing if all the NOCs and other documents are completed before that date - Matter to be listed on 26.11.2020 for completion of records and hearing.

Area Based Exemption - Northeastern/Backward region - substantial expansion or not - doctrine of promissory estoppel - benefit of N/N. 39/2001-CE dated 31-07-2001 - Irregular availment of CENVAT Credit - Bogus Sale - it is argued that in respect of North-eastern area, there is not even a single case of detection of fraudulent availment of benefit. HELD THAT:- The petition is dismissed as having become infructuous.

Clandestine Removal - 13683.05 MT of MS Billets - cogent, positive and concrete evidence to prove the said allegation, present or not - unaccounted purchase of various raw materials - reliability of third party documents - HELD THAT:- It is found from the show cause notice, that the allegation itself was that ‘in the specific question set out before him as to how he would disprove the facts of such clandestine clearance of their finished goods side by side their authorised clearance, whereas both of which have candidly confessed by M/s SPRML. Shri Mahapatra miserably failed to disprove the same whereby it led to the natural conclusion of conscious and organized modus operandi to evade legitimate Govt revenue in the guise of transaction that they have pretended to project themselves in clearing only authorised clearance of goods with....... + More

SSI Exemption - clandestine removal - manufacture of MCBs (Miniature Circuit Breaker) - use of Brand name of others - demand of duty by the Department is primarily worked out on the basis of a rough register (RUD-26), which was recovered from the factory, alleged to be showing movement of the goods i.e. removal of finished goods and receipt of raw/packing materials - retraction of statements - SCN issued about 20 days before the end of 5 years from the date of search - HELD THAT:- It is evident on the face of the record that the show cause notice was issued by way of wide guess work wherein duty demand of ₹ 1.22 crores was made approximately. Further, the Revenue in the proceeding before the Settlement Commissioner itself revised the demand at ₹ 49,50,711/-, thereafter in the adjudication proceedings, the demand was further re....... + More

CENVAT Credit - input services used for the Repair and Maintenance Service, etc of wind mills located far away from the factory - applicability of Rule 6(1) of Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 - HELD THAT:- The explanation inserted to Notification No. 6/2015- CE (NT) dated 01.03.2015 come in to play if the appellant sold the electricity generated the appellant’s counsel has confirmed that they never sold electricity generated from the wind mill - In the present case, appellant have never sold any electricity generated from the wind mill to anybody and , therefore, they are not hit by the mischief Rule 6(1) of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004. Appeal allowed - decided in favor of appellant.

CENVAT credit - input services - gardening services - appellants are engaged in manufacturing of gear motors - denial on account of nexus - HELD THAT:- The compliance of various environment related laws and factories act mandate clean environment in factory. Thus, the said service becomes essential for functioning of the factory. Credit allowed - appeal allowed - decided in favor of appellant.

Cancellation of Registration Certificate - legal heirs - deemed dealer on the death of dealer - TNVAT Act - CST Act - The petitioner is the wife of deceased. The other legal heirs of the deceased have given no objection for amendment of the registration certificate, in favour of the petitioner and her son - The petitioner has also made a request for amendment of the registration certificate in favour of herself and her son to the respondent. Despite the same, the respondent has passed the impugned orders cancelling the registration certificate on the ground that the petitioner will have to apply for fresh registration under the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 Held that:- When it is an admitted fact that the petitioner is a legal heir of the deceased dealer, this Court is of the considered view that the legal heirs are deemed to be de....... + More

Principles of Natural Justice - Reversal of Input Tax Credit - deemed assessment was made in respect of the Petitioner for the year 2010-2011 - TNVAT Act - HELD THAT:- The receipt of the replies dated 07.09.2013 and 17.09.2013 sent by the Petitioner in response to the notice dated 30.08.2013 issued by the Respondent has not been rebutted. As such, the submissions made by the Petitioner deserve acceptance and the impugned order entailing adverse civil consequences to the Petitioner in violation of the principles of natural justice and the statutory requirements cannot be sustained, and it is quashed and the matter has to be decided afresh by the Respondent. It is incumbent upon the Respondent, after affording full opportunity of personal hearing to the Petitioner, to deal with each of the contentions raised by the Petitioner and pass reaso....... + More

Amnesty Scheme - auction - recovery of arrears of tax - It is the petitioner's contention that this forfeited amount must go to reduce the liability of the petitioner, for the realization of which the Government had resorted to the auction procedure under Revenue Recovery Act - HELD THAT:- The auction steps initiated by the respondents have to be seen as for the purposes of realization of tax dues from the petitioner. It would follow, therefore, that any amount realized by the Government through the auction procedure that was resorted to for the purposes of realization of the dues from the petitioner, must go to reduce the liability of the petitioner to the Government. Although, it is a fact that the auction sale did not materialize, the forfeited amount must be seen as a portion of the sale consideration that the auction purchaser ha....... + More

Input Tax Credit - illegal transaction - reopening of assessment - reasons to believe - Section 29(1) of the VAT Act - HELD THAT:- There is no contention as to why and how the proceedings could be initiated without even recording any "reasons to believe" merely relying upon the Tax Audit report. Even otherwise the findings recorded in the Tax Audit report had to be controverted by the assessee, which the assessee did by filing the relevant affidavits and documents before the first Appellate Authority and thus no fault could be found with the said procedure. Even otherwise as the Tribunal has recorded that entire exercise was revenue neutral and there is no ground to suggest that the said finding is any way perverse or erroneous, no question of law, much less a substantial question of law arises for consideration by this Court. Revision dismissed.

Principles of Natural Justice - proper service of SCN - Issue was not proceeded to be decided on merits - HELD THAT:- A bare perusal of the order impugned in the present revision reveals that the revisionist has not been heard by the Tribunal while passing the order dated 3.3.2020 and in view of the fact that the service was not effected properly on the revisionist, the order dated 3.3.2020 is set aside. The revisions are allowed in favour of the Assessee and against the Department.

Stay of only 90% of the disputed tax, till the disposal of first appeal, instead of 100% stay - applicant has good case on the merit of the case, and financial condition is not good - HELD THAT:- Perusal of the orders impugned in the revision, make it clear that the appellate court as well as the Tribunal have neither considered prima facie case nor the financial hardship as pleaded by the revisionist before directing the deposit of 10% of the disputed tax. Thus, there are no hesitation in holding that the order passed by the Tribunal deserves to be set aside and is accordingly set aside to the extent that it directs to deposit 10% of the amount as the revisionist has placed on record the financial hardship. Tax revision is allowed.

Maintainability of (second) appeal - first appeal had been numbered and heard on merits - fact that as per Sec.55(4) of the TNGST Act, an appeal would lie against an order passed u/s.55 of the Act is overlooked - in respect of the very same transaction, tax under the CST Act, 1956, had been paid in the State of Andhra Pradesh and the levy under the TNGST Act, 1959 - double taxation or not. HELD THAT:- The Original Assessment order does not merge with the Rectification Order passed by the Assessing Authority. In the present case, the Rectification as prayed by the Assessee only was allowed by the Assessing Authority himself and therefore, there are no reason for the Assessee to to file further Appeal against such Rectification Order in his own favour. It is difficult to understand what prevented the Assessee from assailing the Original Ass....... + More

Stay on recovery steps - Section 55 of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 - HELD THAT:- This Court find that Exts.P1, P1(a) and P1(b) orders of assessment made by the 1st respondent are under challenge in Exts.P3, P3(a) and P3(b) appeals filed before the 2nd respondent appellate authority, which are accompanied by Exts.P4, P4(a) and P4(b) stay applications. This writ petition is disposed of directing the 2nd respondent appellate authority to consider and pass appropriate orders on Exts.P4, P4(a) and P4(b) stay applications within a period of two months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this judgment, with notice to the petitioner - Till such time, any recovery steps pursuant to Exts.P1, P1(a) and P1(b) assessment orders shall be kept in abeyance by respondents 1and 3.

Maintainability of petition - availability of alternate remedy of appeal - Redetermination of tax liability of petitioner - HELD THAT:- There is no acceptable explanation from the Petitioner for not having resorted to that alternative remedy provided under the statute. This Court does not express any view on the correctness or otherwise on the merits of the controversy involved in the matter- Petition dismissed.

Reversal of ITC - reopening of assessment - Payment of the differential amount of tax due and penalty - HELD THAT:- Similar issue decided in the case of M/S. JKM GRAPHICS SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED VERSUS THE COMMERCIAL TAX OFFICER [2017 (3) TMI 536 - MADRAS HIGH COURT] where it was held that In the instant case, there is no challenge to the statutory provisions and the complaint of all the dealer is largely on the procedure adopted by the respective Assessing Officers. The Principal Secretary and Commissioner of Commercial Taxes was conscious of the problems faced by the dealers as complaints were received which had lead to issuance of a circular as early as on 01.04.2015. The concerned assessing officer shall issue fresh show cause notice with all required details in respect of levy of tax for mismatch invoices and the Petitioner shall be entitled to submit its explanation within the prescribed time - impugned order set aside - petition allowed.

Direction to prevent the official Respondents herein from lowering their seniority - Respondent was directly recruited as a Group-II Officer in the post of Assistant Commercial Tax Officer (ACTO)[now re-designated as Deputy Commercial Tax Officer(DCTO)], which is the entry level post in the Subordinate Services of the Commercial Taxes Department, and were in the post of Joint Commissioners/Deputy Commissioners when the writ petitions were filed - HELD THAT:- Division Bench set out the four principles that were adopted by the Division Bench of this Court in W.P. 12786 of 1975 and affirmed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in paragraph 4 thereof. In addition, in paragraph 5, the Division Bench of this Court referred to and extracted an earlier order based on the statement of the learned Advocate General. The said extract refers to the statem....... + More

Validity of impugned notice of default assessment of tax and interest and the impugned notice of default assessment of penalty - Section 137 of the Delhi Land Reform Act, 1954 - assessment years 2012-13, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 - DVAT Act - HELD THAT:- Since the demands and penalties are the basis on which the impugned writ of demand dated 29th September, 2020 has been issued, this Court is of the view that petitioner must challenge the demands and penalties in accordance with the statutory mechanism. At this stage, Mr. Rajesh Mahna, learned counsel for the petitioner states that petitioner shall withdraw the present writ petition and challenge the demands and penalties in accordance with the DVAT Act. The statement made by Mr. Rajesh Mahna is accepted by this Court and the petitioner is held bound by the same. To facilitate the filing of the said proceedings, the writ of demand dated 29th September, 2020 is stayed for a period of six weeks.

Violation of principles of natural justice - Validity of assessment order - purchase omission committed by the petitioner - sales suppression - mismatch between the sales and purchases - TNVAT Act - HELD THAT:- Even though the petitioner has raised all the aforementioned contentions in the reply dated 07.03.2018 to the pre revision notice, dated 07.02.2018, the respondent under the impugned assessment order has not considered the same, but has passed the assessment order only based on the alleged sworn statements signed by the petitioner at the time of inspection by their Enforcement Wing Officials at the place of business of the petitioner. As seen from the impugned assessment order, no personal hearing was afforded to the petitioner before passing of the impugned assessment order. This Court is of the considered view that principles of ....... + More

Validity of pre-assessment notices - alleged mismatch between the details contained in the annexures to the petitioners' returns - HELD THAT:- These Writ Petitions are pre-mature. It is true that the Officer has called upon the petitioner/assessee to appear and submit such details as may be available with it to substantiate the alleged mismatch between the details contained in the annexures to the petitioners' returns vis-a-vis the details contained in the annexures to the returns filed by the supplying/purchasing party dealers. This Court in M/S. JKM GRAPHICS SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED VERSUS THE COMMERCIAL TAX OFFICER [2017 (3) TMI 536 - MADRAS HIGH COURT] has held that cases of mismatch should be addressed in a scientific manner and has also directed the setting up of a central mechanism to facilitate sharing of data inter se as....... + More

Validity of assessment order - petitioner contends that it had paid VAT on Mess charges received towards supply of food to students and staff in the school premises of the said society in terms of the Act and also paid service tax on rent received towards Infra Lease rented by it in terms of the Finance Act, 1994 - HELD THAT:- The 1st respondent, being a quasi-judicial authority, is bound to assign reasons in support of its decision, and cannot simply reject the objections of petitioner to the levy proposed by him on these two items by merely saying that the explanation of petitioner is not ‘satisfactory’ - The 1st respondent is obligated to supply reasons for his conclusion and failure to do so amounts to violation of principles of natural justice. The impugned Assessment Order No.65175 dt.01.10.2020 passed by the 1st respond....... + More

Principles of natural justice - Validity of Assessment Order - no personal hearing afforded to the petitioner prior to completion of assessment - HELD THAT:- The petitioner has not been afforded an opportunity of personal hearing prior to completion of assessment, the impugned order of assessment is set aside. The petitioner will appear before the respondent officer on Thursday, the 26th of November, 2020 at 10.30 a.m. without awaiting any further notice along with yet another copy of the documents relied upon by it in regard to its claim of ITC. Any material in relation to third party details obtained from the Departmental website and proposed to be relied upon by the authority shall be made available to the petitioner prior to completion of assessment. After consideration of the same and after hearing the petitioner in person, an order of assessment shall be passed de novo within a period of six (6) weeks thereafter. Petition disposed off.

Reversal of ITC - the assessment are sought to be re-opened and the ITC availed by the dealers are directed to be reversed, when a mismatch occurs - Demand of Differential amount alongwith interest and penalty - HELD THAT:- A batch of Writ Petitions filed by similarly placed persons on this aspect of the matter came up for consideration before this Court in M/S. JKM GRAPHICS SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED VERSUS THE COMMERCIAL TAX OFFICER [2017 (3) TMI 536 - MADRAS HIGH COURT] where it was held that this Court is fully convinced that the procedure adopted by the respondent, Assessing Officers in all these cases are half baked attempts, which have not yielded results and these cases are before this Court or before the Appellate Authorities and all that the Assessing Officers can record is that they have issued show cause notices or passed order....... + More

Principles of Natural Justice - sufficient opportunity to show cause against the re-assessment not provided - levy of tax on interstate stock transfer and sales made locally in other States, which cannot be subjected to levy of tax in the State of Karnataka - levy of tax on subsidy received by the petitioner from the Central Government - Nutrients Based Subsidy Scheme (NBS Scheme) - HELD THAT:- The essential premise for the petitioner’s case, apart from the question whether there could be levy of tax on subsidy granted to the petitioner based on the aforesaid two schemes, is whether there could be a levy on interstate stock transfer and sales made locally in other States. This question incontrovertibly has not been examined and it would be imperative for the authorities to consider the same as it relates to the very jurisdiction to ....... + More

Settlement of arrears outstanding - KGST Act - applicability of amnesty scheme - petitioner contends that the amnesty scheme is separately applicable to the various statutes mentioned therein and the petitioner cannot be compelled to opt for the amnesty under enactments other than the one he has chosen for settlement under the scheme - HELD THAT:- The statutory provision which deals with the amnesty scheme makes it applicable to outstanding dues under various statutes such as the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, Central Sales Tax Act, Tax on luxuries Act, Kerala Surcharges Act, Kerala Agricultural Income Tax Act and the Kerala General Sales Tax Act. A perusal of the scheme, as also the circular relied on by the respondent, would also indicate that arrears under the various enactments are separately dealt with. For instance, in the case of dues....... + More

Refund of amount deposited as pre-deposit - Proceedings under Delhi Sales Tax Act, 1975 - HELD THAT:- This petitioner preferred the refund application which is at Annexure P-5 to the memo of this writ petition. Thereafter, representations was also made before the Commissioner of State, GST, for refund (Annexure P-6). These refund applications have not been scrutinized and decided by the respondent, and therefore it is submitted by learned counsel for the petitioner that suitable directions be given to concerned respondent-authority to decide the refund application in accordance with law, rules and regulations within a time bound schedule, and make the required payment along with statutory interest. Respondent no. 2 is directed to decide the application for refund of the amount along with statutory interest, which is at Annexure P-5 to the memo of this writ petition, in accordance with law - petition disposed off.

Dishonor of Cheque - acquittal of the accused - burden to prove - legally enforceable debt or not - contravention of Section 269-SS of the Income Tax Act - view taken by the learned Magistrate thereby acquitting the accused is erroneous and not based on sound legal principles - HELD THAT:- This Court has every power to re-appreciate, review and reconsider the evidence. After re-appreciating the evidence as above, the conclusion has been drawn that the judgment of acquittal rendered by the learned Trial Court is perverse. Now, when this Court has respondent/accused guilty of committing offence punishable under Section 138 of N.I. Act, the further act would ensue regarding imposition of quantum of punishment. It is clear from the aims and object for the enactment of Negotiable Instruments Act, that the penal provision was introduced to enha....... + More

Dishonor of Cheque - insufficiency of funds - non-discharge of debt or liability - the accused failed to pay the amount covered under the cheques within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the statutory notice - Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 - HELD THAT:- It is well settled law that when concurrent findings of facts rendered by the trial court and the appellate court are sought to be set aside in revision, the High Court does not, in the absence of perversity, upset factual findings arrived at by the two courts below. It is not for the revisional court to re-analyse and reinterpret the evidence on record in a case, where the trial court has come to a probable conclusion. Unless the contrary is proved, it is presumed that the holder of a cheque received the cheque of the nature referred to in Section 138 of the N....... + More

Dishonor of Cheque - acquittal of accused - Privity of Contract - main grounds urged in the appeal is that the Trial Court had earlier convicted the accused based on the very same material available on record and there are no changed circumstances - HELD THAT:- The complainant has not made out a case for legally recoverable debt payable by the accused. It is also important to note that in the cross-examination he categorically admitted that while filing the complaint, he did not mention anything about the transaction between him and Srinivas at the instance of the accused and the same was suppressed. Only during the course of cross-examination, it is elicited that all these transactions had taken place between the parties. Even though the accused has taken the contention that the subject matter of the cheque was stolen, which was kept in ....... + More

Dishonor of Cheque - legally recoverable debt or not - rebuttal of presumption u/s 139 of NI Act - complainant in the present appeal who contended that the Trial Court has committed error in not appreciating both oral and documentary evidence and it has erred in casting the burden on the complainant - HELD THAT:- In the case on hand, it has to be noted that there is no dispute with regard to the issuance of the cheque and the same is also not denied by the accused and also has not given any reply notice when the notice was served on him and the defense was set up during the cross-examination that the said cheque was for security purpose to avail the loan by the complainant from the other financier and the same is not proved - there is no dispute with regard to the fact that the primary burden is on the complainant to prove with regard to ....... + More

Dishonor of Cheque - submissions made by the learned counsel for the applicant call for adjudication on pure questions of fact, which may be adequately adjudicated upon only by the trial court and while doing so even the submissions made on points of law can also be more appropriately gone into by the trial court in this case - HELD THAT:- This Court does not deem it proper, and therefore, cannot be persuaded to have a pre-trial before the actual trial begins. A threadbare discussion of various facts and circumstances, as they emerge from the allegations made against the accused, is being purposely avoided by the Court for the reason, lest the same might cause any prejudice to either side during trial. But it shall suffice to observe that perusal of the complaint, and also the material available on record make out a prima facie case again....... + More

Dishonor of Cheque - validity of criminal proceedings - mortgaged property - present petitioner has entered into a registered partition deed with his brother under which, the mortgaged property had fallen to the share of his brother - case of petitioner is that the liability of repayment of the entire loan amount falls on the shoulder of his brother - HELD THAT:- The admitted fact remains that the petitioner was one among the loanee having availed considerable amount as loan from the respondent-bank. The petitioner herein has not denied or disputed that the said loan account has become a default account and the loan amount with interest is yet to be repaid to the respondent-bank. But the only contention of the present petitioner is that the liability to clear the loan falls upon his brother, since the property upon which the loan was lent....... + More

Dishonor of Cheque - acquittal of accused - Specific defense of the accused is that he had not availed loan on 01.12.2000 and he had availed loan only on 01.12.1999 and the cheque for the said amount was collected on 01.12.1999, which was misused - Whether the Trial Judge has committed an error in acquitting the accused in coming to the conclusion that the very transaction between the accused and the complainant is doubtful and whether it requires interference of this Court? - HELD THAT:- In the case on hand accused not denied the signature available in Ex.P.1 cheque. The only contention is that the said cheque was given at the time of getting the loan on 1.12.1999. If he has not borrowed loan on 1.12.2000 what prevented him to give any reply when two notices were issued to him with regard to payment of loan amount and subsequently on bou....... + More

Dishonor of Cheque - privity of contract - main contention urged by the accused Company is that there was no transaction between the complainant and the accused - Whether the appellate Court has committed error in reversing the finding of the trial Court in coming to the conclusion that the accused ppersons-DWs.1 and 2 are not liable to pay the amount to the complainant? HELD THAT:- It is clear that the Court has to see the wisdom of the legislature in bringing the enactment and while interpreting the law, the Court has to take note of the object and statement in bringing the enactment and the courts are meant to interpret the law with the object of special enactment. This Court has to draw the presumption in favour of the complainant under Section 139 of the Act. Accused Nos.1 and 2 have stepped into the witness box and adduced the evide....... + More

Dishonor of Cheque - offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 - Power of Court to try cases summarily - Whether in a case for offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, the Court of Magistrate exercising its power under the second proviso to Section 143 (1) of the Negotiable Instruments Act, if it appears to the said Court that it is undesirable to try the case summarily, after recording reasons, can proceed to try/hear the said case as a warrant case? HELD THAT:- Only in limited cases where the second proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 143 of the said Act 1881 is applicable, the learned Magistrate can convert the case into a summons case. In view of overriding effect of sub-section (1) of Section 143 of the said Act 1881, a case under Section 138 is not a summons c....... + More

Dishonor of Cheque - Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1981 - existence of debt or not - indemnification of debts - receipt of demand notice - rebuttal of presumption - whether explanation offered by the petitioner is enough to disprove the statutory presumptions under Sections 138 and 139, NI Act? - HELD THAT:- In the case of Hiten P. Dalal [2001 (7) TMI 1172 - SUPREME COURT] it has been held by the Apex Court that the presumptions to be drawn by the court under Sections 138 and 139, NI Act are presumptions of law which cast evidential burden on the accused to disprove the presumptions. In the instant case, apparently the accused petitioner did not lead any evidence in rebuttal of such statutory presumptions. He has also failed to bring on record such facts and circumstances which would lead the courts below to believe that ....... + More

Recovery of Loan - petitioner was extended facility of loan on finance of a vehicle by the informant, who is a Collection Manager - It is submitted that if there are any dues against the loan extended in favour of petitioner, then the finance company is having cheques in their possession, which if are dishonored, then the informant has a remedy under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 - HELD THAT:- FIR has been lodged for cheating and criminal misappropriation of the hypothecated property. Prima facie it cannot be said that no cognizable offence is made out. Hence, no ground exists for quashing of the F.I.R or staying the arrest of the petitioner. The Full Bench of this Court in Ajit Singh @ Muraha v. State of U.P. [2006 (7) TMI 723 - ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT] reiterated the view taken by the earlier Full Bench in Satya Pal v....... + More

Smuggling - Drug Trafficking - petitioner has prayed for bail on the ground that petitioner is innocent and has been falsely implicated - It is submitted that presumption of innocence lies in favour of the petitioner till the guilt is proved beyond reasonable doubt - HELD THAT:- The petitioner Nagary Ally Kombo had directed Chinedu to handover the bag containing contraband to co-accused Kelvin. During investigation of the case, Mobile phones of the petitioner as well as other accused persons were examined and it was revealed that they were in touch and which prima facie shows that they are member of a drug syndicate and involved in the drug trafficking. The accusation in the present case is with regard to commercial quantity. As per Section 37 of the NDPS Act, if a person is accused of enumerated offences under the said provision and in c....... + More

Dishonor of Cheque - insufficiency of funds - time limit for presuming service of notice - HELD THAT:- Presumption of service of notice within a reasonable time is to be raised. It should be deemed to have been served at best within a period of thirty days from the date of issuance thereof. Meaning thereby, the reasonable period for presumption of service may be up to 30 days from date of its issuance. Hence, in present case, notice issued was said to be served and it was issued on 18.12.2017. It was sent through speed post and it was deemed to be sufficiently served up to 17.1.2018 and within fifteen days payment was not made. Then after within thirty days this complaint was filed. Hence, apparently this complaint was not time barred. On the basis of statement recorded under Section 200 and documentary evidence given under Section 202 of....... + More

Dishonor of Cheque - petitioner submitted that, after the institution of the complaint the complainant has paid the entire cheque amount and has collected back the cheque in question, as such, the private complaint filed by him, does not survive - maintainability of complaint - HELD THAT:- When the complaint lodged by the respondent herein is verified, the respondent as a complainant, has narrated the very same alleged facts in his complaint and contended that the accused only with an intention to harass him and for putting him to some difficulty, had secured a withdrawal slip which was unconnected with his Bank account and by forging his signature had filled the cheque for a huge amount by themselves and presented it for its realisation. If the argument of the learned counsel for the petitioner that the learned Magistrate ought not to ha....... + More

Dishonor of Cheque - Vicarious liability of Director - dishonor of collateral security cheques which were issued in discharge of alleged outstanding of a term loan sanctioned by the bank - fundamental argument of learned counsel for the petitioner is that the petitioner cannot be prosecuted for dishonor of cheques, as the liability was that of Company and not of the petitioner as an individual - HELD THAT:- There is merit in the contention of learned counsel for the petitioner. Given the facts of case read with allegations in the impugned Bombay High Court complaint, as an individual Director, petitioner seems to have been wrongly fastened with criminal liability of accused company M/s Supreme Tex Mart Ltd., particularly, after appointment of the Interim Resolution Professional and suspension of the directors under the IBC. It is though n....... + More

Refund of contract consideration/earnest money - payment of interest for the period from 08.11.1994 to 19.05.1998 - rate of interest @ 10% p.a. or 12% p.a. - HELD THAT:- In this case, conduct of the Board betrays a callous and indifferent attitude, which in effect is that if Asiatic Steel wished for its money to be returned, it had to approach the court. This was despite its knowledge that at least three other identically placed entities had asked for return of money and, upon approaching the court, were refunded the amounts given by them promptly. In view of these facts, nothing prevented the Board from deciding to refund the amount, without forcing Asiatic Steel to approach the court. This court notes that the High Court directed payment of interest for the entire period (i.e. starting from 08.11.1994 and ending on 19.05.1998). However,....... + More

Dishonor of Cheque - offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act - direction for suspension of sentence imposed on him by the trial court - HELD THAT:- When it is noted the appellate court is justified in directing the petitioner/accused to deposit 20% of the compensation amount imposed by the trial court pending appeal as provided under Section 148 of the Negotiable Instruments Act and thereby ordering suspension of the sentence imposed on the petitioner and when the order passed by the appellate court is in conformity with the provisions of Section 148 of the Negotiable Instruments Act read with 389(1) of Cr.PC, I do not find any infirmity or error in the abovesaid condition imposed by the appellate court directing the petitioner to deposit 20% of the compensation amount imposed on him by the trial court. There is no merit in the Criminal original petition - Petition dismissed.

Summon Order - non-applicability of the Payment & Settlement Systems Act, 2007 - It was submitted on behalf of the petitioner that the prescribed procedure as provided under the Payment & Settlement Systems Act,2007, for determination of the aspect of liabilities for alleged commission of offences is provided thereunder and that the offences mentioned under the said enactment are not completely in pari materia with the provisions under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 - HELD THAT:- Even the parties to CC No. 1566/2019, 1565/2019 (out of which the impugned order arises) and CC No. 1567/19, do not relate to the same parties and apparently no such common order as the order dated 11.3.2019 could have been passed in relation to CC No. 1565/19 with other cases 1566/19 and 1567/19. Furthermore, it was also essential for the learned T....... + More

Cancellation of Bail granted - Smuggling - Contraband item - Section 36A(1)(d) of NDPS Act for offences under Section 8(c) punishable under Section 21(c), 22(c), 23(c), 28 and 29 read with Section 38 of the NDPS Act - HELD THAT:- The appellants’ car by which they were travelling from Omerga to Hyderabad on 11.01.2018 was intercepted by the D.R.I. officials of Hyderabad Zonal Unit near the Kamkole near Hyderabad and from the possession of the appellants 45.874 Kgs of narcotic substance was recovered. Appellants’ in the statement recorded under Section 67 of NDPS Act have stated that they have started from Omerga to Chennai in the car in which the narcotic substance was being transported. The remand of the appellants was extended from time to time till 12.07.2018 by Special Court, Hyderabad. On 11.01.2018, recovery of narcotic s....... + More

Detention order - rejection of right to represent - preliminary submission of the petitioners is that before the Advisory Board, while the petitioners have been denied right to be represented through counsel, the respondent was represented through a counsel at the hearing - HELD THAT:- The fundamental right of the petitioners under Article 14 of the Constitution of India stood vitiated when they were denied the right of legal representation before the Advisory Board in the light of the fact that the respondent was, indeed, represented through counsel Mr. Jitendra Mishra. Firstly, the petitioner was never put to notice that their request to be represented through counsel before the Advisory Board was ever accepted. In fact, their representation making that request was rejected on 22.7.2020. It is also evident from the additional affidavit ....... + More