Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate, Co-Founder & Legal Head, RB Law CorpDate: 30/04/2026 Introduction: When Labels Collide with Legal Reality One of the recurring themes under GST litigation is the tendency to determine taxability based on nomenclature rather than the true nature of a transaction. This issue becomes particularly significant in…
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Director’s Liability Revisited: Supreme Court Clarifies the Limits of Vicarious Responsibility Across Fiscal Laws
Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate, Co-Founder & Legal Head, RB LawCorpDate: 28/04/2026 Introduction: When Responsibility Is Assumed Without Role In an era of heightened regulatory scrutiny and aggressive enforcement, directors are increasingly being drawn into litigation for acts carried out in the name of the company. This expanding net of liability…
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Legislative Competence and the Limits of State Excise Department
Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate & Co-Founder, RB LawCorpDate: 15/04/2026 Introduction: When Power Extends Beyond Its Source In public law, every exercise of power-whether legislative, executive, or delegated-must trace its origin to constitutional authority. Yet, in practice, regulatory frameworks often expand in the name of control and compliance, sometimes stepping beyond…
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Everyday GST Fixes under FA, 2026
Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate | Co-Founder & Legal Head, RB LawCorpDate: 01/04/2026 Introduction: From Structural Reform to Practical Efficiency The enactment of the Finance Act, 2026 marks another step in the steady evolution of India’s GST regime. Unlike the pre-GST era, where Union Budgets served as the primary vehicle for…
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Doctrine of Merger in Tax Litigation: Navigating Finality, Precedent and SLP Jurisprudence under GST
Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate | Co-Founder & Legal Head, RB LawCorpDate: 25/03/2026 Introduction: When Finality Is Misunderstood in Tax Litigation In the architecture of tax litigation, where disputes traverse multiple forums ranging from adjudicating authorities to appellate bodies, tribunals, High Courts and ultimately the Supreme Court, the question that often…
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Input Service Distributor under GST: Madras High Court Clarifies the Interplay between Entitlement and Distribution of ITC
Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate | Co-Founder & Legal Head, RB LawCorpDate: 20/03/2026 Introduction: When Procedure Challenges Substance The Goods and Services Tax (GST) framework was designed to ensure a seamless flow of input tax credit (ITC) across the supply chain. However, as the law has evolved in its application, procedural…
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GST and Expatriate Employees – They Are Employees First
Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate | Co-Founder & Legal Head, RB LawCorpDate: 17/03/2026 Introduction: When Employment Is Mistaken for Supply The taxation of cross-border employment arrangements under GST has been a recurring area of dispute, particularly in cases involving multinational corporations deploying expatriate employees in India. A key controversy has been…
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Rooh Afza, Residuary Entries and the Revival of Classification Principles: A Landmark VAT Ruling by the Supreme Court
Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate | Co-Founder & Legal Head, RB LawCorpDate: 05/03/2026 Introduction: When Classification Determines Tax Fate Classification disputes have long occupied a central place in indirect tax jurisprudence, often determining the fiscal fate of entire industries. The recent decision of the Supreme Court in Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories vs…
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Regulation is not Commerce: Why Statutory Fees collected by Regulators cannot be taxed under GST
Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate & Co-Founder, RB LawCorpDate: 13/02/2026 Introduction: When Regulation Is Mistaken for Revenue Few debates under GST have generated as much conceptual confusion as the attempt to tax statutory or regulatory fees collected by bodies discharging sovereign functions. At the heart of this controversy lies a foundational constitutional question:…