High Court Rulings


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

Charter-hiring rigs for drilling non-taxable absent 'right to use' transfer, 'contract' within State

HC holds that charter hire of ‘jack-up rigs’ used exclusively in the Arabian Sea for drilling operations does not amount to “transfer of right to use”, and ousts the jurisdicti...View More

Upholds Constitutional validity of mandatory appeal pre-deposit under West Bengal VAT Act

HC dismisses challenge to Constitutional validity of second provision to Section 84(1) of the West Bengal VAT Act, 2003 (‘WB VAT Act’) requiring pre-deposit of 15% of disputed tax for...View More

Upholds SCN for determining taxability of 'dealer's incentives' post change in law

HC dismisses writ petition, holds that show cause notice issued to determine whether target based ‘incentive’ offered by Maruti Udyog in form of cash / quantity discount to dealers amounts...View More