Tax Law

67 students cleared NEET, studied for years, and still lost their seats.

Two state notifications mandating centralized counselling were ignored by a private medical college, and the Supreme Court held that 67 students who entered through a back door could not keep their seats even after years of study.

6 min read

8 judges were denied pension benefits. The Supreme Court just tore up the rule.

District judges elevated to the High Court were told they couldn't get the same provident fund as bar-appointed judges. The Court said: once you're a High Court judge, your past doesn't matter.

6 min read

A 10-year tax promise. A new law. The Supreme Court said the promise dies.

When Parliament enacted the GST, it extinguished a decade-old tax exemption — and the Supreme Court held that no executive promise can override a valid legislative provision.

5 min read

A 100% government-owned company. The tax still fell. He won.

A contractor built police quarters for a state housing corporation and beat a service tax demand by proving the construction was for personal use of government employees, not commercial activity.

5 min read

A power deal was approved by the Karnataka government. Then a new law changed everything.

The state electricity board and a private power company thought they had a deal. But when a regulatory commission was created, it slashed the tariff. Who decides if a contract was truly 'concluded'?

5 min read

Byju's creditor blocked from settling solo after insolvency admission

The Supreme Court says once CIRP starts, a single creditor can't cut a private deal and kill the process for everyone else.

5 min read

Can a gangster's 'advantage' be non-monetary? SC says yes

The Supreme Court held that gaining supremacy in society or within a syndicate qualifies as 'other advantage' under MCOCA, rejecting a narrow reading that limited it to financial gain.

6 min read

Can a private lawyer be a 'government officer'? Supreme Court settles it

Borrowers argued only government employees can take possession of defaulted property. The Supreme Court disagreed—using a 'functional' test.

5 min read

Can a private lawyer take possession of your property? Supreme Court says yes

Borrowers argued only government officers could seize assets under SARFAESI Act. But the Court ruled advocates are 'officers of the court' and can be appointed as commissioners.

7 min read

Cleared by tax tribunal, still charged with corruption – SC says trial must go on

The Supreme Court ruled that an Income Tax Appellate Tribunal’s clean chit does not automatically kill a criminal case for disproportionate assets. The two proceedings are fundamentally different.

5 min read

Customs can't sell goods during insolvency, Supreme Court says

In a clash between IBC and Customs Act, the apex court holds that tax authorities must file claims like other creditors and cannot recover dues by selling warehoused goods during moratorium.

5 min read

Customs dues lose priority to banks when a company is wound up

The Supreme Court says customs authorities cannot sell imported machinery to recover duty if a secured creditor like IDBI has a charge on it.

7 min read

Deleted 'setting up' from Rule 2(l). Hotels still won CENVAT credit.

The 2011 deletion of 'setting up' from Rule 2(l) was meant to bar credit for capital expenditure, but the CESTAT held that services used to build hotel premises remain eligible if they are functionally connected to the taxable output.

4 min read

Goods shipped abroad, invoice raised — still not an export under GST.

When a trader buys from an Indian manufacturer and ships directly abroad, the GST Authority says the onward sale is neither a supply of goods nor services, blocking all input tax credit claims.

5 min read

Guarantors lose: Govt can activate IBC for them alone

Personal guarantors argued the notification targeting only them was discriminatory. The Supreme Court held Parliament already created the class; the executive just switched it on.

5 min read

He secretly recorded her calls. The court said: inadmissible.

A husband argued family courts have relaxed evidence rules. The judge ruled privacy trumps relevance — even against a private party.

4 min read

It built homes for its own members. The tax department still called it a service.

A cooperative housing society built homes for its own members and faced a service tax demand until the principle of mutuality proved there was no provider-recipient relationship.

4 min read

Judge used extra evidence from protest petition. Supreme Court says: wrong procedure.

When a magistrate rejects a police closure report by relying on affidavits filed by the informant, the case must be treated as a private complaint, not a state case. The Supreme Court explains why.

5 min read

Manipur added OBC quota mid-exam. The Supreme Court said: you can't.

The Supreme Court held that a state cannot introduce a new reservation category after a recruitment notification has been issued and the selection process has begun, upholding equal opportunity over administrative convenience.

7 min read

Manipur teacher recruitment: OBC quota added after exam struck down

Supreme Court says applying OBC reservation retrospectively to a 2006 notification violated equality. Revised select list ordered within 4 weeks.

4 min read

Melting old jewellery into lumps? You lose the margin scheme.

A Karnataka advance ruling holds that melting old jewellery into lumps changes its nature under GST, blocking the margin scheme and forcing tax on full value

5 min read

OBC seat quota in local bodies struck down: triple test not met

Maharashtra's rigid 27% OBC reservation in panchayats and zilla parishads violated the 50% ceiling. The Supreme Court read down the law and ordered vacating OBC winners.

3 min read

Parking is not a bundle with your apartment. It's 18% GST, not 8%.

A West Bengal advance ruling holds that car parking is a separate supply, not part of the apartment deal, and attracts full 18% GST even after the completion certificate.

5 min read

Portal was broken, but self-assessment still binds the taxpayer.

When the GST portal failed, Bharti Airtel overpaid Rs.923 crore in cash—but the Supreme Court ruled self-assessment is independent of portal functionality, reshaping rectification rules.

6 min read

RTI-certified copy not enough for court evidence

A party tried to use a PIO-certified Xerox as secondary evidence. The court said it's still a private document—you must explain why the original is missing.

6 min read

Same factory, same chapter, different HSN code — ₹3 crore lost.

A J&K manufacturer lost its claim for GST transition compensation because its new products fell under different 8-digit HSN codes than its pre-GST goods, even though all fell under the same broad Chapter 38 heading.

6 min read

Server data in RAM must be saved, court says

A judge ordered a website operator to turn over log data stored only in temporary memory, rejecting claims that overwriting made preservation impossible.

6 min read

Signed lease. Paid premium. The State still made them pay more.

The Supreme Court ruled that a policy change in the general public interest can override private treaties with the State, even if those treaties are already concluded and money has changed hands.

7 min read

Taxman dropped the demand. The court still ruled against him.

A tax notice dropped by the department still led to a High Court directive that stopped the GST commissioner from harassing all practicing advocates in Lucknow.

5 min read

The composite supply test that decides your restaurant's GST rate on ice cream.

The Gujarat AAR ruled that a pre-manufactured ice cream sold standalone from a restaurant is a supply of goods at 18% GST, not a restaurant service at 5%.

5 min read

The Section 56 test that decides whether your GST refund interest is 6% or 9%.

The Supreme Court held that interest on delayed GST refunds is capped at 6% under Section 56, rejecting the High Court's 9% equitable rate, unless the refund arises from an appellate order that has attained finality.

5 min read

The two-condition test that killed reverse charge for foreign telecom services.

The Hyderabad Tribunal held that reverse charge on cross-border telecom services fails unless the foreign provider satisfies both the service type and the Telegraph Authority condition—a shield for multinationals facing pre-GST demands.

4 min read

Two SC candidates, one zone — and a board's appeal that rewrote the rules.

The Supreme Court restored a board's selection after the High Court misapplied the local reservation ratio and excluded a candidate on her second zone preference.

5 min read

When a judge used affidavits to reject a police closure report, the Supreme Court said: that changes everything

A magistrate can't take cognizance on a police report if he relies on extra evidence from the informant. He must treat it as a private complaint instead.

4 min read

Why the Revenue lost its appeal on classifying calcium injections as medicines for cattle.

When the Revenue argued that preservatives turned intravenous fluids into medicines, the Supreme Court applied the composition test to preserve a duty exemption for veterinary injectables.

4 min read

Why the Supreme Court dismissed a reservation writ without a single direction.

When the executive issues a binding instruction before the court can order one, the petition becomes moot — but the liberty to enforce that instruction remains alive.

5 min read

You control them daily, but you're not the employer: Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court held that operational control over secondees does not make you their employer—payroll retention, repatriation rights, and global salary policies do, triggering service tax liability.

5 min read