TIOL-DDT 361 · the untouched capture
Rendered as it looked. Links and images are disabled in this view; the file itself is untouched.
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<link rel=Edit-Time-Data href="Taxindiaonline's%20DDT%20361_files/editdata.mso">
<title>Taxindiaonline's DDT 361</title>
</head>
<body >
<p><b><font color="#663399" size="3" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">TIOL-DDT
361</font></b><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><br>
12 05 2006<br>
Friday</b></font></p>
<p align=center ><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Customs
men and businessmen merge in ecstasy </b></font></p>
<p align="justify" class=textar><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Customs
is considered the most corrupt department in Russia. Last month, in a cabinet
meeting, President Putin asked, “When are we going to create order on the border?"
When are we going to stop the practice when customs units and businessmen merge
in economic ecstasy at most of the border crossing points?" What followed
was the arrest of some senior customs officers. Now the President has transferred
the Customs department to the Prime Minister. He has put the department directly
under the Prime Minister hoping to bring in some order control and discipline
in the department. Ten customs officials were charged with involvement in car
smuggling; another senior customs official was detained Thursday in Moscow on
charges of fraud involving goods imported from Georgia.</font></p>
<p align="justify" class=textar><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On
the Presidential order transferring the department, a political analyst said,
“a bureaucrat's only tool is corruption. So things will just go on as they have
before."</font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Corruption
and abuse of power, which hamper trade and taint Russia's investment reputation,
have been a major headache for all post-Soviet governments. Putin and his predecessor
Boris Yeltsin made several failed attempts to get the customs service under
control. </font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And you
thought the Indian Customs was bad!</font></p>
<p align=center ><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>No trace
of abducted officers – North East Customs and excise on pen down strike</b></font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Customs
and central excise employees of Shillong zone covering the North Eastern states
observed a day-long pen down strike to protest the abduction of two customs
officials.</font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Dharani
Bora, Superintendent and Mrinal Sharma, inspector were abducted by suspected
United Achik National Front (UANF) militants on April 26. </font></p>
<p align=center ><font color="#006600" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Indian
Milk popular in Pakistan</b></font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Pakistan
has almost doubled its powdered milk imports from India as summer demand has
shot up. Since dry milk is used in making ice cream, yoghurt, desserts, lassi
and other products, the consumption in the summer season increases substantially.
Local importers have also demanded that the government remove import duty from
dry milk because it is a basic necessity of consumers all over the country.
The prices of Indian dry milk are lower than that of other countries and the
transit time is shorter. An importer said that dry milk of an average quality
is being imported from India, keeping in view the purchasing power of the people.
Pakistan also imports dry milk from Sweden, Britain, Ireland, Holland, Ukraine
and Czechoslovakia. However, skimmed milk powder - from which ice cream is prepared
- is imported mainly from Poland, Australia, New Zealand and India.</font></p>
<p align="justify" > </p>
<P align=center><B><IMG height=62 src="http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/image/ddt/gnl_txt2.jpg" width=375></B></P>
<table width="375" border="1" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=375 border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD width="67"><IMG height=67 src="http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/image/ddt/gnl_word.jpg" width=67 align=absMiddle></TD>
<TD><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <font color="#0000FF"><strong>Stare
Decisis</strong></font><strong> - <i>Let the decision stand</i></strong></font></TD>
</TR>
</TBODY>
</TABLE></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p align=justify ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The
policy of courts to abide by or adhere to principles established by decisions
in earlier cases. </font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">It is well
settled principle of law that every quasi-judicial authority/court/Tribunal
had inherent power to review its own earlier order in order to correct the error.
The principle of <i>stare decisis</i> cannot be invoked in such a situation.
– CESTAT</font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">It is the
decisions of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts which can operate as precedents.
<i>Stare decisis</i> applies only to the decision of the highest courts. The
Central Government is not a court and its decisions are not binding precedent.
– Delhi High Court </font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The doctrine
of precedent is not applicable to an order passed by this Court rejecting a
Special Leave Petition. Any such order cannot be held to be <i>stare decisis</i>
so that it is binding on us – Supreme Court </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>I think
overruling a case or reconsidering a case is a very serious matter. Certainly,
you would have to be of the view that a case is incorrectly decided, but I think
even that is not adequate. There are some cases that you may not agree with
that should not be overruled. Stare decisis provides continuity to our system,
it provides predictability, and in our process of case-by-case decision-making,
I think it is a very important and critical concept. A judge that wants to reconsider
a case and certainly one who wants to overrule a case has the burden of demonstrating
that not only is the case indirect, but that it would be appropriate, in view
of stare decisis, to make that additional step of overruling that case</i>.
- Justice Clarence Thomas</font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font color="#FF6666" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Until
Monday with more DDT </font></p>
<p align="justify"><font color="#FF6666" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Have
a nice Weekend. </font></p>
<p align="justify"><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">vijaywrite@taxindiaonline.com</a></font></p>
</body>
</html>