Coexistence and Application of Judicial Anti-Avoidance Rules (JAAR)

In addition to statutory GAAR, Judicial Anti-Avoidance Rules (JAAR) grounded in common-law doctrines such as "substance over form," "piercing the corporate veil," and "fiscal nullity" continue to operate in parallel within tax jurisprudence. Even in scenarios where statutory GAAR might not directly attach, tax authorities maintain the inherent power under JAAR to examine whether a transaction is a preordained, colourable device created for tax evasion. Judicial process will not accord approval or benediction to dubious methods, sham transactions, or artificial conduits that lack business rationale and serve only to strip the sovereign State of its rightful public revenue.(The authority for advance rulings Vs Tiger Global International II holdings) | 2026 INSC 60)