TIOL-DDT 289 · the untouched capture
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<html> <head> <title>Untitled Document</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#663399" size="3">TIOL-DDT 289</font><br> 24 01 2006<br> Tuesday</b></font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>NTT grounded – stayed by several High Courts</b></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The National Tax Tribunal which was notified in the first week of the year by the Government has again run into troubled waters. At least three High Courts – Punjab and Haryana, Orissa and Madras have stayed the implementation of the Act – at least partially. But this partial stay is paralytic. The P&H High Court has stayed Section 23 of the Act which requires the High Courts to transfer their cases to the NTT, while the Madras High Court has stayed the constitution of the Tribunal.<br> <br> The Madras High Court has granted the interim stay on a PIL by the Madras Bar Association. The petitioners stated that the Tribunal would take away the jurisdiction of High Courts to hear appeals on questions of law from the decision of the tribunals – ITAT and CESTAT. They argued that it was another attempt at tribunalisation of justice and sought to decimate the jurisdiction of courts and enlarge executive influence through quasi-judicial tribunals and they were being created not to improve administration of justice but to create post-retirement opportunities for civil servants. The petitioners seriously challenged the government figures of pendency in High Courts and also sought to declare Article 323 B of the Constitution ultra vires to the extent it permitted taking away judicial functions from High Courts and vested them in Tribunals not under judicial control.<br> <br> The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the operation of Section 23 of the Act. As per this Section all the cases pending before any High Court are to be transferred to the National Tax Tribunal. The petitioners have challenged the constitutional validity of the NTT as it does not maintain the independence of the judiciary from the executive. The Finance and Law secretaries who are themselves the litigants are members of the selection committee to appoint members of the Tribunal. This is not conducive to impartial functioning of the NTT according to the petitioners. They have also pointed out that the High Courts will continue to have Wirt Jurisdiction even after the National Tax Tribunal is established.<br> <br> So those who are eager to join the NTT and those who are eager to appear before the NTT will have to wait for some more time. </font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <b>DGFT amends HOP</b></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The DGFT has amended the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I) to modify the “The Greater Mysore Chamber of Industry” to “Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce” in the list agencies authorized to issue Certificate of Origin. Further the Aayaat Niryaat Form is amended to deleted sl.no.4 in para 4.1 the words, “Self-certified copy of RBI approval in cases where non-resident interest/holding in the firm/company exists with repatriation benefits”<br> <br> <a href="http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/subCatDesc.php3?subCatDisp_Id=47&filename=notification/dgft/2005/dgft05pn083.htm">PUBLIC NOTICE No. 83/(RE-2006) 2004-09, Dated: January 20, 2006</a></font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) by Multi-State Co-operative Societies – RBI instructions</b></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">RBI has decided to allow Multi-State Co-operative Societies engaged in manufacturing activity to raise ECB. The proposals for ECB by Multi-State Co-operative Societies engaged in manufacturing activity would be considered by the Reserve Bank under the Approval Route, provided :<br> <br> i. the Co-operative Society is financially solvent,<br> <br> ii. the Co-operative Society submits its up-to-date audited balance sheet and<br> <br> iii. the proposal complies with all other parameters of ECB guidelines such as recognised lender, permitted end-use, average maturity period, all-in-cost ceiling etc. as mentioned in paragraph 1 (B) of the circular dated August 01, 2005, referred to above.<br> <br> <a href="http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/subCatDesc.php3?subCatDisp_Id=49&filename=notification/rbi/2005/rbi05cir023.htm">CIRCULAR NO. 23, Dated: January 23, 2006</a></font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Crude prices a risk to economy - FM</b></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Drowned in the cacophony of Rahul mantra in the AICC Plenary in Hyderabad, there was of course serious statements made by serious persons like our Finance Minister. He said that High crude oil prices pose a risk to the Indian economy but added that he expected economic growth to exceed 7 per cent in the fiscal year ending March 2006. He said, "There are some risks (to the economy) and I want you to be aware of the risks. The first risk is crude oil”. "I have been repeatedly saying that this year we'll show growth not less than 7 per cent," a confident Mr. Chidambaram said with his patent smile adding, "I hope to say with a smile on my face that growth was higher than 7 per cent. That would make everyone happy because that is the growth that is the antidote to poverty." Maybe the only one in the audience who understood what he was saying was Dr. Man Mohan Singh. The rest of the restive crowd only wanted pearls of wisdom from the great Rahul Gandhi who modestly admitted that he was still in the learning process.</font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Now a mobile ATM – inaugurated by FM</b></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The FM found time off from the Congress plenary to inaugurate Andhra Bank’s mobile ATM. The ATMobile works on advanced CDMA technology and is designed with inbuilt security features, especially to cater to rural needs.</font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>DAYS OF THE YOUNG - WHO ARE THE YOUNG MPs?</b></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The only thing of serious consequence in the Congress plenary was the demand to give the youngsters their due role in party and government - read that as give Rahul Gandhi his due role. Rahul Gandhi is certainly not the youngest of them but given the composition of the Indian Cabinet where the Health Minister Dr. Ramdoss at 38 is the youngest minister, he is young enough. Both the youngish looking Maran and Selja are past forty while the more youngish looking Chidambaram is past sixty with many of them on the wrong side of seventy. The Congress has ten members in Lok Sabha who are less than forty, but not one of them is a minister but they are all big names with the youngest of them Deepender Singh Hooda, sachin Pilot and Milind Deora being less than thirty. The other big names with small ages below forty are Priya Dutt at 39, Rahul Gandhi at 36, Navin Jindal at 36, Jitin Prasad at 33, Jyothiraditya Scindia at 35 and some small names likes Tejeshwini at 39 and Balashowry at 38. It will be certainly a good idea to consider some of these youngsters for Cabinet posts instead of some of those fossilized old men we have in the Cabinet. If the very old can mess up the country, shouldn't the youngsters be given a chance?</font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Greek and Latin – DDT’s new feature</b></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today’s phrase: <font color="#663399"><b><i>mutatis mutandis</i></b></font>.<br> <br> A friend who is a leading lawyer and noted writer called up the other day to compliment DDT for the new feature <b>Greek and Latin</b>. I asked him the meaning of the phrases <i>mutatis mutandis</i>. He told me that it means identical application. Unfortunately it does not mean that. On the contrary it actually means with necessary changes. It means “The necessary changes having been made; having substituted new terms; with respective differences taken into consideration”; “With the necessary changes in points of detail; With such change as may be necessary” <br> .<br> <font color="#663399"><b>"If the Revenue satisfies the Court that the case falls strictly within the provisions of the law, the subject can be taxed. If, on the other hand, the case is not covered within the four corners of the taxing statute no tax can be imposed by inference or by analogy or by trying to probe into the intentions of the legislature and by considering what was the substance of the matter”</b></font><br> <br> <b>Supreme Court of India in AV Fernandez v. State of Kerala, AIR 1957 SC 657<br> </b><br> <font color="#FF6666"><b>Until tomorrow with more DDT<br> <br> Have a nice day.<br> <br> Mail your comments to</b></font> <a href="vijaywrite@taxindiaonline.com">vijaywrite@taxindiaonline.com </a></font></p> </body> </html>