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GST Appellate Tribunal dress code prescribed for authorised representatives, with a summer exemption from wearing a black coat.
Circulars
GST
Authorised representatives appearing before the GST Appellate Tribunal must wear their professional dress, if any, and otherwise comply with the prescribed black-coat dress code: men must appear in a close-collared or open-collared black coat with white shirt and black tie, and women in a black coat over a white sari or other white dress. During the summer season from 15 April to 31 August, the black coat may be dispensed with when appearing before a Bench of the Tribunal. The rule also clarifies that a regular employee of a party does not include a departmental officer appointed as an authorised representative, and strict compliance is required.
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Writ petition maintainability denied where final orders existed and statutory appeal, with pre-deposit, was the proper remedy.
Case-Laws
GST
A writ petition challenging search, seizure, suspension of registration, bank attachment and related proceedings was not entertained because the controversy had already moved to the final adjudication orders under the statute. Once those final orders were passed, the petitioners were required to pursue the appellate remedy, where the same grounds remained available. The Court also noted that no appeal could be treated as pending because the stated appeal had not satisfied the statutory pre-deposit requirement. In these circumstances, there was no basis to invoke writ jurisdiction again over the same subject matter, and the petition was dismissed with liberty to challenge the final orders in appeal.
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Puja samagri exemption is narrowly construed; rose water sold for ritual use was classified as taxable essential oil solution.
Case-Laws
GST
The AAR held that the puja samagri exemption is confined to the specific goods expressly listed in the notification, because the word “namely” makes the enumeration exhaustive. Rose water marketed as “Pooja Panneer” was therefore not exempt merely because it was used for ritual purposes or sold in devotional packaging. On tariff classification, the product was found not to be perfumes or toilet waters under heading 3303, and not an aqueous distillate obtained by steam distillation. On the material produced, it was classified as an aqueous solution of essential oils under tariff item 3301 9079 and subjected to GST at 18%.
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GST assessment order invalid without DIN; delayed writ entertained on terms with partial tax deposit and remand
Case-Laws
GST
An assessment order under the GST regime was held vitiated because it did not bear a Document Identification Number, following the Court's earlier view that absence of a DIN invalidates the order. The order was therefore set aside and the matter remanded for fresh assessment after hearing the taxpayer. On the delayed writ challenge and disputed portal service, the Court did not finally resolve the service controversy but held that petitions attacking assessment orders with patent irregularities could be entertained on terms. Relief was made conditional on deposit of 20% of the disputed tax, with the period of writ pendency excluded for limitation and liberty preserved to raise all contentions before the Assessing Officer.
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Proof of demand is essential in corruption cases; recovery alone cannot sustain conviction without reliable acceptance evidence.
Case-Laws
GST
Proof of demand is the gravamen of offences under Sections 7 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and recovery of tainted money alone is insufficient without reliable evidence of demand and voluntary acceptance. The Supreme Court upheld the acquittal because the prosecution failed to establish the foundational facts beyond reasonable doubt, material witnesses did not support its case in material particulars, and the statutory presumption under Section 20 could not be invoked. The conspiracy charge also failed because there was no cogent evidence of prior agreement or meeting of minds. The Court further accepted an adverse inference from the non-production of the alleged tape-recorded conversation and declined to interfere with the High Court's plausible view.
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GST on temple licence to collect human hair held taxable as a service; goods exemption did not apply.
Case-Laws
GST
AAR admitted a registered recipient's advance ruling application, relying on Calcutta HC authority that a registered person can seek ruling on merits. It held that the temple's grant of licence to collect human hair from its premises was a separate commercial arrangement, distinct from devotees' religious tonsuring, and constituted a supply of service under GST because the temple transferred a right for consideration in the course of business. The exemption for human hair as goods did not apply because the transaction was not a sale of goods but a licensed service. The question whether the temple was business premises was not answered as it fell outside the limited scope of advance ruling jurisdiction.
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Criminal liability of advocates for professional acts rejected; HC quashes proceedings where counsel filed a statutory appeal
Case-Laws
GST
An advocate cannot be prosecuted for conspiracy merely because he filed a statutory appeal and tendered pre-deposit while acting for a client in a professional capacity. The HC held that such conduct, even if the chosen appellate route was later considered legally unacceptable by the tax officer, remained a legal act undertaken as counsel and did not by itself establish any nexus with the client's business or an agreement to commit an offence. Treating professional advocacy as conspiracy would undermine the independence of the Bar and the right to legal assistance. The FIR, charge-sheet and cognizance order were quashed insofar as they related to the advocate.
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Omission of Rule 96(10) ended pending refund proceedings, and demands based solely on that rule were quashed.
Case-Laws
GST
Omission of Rule 96(10) of the CGST Rules, without any saving clause, meant that pending proceedings based solely on alleged contravention of that rule could not continue. The Court applied Rayala Corporation and Kolhapur Canesugar Works to hold that Section 6 of the General Clauses Act does not preserve proceedings after omission of a rule, as distinct from repeal of a Central Act or Regulation. As the order-in-original and consequential demands rested entirely on the omitted rule, they were unsustainable and were quashed.
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Confiscation proceedings require prior tax determination; show cause notice issued without it was held without jurisdiction.
Case-Laws
GST
A High Court held that confiscation proceedings under Section 130 read with Section 122 of the Act, 2017 cannot be initiated merely for an alleged violation of Section 35 without prior determination of tax liability under Sections 73 or 74. Because the show cause notice was issued without satisfying that jurisdictional requirement, it was held to be without jurisdiction. Interference at the notice stage was therefore justified, and the show cause notice and consequential confiscation order were quashed, with liberty to the department to proceed afresh in accordance with law.
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Plastic packing article classification places PP boxes under 39231090 and lids, caps, covers under 39235090.
Case-Laws
GST
Polypropylene packing boxes were treated as plastic packing articles under Chapter 39 because the material used was polypropylene and the manufacturing process produced moulded plastic goods. On that basis, the boxes were classified under heading 3923 and, as they did not fit any more specific sub-heading for boxes, cases or crates, were placed in tariff item 39231090. The associated plastic stoppers, lids, caps and covers were separately classified under the specific sub-heading for plastic closures in heading 3923 and, absent a more specific entry, under tariff item 39235090.
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Statutory maximum penalty under GST cannot be doubled across CGST and SGST for the same contravention.
Case-Laws
GST
Penalty under Section 125 of the GST Act could not be imposed separately under CGST and SGST beyond the statutory maximum for the same contravention. The High Court held that a penalty of Rs. 25,000 under CGST plus a further Rs. 25,000 under SGST was not justified where the provision prescribed a maximum penalty of Rs. 25,000. The original penalty order was therefore unsustainable, and the consequential appellate order also could not stand. Both orders were set aside, and the matter was remanded to the competent authority for fresh consideration in accordance with law.
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Import of services and place of supply rules determine reverse charge GST on foreign commission and logistics payments.
Case-Laws
GST
Commission paid to a foreign director for marketing and sourcing export orders was held taxable under reverse charge because the director supplied services from outside India, the recipient was in India, and the place of supply under Section 13(2) was India, making it an import of services. Commission paid to foreign marketing agents was held not taxable because they were treated as intermediary services and, under Section 13(8), the place of supply was outside India, so the import of services condition failed. Charges paid to foreign clearing and forwarding agents for arrival, customs clearance and terminal handling services rendered abroad were held taxable under reverse charge as import of services.
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Advance ruling barred when the same input tax credit issue was already pending in enforcement proceedings.
Case-Laws
GST
Advance ruling was barred where the same input tax credit question was already pending in enforcement proceedings against the applicant. The Authority held that, under the proviso to section 98(2), an advance ruling cannot be admitted on a question already pending in proceedings under the Act in the applicant's case. Because the jurisdictional authority had already initiated action on admissibility of input tax credit for construction of the hotel building, and the applicant did not dispute that fact, the application was rejected without any ruling on the merits.
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Common parlance classification keeps laundry soap outside toilet soap entry, so it attracts the higher GST rate.
Case-Laws
GST
Laundry soap was treated as distinct from toilet soap under the common parlance test and the Customs Tariff structure, because toilet soap is for personal cleansing while laundry soap is for washing clothes, and BIS specifications showed material differences in composition and characteristics. Occasional dual use did not change the product identity, so laundry soap could not be brought within the concessional entry for toilet soap. Accordingly, laundry soap bars weighing less than 500 grams were classified under tariff item 34011942 as other soap and attracted GST at 9% CGST and 9% SGST under serial no. 66 of Schedule II, rather than the concessional rate for toilet soap.
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Mandatory arrest documentation and grounds of arrest requirements under GST law must be strictly complied with, or remand fails.
Case-Laws
GST
Arrest under the CGST Act was held unlawful where the arrest memo did not properly disclose the grounds of arrest, the grounds were not shown as an annexure, the place of arrest was omitted, and electronic DIN-backed communication was not established. The Court found the later system-generated form prima facie suspicious and treated these defects as non-compliance with mandatory arrest procedure. On that basis, the detention and remand were declared illegal and unconstitutional, the remand order was quashed, and liberty was given to proceed afresh in accordance with law.
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GST appellate filing procedure tightened with committee review, authorization steps, and online defect-cure timelines for departmental cases.
Circulars
GST – States
The circular prescribes the workflow for departmental appeals, cross-objections and replies before the GST Appellate Tribunal and its Principal Bench. It requires zone-wise scrutiny of adverse appellate orders by a committee, opinion by the relevant Joint Commissioner or Additional Commissioner within fixed timelines, and Commissioner authorization before filing. Draft appeal memoranda must be prepared in English at the originating office level, vetted by the State Representative, and filed online with defect rectification ensured. It also sets a mechanism for dropping cases, applies the same procedure where taxpayers file appeals, and assigns representative authority subject to monetary limits, while preserving filing where substantial questions of law arise and superseding earlier instructions.
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Transit State GST powers allow inspection only; detention and penalty cannot be imposed without tax incidence or local supply.
Case-Laws
GST
Under GST, a transit State may intercept, inspect and physically verify goods in movement, but that regulatory power does not extend to detention or penalty where the transaction neither originates in nor terminates in that State and no tax is payable there. Cross-empowerment under the State and Central Acts, read with the IGST framework, operates only between authorities dealing with the same State and taxable transaction; it does not authorise one State's GST officers to penalise an inter-State movement passing through its territory. A valid e-way bill and tax invoice, without any allegation of bogus documents or local supply, require only reporting of any documentation defect to the competent authorities in the relevant originating or destination State.
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Odisha may attract Rs 25,000-30,000 cr in power investments after policy shift
GST
Dated:- 26-5-2026
PTI
Bhubaneswar, May 26 (PTI) Odisha could attract investments worth Rs 25,000-30,000 crore in the power sector over the next six to 12 months after the state moved to align with the Centre's policy on concessional power allocation from thermal plants, an industry body official said.

The state government is set to mandate the supply of 5 per cent of capacity from newly commissioned thermal power plants at variable charges, replacing its earlier policy that required developers to allocate 12-14 per cent of capacity at concessional rates for state consumption.

Industry executives said the earlier policy had discouraged fresh investments despite Odisha's abundant coal reserves and strategic advantages, including port access and skilled manpower availability.

Odisha has all the enabling factors for power sector growth, but the higher mandatory allocation of power at var

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such as Jindal Power, Vedanta, and Adani evaluating opportunities in the state.

According to the industry body, the policy divergence led investors to favour neighbouring Chhattisgarh, which attracted over Rs 1.5 lakh crore in thermal power investments and added more than 16 GW of capacity over the past decade. Odisha, by comparison, saw less than 4 GW of new capacity and investments below Rs 40,000 crore.

Companies, including Jindal Power, Vedanta and Adani Group, are now evaluating investment opportunities in the state, Keshari said.

He said rising project costs had made the earlier concessional supply obligations increasingly burdensome. Thermal power project costs have risen to around Rs 15 crore per MW from about Rs 5 crore earlier, pushing fixed costs to nearly Rs 4 per unit from around Re 1 previously.

As a result, the tariff impact on other consumers from concessional supply obligations has increased to about 55 paise per unit from roughly 14 paise earlier, affectin

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key power investment destination,” he said.

Explaining the financial implications of the earlier policy, Keshari said that thermal power project costs have sharply escalated – from around Rs 5 crore per MW earlier to nearly Rs 15 crore today. Consequently, fixed costs have risen from approximately Re 1 per unit to nearly Rs 4. Under the earlier framework, concessional supply obligations led to a marginal tariff impact of around 14 paise per unit for other consumers. However, at current capital costs, this impact increases significantly to about 55 paise per unit, affecting project viability.

Addressing concerns over potential revenue loss to the state due to its moving to a 5 per cent slab, Keshari described such apprehensions as largely notional.

“In the absence of investment, there is no revenue foregone. Moreover, even with the shift to a 5 per cent allocation, the state's actual receivables remain broadly unchanged given the increase in fixed costs,” he said.

He furthe

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Composite tax assessment orders covering multiple financial years are invalid; separate year-wise proceedings are required.
Case-Laws
GST
A single show-cause notice or composite assessment order cannot validly cover more than one tax period once the annual return due date has been reached; each financial year must be adjudicated separately. Applying an earlier Division Bench view, the HC set aside the impugned Order in Original because it covered four financial years in one order. The matter was remitted for fresh proceedings year-wise, with liberty to initiate separate proceedings for each assessment year, and the intervening period was directed to be excluded for limitation. All other grounds of challenge were left open.
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Statutory appellate remedy preserved after portal glitch, with fresh filing permitted and delay condoned
Case-Laws
GST
The High Court declined to examine the merits of the challenge to the show cause notice and ex parte adjudication order, holding that the petitioner had already attempted to pursue the statutory appellate remedy and had made the required pre-deposit. As the appeal could not be uploaded on the portal because of a technical glitch, the Court directed the petitioner to file the appeal afresh under the proviso to Rule 108 of the CGST Rules, 2017, permitted all grounds to be raised before the appellate authority, and condoned the delay in filing. The writ petition was disposed of in favour of pursuing the statutory remedy.
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Judicial review of arrest under special statutes is limited to compliance with safeguards, not sufficiency of evidence.
Case-Laws
GST
Judicial review of arrest under special statutes is limited to examining compliance with statutory and constitutional safeguards, not the sufficiency of the material supporting the arresting authority's belief. On the record, the Court noted that reasons to believe and grounds of arrest were documented, digitally signed, served in Hindi, and acknowledged, while arrest intimation was also communicated to the petitioner's wife; it therefore found no violation of Articles 21 or 22. The remand order was upheld because the Magistrate expressly recorded compliance with Sections 47 and 48 of the BNSS and found the arrest justified, so the objection that it was non-speaking or contrary to natural justice failed.
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Confiscation jurisdiction fails where tax liability is undetermined and the show cause notice is issued without lawful authority.
Case-Laws
GST
The HC held that a writ petition can be entertained at the show cause notice stage where the notice is alleged to be without jurisdiction, and rejected the objection to maintainability on that basis. It further held that confiscation proceedings under Section 130 of the Act, 2017 cannot be initiated before determination of tax liability under Sections 73 or 74, and that a notice under Section 130 cannot rest on an alleged breach of record-keeping requirements under Section 35 alone. The impugned show cause notice and consequential confiscation order were therefore quashed, with liberty to the department to proceed afresh in accordance with law and the refund claim left open.
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Regular bail in GST fake-input-tax-credit prosecution granted after completion of investigation and prolonged custody.
Case-Laws
GST
In a GST fake-input-tax-credit prosecution under Section 132(1)(b) and 132(1)(c) of the CGST Act, the HC granted regular bail after noting that investigation was complete, the complaint had been filed, charges had been framed, and the rival allegations were matters for trial. The Court also considered the petitioner's custody of about six months and the likelihood of a prolonged trial. On that basis, it found a case for bail while leaving the merits of the accusations to be decided at trial, subject to furnishing bail and surety bonds to the satisfaction of the trial court or Duty Magistrate.
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GST prosecution without prior assessment not barred; bail granted on completed investigation and documentary evidence.
Case-Laws
GST
Absence of assessment proceedings under Sections 73 and 74 of the CGST Act did not bar criminal prosecution under Section 132, because those provisions concern assessment of the alleged violation and any favourable finding there may only bear on the prosecution. Bail was then granted because pre-trial detention is not punitive, the presumption of innocence continued to operate, the case rested mainly on documentary and electronic material, investigation was complete, the complaint had been filed, the offence was triable by a Magistrate, the maximum sentence was limited, and no exceptional circumstance showed risk of tampering, intimidation, absconding, or subversion of justice.
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Advance ruling appeals: court treats 90-day limit as directory and rejects limitation, locus, and filing objections
Case-Laws
GST
A High Court considered preliminary objections to departmental appeals against an advance ruling and upheld their maintainability. It held that the 90-day period for passing the appellate order under Section 101(2) is directory, operating as an outer time limit and not a jurisdictional bar that nullifies the appeal on expiry. It also accepted the actual dates of communication for limitation purposes, found condonation competent where filed within the extended period, held that separate CGST and SGST officers had statutory appellate locus, and treated manual filing as a procedural issue not defeating the appeal. The Court further rejected estoppel and natural justice objections.
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