High Court Rulings

Rectification only by Authority that passed original-order; Affirms Section 74 limits vis-à-vis merger doctrine 

Bombay HC (Aurangabad Bench) rejects Road Contractor’s writ petition challenging the Jt. Commissioner’s refusal to rectify the order passed by Addl. Commissioner's order, observing that th...View More

Concessional duty-rate on ‘Crude-Palm-Kernel-Oil’ not tied to refining requirement; Department cannot read end-use condition 

Gujarat HC quashes SCN issued by the Addl. Director General, DRI alleging duty evasion of Rs. 464 crores on VVF India (Assessee) for availing concessional duty under Notification No. 12/2012 (Entry 57...View More

Question of determination benefits to non-parties left open; Leaves prospective duty-relief on 'ice-cream' undisturbed

Bombay HC, while dealing with the dispute over whether the 8% sales tax on ice-cream under the Bombay Sales Tax Act applies retrospectively or prospectively, declines to disturb the Maharashtra Sales ...View More

Dismisses appeal against CAAR ruling on Assy Guide Rails classification holding no interference warranted 

Madras HC upholds Customs Authority for Advance Ruling Mumbai’s (CAAR) classification of ‘Assy Guide Rails’ used in automobile sunroof systems, under CTH 87082900 ‘Parts and ac...View More

Additional Sales Tax cannot be levied on CST turnover; Quashes 2-decade old demand 

Madras HC quashes assessment orders levying Additional Sales Tax (AST) against Tamilnadu Telecommunications Ltd (Assessee) on inter-State sales under the CST Act, holding that AST liability is confine...View More

Allows release of attached properties; Protects bonafide purchasers from liability of vendors’ tax dues 

Madras HC dismisses State’s writ appeals and upholds the removal of encumbrances imposed on properties purchased by bonafide purchasers from the defaulting taxpayers, holding that in absence of ...View More

Directs provisional release of “body-massager” consignments; Rejects Customs’ obscenity-based classification pending uniform CBIC policy 

Delhi HC directs provisional release of consignments imported by TECHSYNC (Assessee) declared as “body massagers”, rejecting Customs’ stand that the products were mis-declared sex to...View More

Upholds classification of “Frooti” as Non-Alcoholic Beverage applying Common Parlance Test 

Chhattisgarh HC in a writ appeal, upholds the Single Judge judgment that “Frooti” is ‘non-alcoholic beverage’ within Entry 14 of Schedule II of the Chhattisgarh Entry Tax Act, ...View More

Sets aside assessment, holding enforcement officers lack authority to assess without proper delegation 

Delhi HC, in a batch of appeals quashes all assessment orders passed u/s-32 and 33 of the Delhi VAT Act, 2004 holding them to be jurisdictionally invalid as they were issued by audit/enforcement offic...View More

Quashes revival of VAT Assessment against Indian Oil- Adani JV citing statutory procedural infractions 

Orissa HC, noting “…serious flaw in application of statutory provisions..” of the OVAT Act, quashes the VAT Audit Assessment Order and the notice in Form VAT-306, issued against Ind...View More