High Court Rulings


Confirms retired VAT officer appointment as Member of Tribunal, absent pecuniary interest 

Patna HC confirms validity of appointment of retired Commercial Taxes Department official as Member (Accounts) of Tribunal u/s 9(3) of Bihar VAT Act 2005 (Vat Act); Rejecting the argument of Commercia...View More

Grants CENVAT credit refund on service exports from unregistered premises absent statutory bar

HC allows refund of unutilized CENVAT credit in respect of services exported from unregistered premises; Rejects Revenue’s reliance on Notification No. 5/2006-CE (NT), Rule 5 of CENVAT Credit Ru...View More

Food supplied by restaurant to workers at subsidized rates constitutes 'sale', not 'service' 

HC holds that food supplied by restaurant to employees at subsidized rate, would not qualify as ‘service’; Notes that to come within the purview of definition of ‘service’, cer...View More

CFS a 'custodian' of goods in possession, liable for clandestine substitution during transport 

HC upholds penalty u/s 114 of Customs Act on Container Freight Station (CFS / assessee) for clandestine substitution of goods at the time of transportation to the port of export; Rejects assessee&rsqu...View More

No 'deemed sale' of goods absent transit pass during inter-State stock transfer 

HC allows assessee’s writ petition, directs release of “air conditioner parts & coolant oil” detained by State officials for lack of transit pass despite furnishing of other lega...View More

Acceptance of liability for earlier period not valid ground for rejecting VCES application 

Bombay HC quashes order rejecting application under Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme, 2013 (VCES 2013); States that application cannot be rejected on the ground that payment of service tax wa...View More

Appeal questioning 'area based exemption' relates to "duty rate", maintainable before SC 

HC rules on maintainability of appeal u/s 35G of Central Excise Act in respect of question of availability of ‘area based exemption’ benefit under Notification No. 50/2003-CE as a new indu...View More

No excise duty interest & penalty waiver absent provision in BIFR's winding-up scheme 

HC rejects waiver of interest and penalty under Central Excise Act, absent specific mention in scheme approved by Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) for winding up of Company; No...View More

Settlement Commission cannot reject application as inadmissible, once deemed to be proceeded with

HC sets aside Settlement Commission order rejecting the applications as inadmissible post calling of report on merits of the case, as contemplated u/s 127C(3) / (4) of Customs Act; Observes that Secti...View More

Directs release of seized gold absent serving of notice within 6 months

HC directs release of gold seized at the airport by Customs authorities absent service of notice within 6 months of seizure in terms of Section 110 r/w 124 of Customs Act; HC states that it is mandato...View More