Legal News & Views

1) CIT vs. MAK Data Ltd (Delhi High Court) S. 271(1)(c): Surrender of income without explanation attracts penalty A survey u/s 133A was conducted on the assessee’s premises in the course of which certain documents belonged to certain entities who had applied for shares in the assessee company were found. The AO called upon the assessee to prove the nature and source of the monies received as share capital, the creditworthiness of the applicants and the genuineness of the transactions. The assessee offered Rs. 40.74 lakhs as income from other sources “to avoid litigation and to buy peace“. It was made clear that in making the surrender, there was no admission of concealment. The AO completed the assessment by adding the said sum and levied penalty u/s 271(1)(c) for furnishing inaccurate particulars of income u/s 271(1)(c). This was upheld by the CIT(A) though reversed by the Tribunal on the ground that there was no material to show any concealment and even in the penalty order it was...

The small investors are a much abused lot worldwide, perhaps nowhere more so than in a developing economy like India. The small investors are absolutely essential for the survival of a fairly under developed stock market like ours yet they are treated exactly like the politicians treat the voting public - by lip-service. The laws of the land, sloth legal system or the legal agencies are definitely not helping the matter. How can they when they are part of the same system? Take the example of "Open offers" as reported in the press. Several small investors are stuck without exit due to indefinite delays in open offers announced by acquirers of companies such as Shree Rama Multi Tech and Marg Ltd. While Shree Rama investors have been waiting for seven years, the Marg open offer was announced in October 2011. Caught in legal disputes and regulatory directives, the investors are yet to get their promised exit. Even as the offers were stuck, the prices of these shares have p...

West Bengal Land Allotment Policy Government of West Bengal Land and Land Reforms Department Land Policy Branch Writers’ Buildings, Kolkata – 700001 No. 6686-LP/1A-18/2012, Date: 26/12/2012 Whereas the State Government, its parastatals (Corporations, Development Authorities), and urban local bodies etc. have been allotting and pricing land/ other assets in line with various Departmental and other norms which often vary in their content and their applicability; 2. And whereas there is need to introduce uniformity, reduce discretion and avoid case by case decision-making to ensure transparency while dealing with public assets; 3. Now, the Governor, after careful consideration of the matter, is pleased hereby to make the following Land Allotment Policy which will be applicable to land owned or held by any Department of the State Government or agency funded by the State Government in any manner:- (i) The land allotted to any individual/ company/ institution ...

A consumer court has ruled that if a bank freezes account of a costumer in case of internet hacking or economic fraud, it cannot be treated as deficiency in service. With this observation, the Gujarat State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has quashed the order passed by Anand's consumer court, by which the Axis Bank was ordered to pay Rs 5,000 towards mental harassment and Rs 2,000 towards cost of litigation to Vijay Sonvani after the bank froze his savings account. Sonvani's savings account was blocked after somebody extracted Rs 18,000 from his account in Pune through internet hacking. Sonvani had no clue about this. When he went to withdraw money from an ATM in Ahmedabad, he found the debit facility on his debit card as blocked. On inquiry, it was revealed that the amount was siphoned off from his account on December 11, 2008. After entering some communication with the bank, Sonvani filed a complaint with a consumer forum at Anand for causing hardship ...

Writ petition is filed to seek protection against violation of a fundamental right and is usually done against the government or government controlled bodies. However, the Delhi High Court decided that  the wordings of Article 226 of the constitution is such that it would also extend to private bodies engaged in public activities and that new agencies whether print or television even if privately owned are engaged in public activities and thus come within the writ jurisdiction of High Courts. Justice Vipin Sanghi of the Delhi High Court has recently held that private news broadcaster, Aaj Taj is amenable to writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.  Hearing a petition filed against the Delhi Police, Hindustan Times and Aaj Tak, the High Court directed the news channel to pay a sum of Rs.5 lakh as compensation for the mental trauma and embarrassment suffered by a rape victim after Aaj Tak telecast a news piece containing specific details about the ...

It had to happen someday. In our opinion, rating agencies have this amazing luck particularly in countries like India to be taken seriously without having actually predicted or forewarned anything of significance. Rather, they have spectacularly failed in predicting or forewarning any of the financial disasters which have hit us in the recent past. This is a pointer to anyone looking to create hype. Get big names on board, have good media relation and you are there. However, if the US govt. is be believed, it appears that these agencies are much more than colorful backgrounds. Rather according to US govt. and at least in the US, it seems that these agencies know it all and actually choose not to disclose the knowledge as favour to their clients. (Ha!)  US Govt.on 4th Feb, filed suit against S&P rating agency accusing them partly of being partly responsible for the housing loan crash which is the catalyst for the current economic downturn. The U.S. government wants Stan...