TIOL-DDT 1788 · the untouched capture
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<p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><font color="#663399" size="3">TIOL-DDT 1788</font><br>
03.02.2012 <br>
Friday </strong></font></p>
<p align="center"><strong><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Serve Stakeholders efficiently - FM at Customs Act@50 Meet </font></strong></p>
<p align="center"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/image/stories/fm_cus.jpg" alt="Legal Corner Icon" width="480" height="235" hspace="5" border="0" align="center"></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <strong>UNION</strong> Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the modern Customs Administration should function on the principles of transparency, predictability, strong legal processes and productive use of information technology to serve the stakeholders efficiently and to enhance the competitiveness of Indian business. He was addressing a meeting to celebrate “50 years of the Customs Act 1962” at the FICCI auditorium in New Delhi yesterday. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Finance Minister asked the Customs department to enhance protection of the society against safety and security risks by developing effective risk management methods and ensuring protection of financial interests of the country. The FM released a calendar to commemorate the Heritage of Customs. He also released on this occasion a Customs Manual and an On Site Post Clearance Audit (OSPCA) Training Manual. [Our best efforts to get hold of a copy of these worthy souvenirs failed miserably] Later, the Finance Minister presented WCO certificates of Merit to the officers of the department and trade representatives. </font></p>
<p align="center"><strong><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">State is Owner of Natural Recourses - SC</font></strong></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>IN</strong> the landmark ‘2G Spectrum' judgement delivered yesterday, the Supreme Court observed, </font></p>
<blockquote>
<p align="justify"><em><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">“Even though there is no universally accepted definition of natural resources, they are generally understood as elements having intrinsic utility to mankind. They may be renewable or non renewable. They are thought of as the individual elements of the natural environment that provide economic and social services to human society and are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified natural form. A natural resource's value rests in the amount of the material available and the demand for it. The latter is determined by its usefulness to production. Natural resources belong to the people but the State legally owns them on behalf of its people and from that point of view, natural resources are considered as national assets, more so because the State benefits immensely from their value. The State is empowered to distribute natural resources. However, as they constitute public property/national asset, while distributing natural resources, the State is bound to act in consonance with the principles of equality and public trust and ensure that no action is taken which may be detrimental to public interest. Like any other State action, constitutionalism must be reflected at every stage of the distribution of natural resources. In Article 39(b) of the Constitution it has been provided that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community should be so distributed so as to best sub-serve the common good, but no comprehensive legislation has been enacted to generally define natural resources and a framework for their protection. Of course, environment laws enacted by Parliament and State legislatures deal with specific natural resources, i.e., Forest, Air, Water, Costal Zones, etc. </font></em></p>
</blockquote>
<div align="justify">
<blockquote>
<p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><em>Spectrum has been internationally accepted as a scarce, finite and renewable natural resource, which is susceptible to degradation in case of inefficient utilisation. It has a high economic value in the light of the demand for it on account of the tremendous growth in the telecom sector. Although it does not belong to a particular State, right of use has been granted to States as per international norms. </em></font></p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p align="justify"><em><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The State is the legal owner of the natural resources as a trustee of the people and although it is empowered to distribute the same, the process of distribution must be guided by the constitutional principles including the doctrine of equality and larger public good.” </font></em></p>
</blockquote>
<p align="center"><strong><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Fundamental Flaw in first-come-first-served Policy </font></strong></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>IN</strong> the same judgement, the Supreme Court held, </font></p>
<blockquote>
<p align="justify"><em><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">“There is a fundamental flaw in the first-come-first-served policy inasmuch as it involves an element of pure chance or accident. In matters involving award of contracts or grant of licence or permission to use public property, the invocation of first-come-first-served policy has inherently dangerous implications. Any person who has access to the power corridor at the highest or the lowest level may be able to obtain information from the Government files or the files of the agency/instrumentality of the State that a particular public property or asset is likely to be disposed of or a contract is likely to be awarded or a licence or permission is likely to be given, he would immediately make an application and would become entitled to stand first in the queue at the cost of all others who may have a better claim. This Court has repeatedly held that wherever a contract is to be awarded or a licence is to be given, the public authority must adopt a transparent and fair method for making selections so that all eligible persons get a fair opportunity of competition. To put it differently, the State and its agencies/instrumentalities must always adopt a rational method for disposal of public property and no attempt should be made to scuttle the claim of worthy applicants. When it comes to alienation of scarce natural resources like spectrum etc., it is the burden of the State to ensure that a non-discriminatory method is adopted for distribution and alienation, which would necessarily result in protection of national/public interest. In our view, a duly publicized auction conducted fairly and impartially is perhaps the best method for discharging this burden and the methods like first-come-first-served when used for alienation of natural resources/public property are likely to be misused by unscrupulous people who are only interested in garnering maximum financial benefit and have no respect for the constitutional ethos and values. In other words, while transferring or alienating the natural resources, the State is duty bound to adopt the method of auction by giving wide publicity so that all eligible persons can participate in the process”. </font></em></p>
</blockquote>
<p align="center"><strong><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">2G Case – CVC to Monitor Investigation by CBI, ED and Income Tax – SC </font></strong></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>THE</strong> Supreme Court was dealing with an appeal praying for appointment of a group of independent persons to assist the Court in monitoring the investigation being carried out by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department in '2G case'. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Counsel for the CBI stoutly opposed the plea. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Supreme Court observed, “ Although, initially the CBI may not have taken up the matter relating to investigation of 2G case with requisite seriousness, after 16.12.2010 it has satisfactorily conducted the investigation. Therefore, there is no justification to appoint a group of persons to directly or indirectly scrutinise or supervise the further investigation being conducted by the CBI and other agencies. However, keeping in view the nature of the case and involvement of large number of influential persons, we feel that it will be appropriate to require the Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Senior Vigilance Commissioner to render assistance to the Court in effectively monitoring the further investigation of the case. ” </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">So the Supreme Court in its judgement delivered yesterday directed: - </font></p>
<blockquote>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">++ In future copies of the report(s) of the investigation conducted by the CBI and other agencies shall be made available to the Central Vigilance Commissioner in sealed envelopes. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">++ Within next one week the Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Senior Vigilance Commissioner shall examine the report(s) and send their observations / suggestions to this Court in sealed envelopes which shall be considered along with the report(s) of the CBI and other investigating agencies. </font></p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/subCatDesc.php3?subCatDisp_Id=50&filename=legal/sc/2012/2012-TIOL-07-SC-MISC.htm" target="_blank"><strong><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">2012-TIOL-07-SC-MISC </font></strong></a></p>
<p align="center"><strong><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Case Law Analysis or Cricket Commentary? </font></strong></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>THE </strong>Vodafone case has attracted international attention and some strange (to say the least) reporting. This is how the <strong>International Tax Review</strong> reported,</font></p>
<p align="justify"><em><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Strong legal arguments were not the only thing on Vodafone's side in their triumph at the Indian Supreme Court; statistics show that a victory was inevitable. The judgment from Chief Justice SH Kapadia was just the latest tax decision he has made that favoured the taxpayer. As the table shows, over the past four years Kapadia has found 76% of tax cases in favour of the taxpayer. This is by far and above the percentages of his colleagues. </font></em></p>
<table width="90%" border="1" align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr bgcolor="#330099">
<td height="32" colspan="6" valign="top"><p align="center"><strong><font color="#FF0000" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Income tax judgments passed by Supreme Court judges*</font></strong></p></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td width="102" valign="top"><p align="center"><strong><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Name of Supreme Court judge </font></strong></p></td>
<td width="73" valign="top"><p align="center"><strong><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Assessee </font></strong></p></td>
<td width="67" valign="top"><p align="center"><strong><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Revenue </font></strong></p></td>
<td width="87" valign="top"><p align="center"><strong><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Assessee in percentage </font></strong></p></td>
<td width="87" valign="top"><div align="center"><strong><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Revenue in percentage </font></strong></div></td>
<td width="74" valign="top"><p align="center"><strong><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ratio</font></strong></p></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td valign="top"><p><strong><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Justice SH Kapadia ** </font></strong></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><strong><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">65 </font></strong></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><strong><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">29 </font></strong></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#FF0000"><strong><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">76 </font></strong></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#0000FF"><strong><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">24 </font></strong></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td width="88" height="15" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#FF0000"></td>
<td width="24" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#0000FF"></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td valign="top"><p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Justice SP Bharucha </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">72 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">101 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#FF0000"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">42 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#0000FF"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">58 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td width="40" height="15" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#FF0000"></td>
<td width="72" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#0000FF"></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td valign="top"><p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Justice Suhas Sen </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">13 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">27 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#FF0000"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">33 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#0000FF"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">67 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td width="34" height="15" bgcolor="#FF0000"></td>
<td width="80" bgcolor="#0000FF"></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td valign="top"><p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Justice Ranganathan </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">18 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">12 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#FF0000"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">60 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#0000FF"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">40 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td width="72" height="14" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#FF0000"></td>
<td width="40" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#0000FF"></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td valign="top"><p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Justice Sabyasachi Mukherjee </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">22 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">15 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#FF0000"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">59 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#0000FF"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">41 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td width="73" height="15" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#FF0000"></td>
<td width="39" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#0000FF"></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td valign="top"><p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Justice Jeevan Reddy </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">12 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">14 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#FF0000"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">46 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#0000FF"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">54 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td width="46" height="15" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#FF0000"></td>
<td width="66" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#0000FF"></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td valign="top"><p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Justice YV Chandrachud </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">10 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">12 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#FF0000"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">45 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#0000FF"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">55 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td width="48" height="15" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#FF0000"></td>
<td width="64" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#0000FF"></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td valign="top"><p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Justice K Venkataswami </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">4 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">3 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#FF0000"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">57 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#0000FF"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">43 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td width="68" height="15" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#FF0000"></td>
<td width="44" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#0000FF"></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td valign="top"><p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Justice YK Sabharwal </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">1 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">5 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#FF0000"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">17 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#0000FF"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">83 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td width="13" height="15" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#FF0000"></td>
<td width="99" bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#0000FF"></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td valign="top"><p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Justice Arijit Pasayat </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">14 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">13 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#FF0000"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">52 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#0000FF"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">48 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td width="61" height="15" bgcolor="#FF0000"></td>
<td width="53" bgcolor="#0000FF"></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td valign="top"><p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Justice GB Pattanaik </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">8 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">16 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#FF0000"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">33 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#0000FF"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">67 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td width="34" height="15" bgcolor="#FF0000"></td>
<td width="80" bgcolor="#0000FF"></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td valign="top"><p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Justice RC Lahoti </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">15 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">14 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#FF0000"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">52 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#0000FF"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">48 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td width="61" height="15" bgcolor="#FF0000"></td>
<td width="53" bgcolor="#0000FF"></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td valign="top"><p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Justice BN Kirpal </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">5 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">5 </font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#FF0000"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">50 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><p align="right"><font color="#0000FF"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">50 </font></font></p></td>
<td valign="top"><table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td width="57" height="15" bgcolor="#FF0000"></td>
<td width="57" bgcolor="#0000FF"></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
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<tr bgcolor="#CCCCFF">
<td colspan="6" valign="top"><p><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">* In favour of <br>
** Jan 1 2008 - Jan 24 2012 <br>
Source: Taxmann/Taxsutra </font></p></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The journal, as can be seen from the table, credited the source to <em>Taxmann/Taxsutra. </em></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Now can you predict a judgement based on the past verdicts of a judge? Is it fair? Are we analyzing a horse race or a cricket match? </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">A patient about to undergo an operation asked his doctor about the chances of his survival. “Hundred percent, said the doctor.” “How can you be so sure?”, asked the patient. “In this type of operations, the chances of survival, as statistics reveal, are ten percent; So far, all my nine patients have died and statistically, you are sure to survive!”, said the doctor. </font></p>
<p align="center"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><font color="#006600">Jurispruden</font><font color="#FF6633" size="5">tiol</font><font color="#006600"> – Monday's cases</font></strong></font></strong></font></p>
<p><strong><font color="#663399" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/image/stories/ddt_hammer.jpg" alt="Legal Corner Icon" width="100" height="84" hspace="5" border="0" align="left">Service Tax </font></strong></p>
<p align="justify"><strong><font color="#FF6633" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Denial of credit on invoices issued by five star hotels for renting out conference rooms - No denial of fact that appellant availed services of five star hotels for hiring conference rooms - Pre-deposit of balance amounts waived and stay granted: CESTAT </font></strong></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>PRIMA</strong> facie, there is no denial that the appellant availed services of five star hotels for conducting training programs. The main component of such service is providing conference halls that come within the meaning of ‘Mandap Keeper service'. The aggregate value of such services is the amount received by the Mandap keeper for such service. If this amount indicates the value of food separately, the service provider is eligible for claiming rebate. It appears that they have not claimed such rebate and the Revenue cannot force such a service provider to claim abatement. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><strong><font color="#663399" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Income Tax </font></strong></p>
<p align="justify"><strong><font color="#FF6633" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Whether when the assessee inherits property after demise of his mother, he is entitled to claim cost of improvement incurred by his mother for purpose of computation of long-term capital gain - YES, rules ITAT </font></strong></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>THE</strong> individual assessee had succeeded to a property on the demise of his mother in 1986. The property had been acquired by his deceased mother prior to April 1981. However due to a family dispute over the property, a family settlement was reached in September 2000, whereby the assessee sold the property in 2002-03. In his return, the assessee had offered long term capital gains. The return was processed but subsequently taken up for reassessment. The AO observed that as a result of the family dispute, the assessee did not ‘hold' the property until the date of the family settlement. Therefore, while computing long term capital gains, he held that the that assessee was not eligible for indexation of the cost of acquisition with effect from April 1981 as the assessee had become the owner consequent to a family settlement in September 2000. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><strong><font color="#663399" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Customs </font></strong></p>
<p align="justify"><strong><font color="#FF6633" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">If the imported goods have not been used for specified purposes, jurisdictional AC/DC of Central Excise is empowered to issue notice u/s 28 for recovery of Customs duty - Waiver of pre-deposit ordered and Stay granted: CESTAT </font></strong></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>AS </strong>per the condition 5 of the Notification, the procedure set out in the Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty for manufacture of Excisable Goods) Rules, 1996 is to be followed. As per Rule 8 of the Rules, the jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise shall ensure that the goods imported are used by the manufacturer for the intended purpose and in case of violation, the jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner is empowered to issue notice to recover the customs duty under Section 28 of the Customs Act. As the Commissioner of Customs is not a competent authority to issue show-cause notice, the applicants have made out a `````````strong prima facie case in their favour for complete waiver of dues adjudged. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><strong><font color="#663399" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">See our columns Monday for the judgements </font></strong></p>
<p align="justify"><font color="#FF6666" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Until Monday with more <strong>DDT </strong></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font color="#FF6666" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Have a Nice Weekend. </font></p>
<p><font color="#FF6666" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Mail your comments to</font><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <a href="mailto:vijaywrite@taxindiaonline.com"><strong>vijaywrite@taxindiaonline.com </strong></a></font></p>
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