Supreme Court’s tax bench is back

The return of the bench can also be part of chief justice T.S. Thakur’s drive to reduce pendency in the top court 

 The Supreme Court’s tax bench, dedicated to hearing tax-related issues, is back.

The bench comprising justices A.K. Sikri and Rohinton F. Nariman was introduced during the tenure of chief justice H.L. Dattu last year to ensure quick disposal of tax cases.
After taking a small hiatus of two months after chief justice T.S. Thakur took over in December last year, the bench has been sitting on Mondays and Fridays at 2pm since 4 March.
“I guess it’s back by popular demand! I don’t know the exact reasons of course but given how happy the Bar was with the functioning of the Tax Bench, I suppose that may have been a factor in its restoration,” said Alok Prasanna Kumar, senior resident fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.
In an analysis for Mint , Kumar wrote that this bench delivered 197 judgments in 2015, roughly the same number as was done in the three years before 2015 (206 judgments). A total of 518 connected cases were disposed of through these judgments and various orders.
The tax bench was largely considered to be successful at the time, and it was hoped that even after Dattu’s retirement, the bench would continue.
Lawyer Balbir Singh reportedly said, “I hope the new Chief (Justice of India) will also come up with some plan like this and can form a separate bench to focus just on direct tax this time.”
The return of the bench can also be part of CJI Thakur’s drive to reduce pendency in the top court. It was one of the promises he made as he began his tenure. In order to bring down the number of pending cases, in January, Thakur set up constitution benches and three-judge benches to hear cases every Monday and Friday.
Sunil Jain, tax partner at law firm J. Sagar Associates, welcomed the move. “Of course, a dedicated bench is very good. It will look at disposing cases faster, especially since there are a large number of pending cases,” he said.
However, Jain noted that the apex court as such has to be credited with handling varied laws and unraveling complex legal issues.
“But even before this bench (was formed), you cannot fault a very large number of judgments of the Supreme Court,” Jain said, adding, “Personally, I am enamoured by their skill. All Supreme Court judges are seasoned jurists who end up looking at various kinds of laws every day. They have a very mature reading of the law and disentangle for us very diverse laws.”
Why the tax bench is back is anybody’s guess, but it certainly speaks of the competence of the judges who have been assigned the task.
“Universal opinion was that we had two very good judges who delivered very clear judgements on the law,” Kumar said.
Lawyer Harish Salve also agreed. In the February report referred above, he said, “Tax is a specialist field and terse judgments to the point are always better precedents. General comments in long judgements create problems. This bench was superb in their grasp and in their judgements.”
The bench decided issues regarding whether tax liability would pass on to the legal heirs of an assessee who died (no for indirect taxes, yes for direct taxes), on excise valuation and anti-dumping duties.

Rajasthan becomes first to pass ‘titling’ law

Rajasthan becomes first to pass ‘titling’ law
Vasundhra Raje-led govt in Rajasthan has managed legislative approval for a landmark legislation which will provide statutory backing to land records
The Vasundhra Raje-led government in Rajasthan has passed a landmark legislation providing statutory backing to land records, effectively guaranteeing land and property ownership.

This will create an efficient and transparent modern land market, provide certainty of tenure, and end litigation that often mires development projects. Once an individual is accorded legitimate rights to land, which at present can be disputed, their ability to trade these rights improves dramatically.

The legislation, The Rajasthan Urban Land (Certification Of Titles) Bill, 2016 was passed by the state assembly through a voice vote on Tuesday.

The assembly also passed another law related to land acquisition, the Rajasthan Land Pooling Schemes Bill.

There have been some reports of the second bill, almost none of the first, and more radical, reform.

Previously, the Raje government had pioneered amendments to labour laws, which were subsequently adopted by other states and eventually even the union government.

It is likely that other states will pass similar titling laws, much in the same way they rushed to reform their own labour laws after Rajasthan did so.

A titling law is both consumer- and industry-friendly, and also empowers poor, often marginal farmers.

Till the Rajasthan law was passed, India did not guarantee titles.

The only proof of ownership was (and, in other states, still is) proof of a transaction between a buyer and a seller or property tax receipts.

All these can be legally challenged, and usually are, holding up both industrial and development projects, from hardware parks to low-cost housing.

“The bill will boost land acquisition in the state and also benefit authorities as no capital expenditure will be required from their end,” said a senior Rajasthan government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The second legislation, Rajasthan Land Pooling Schemes Bill provides for easy aggregation of small land holdings.

It argues that land holdings in Rajasthan are small and in irregular parcels and that this impedes the development of adequate infrastructure.

“Thus if schemes are designed for large parcels of land, more efficient and effective planning can be achieved,” it adds

The bill provides for land for infrastructural development and enables the government to consolidate small land holdings. The land holders in return will get an equivalent share of development land.

There are other advantages as well -- most notably, better, and smart urban planning.

“This will help in developing infrastructure as per the master plan. The land required for development will be shared among all the land owners in the area. People in the area will contribute equivalent land and they will get developed land in the same proportion,” said Pradeep Kapoor, senior town planner, ministry of urban development and housing, Rajasthan.

Kapoor, who is also in charge of work related to smart cities, said: “The government will try as far as possible to allocate land close to where it has been taken from.”

The bill says, “construction of new building, new structure or new installation that may be used for residential, commercial, public and semi-public, industrial, warehousing purposes shall not be deemed to be an operational construction within the meaning of this clause”

Rajasthan’s titling reform comes at a time when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has given a push for urbanization with various schemes including development of smart cities, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation and housing for all.

In 2014, the Rajasthan government took the lead in pushing labour reforms that sought to give companies greater flexibility in hiring and firing of employees and make it tougher for registration of labour unions, seeking to attract greater investment.

Partnering to Explore New Possibilities in Diabetes Research

The Minister of State for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Shri Y.S. Chowdary, presided over the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signing ceremony between the Drug Discovery Research Centre (DDRC)and Revelations Biotech Pvt. Ltd. (RBPL), a Hyderabad based Research and Development Company. DDRC is a niche Centre of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) Faridabad, of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. The research collaboration will focus on developing new approaches for diagnosis and treatment of Diabetes.

CSIR Features in the Thomson Reuters Top 50 Indian Innovator Companies and Research Organizations for the Year 2015

CSIR Features in the Thomson Reuters Top 50 Indian Innovator Companies and Research Organizations for the Year 2015

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) features in the Thomson Reuters top 50 Indian Innovator companies and research organizations for the year 2015. The Top 50 Indian Innovators lead the country in innovation output. They are a group of businesses and research institutions that develop, recognize and protect great ideas and use it to their full potential.

Thomson Reuters India Innovation Awards honors the most innovative academic institutions and commercial enterprises headquartered in India for their spirit of innovation in R&D as it relates to Indian patent publications. Thomson Reuters 2015 India Innovation Awards is based on research and analysis done using the Derwent World Patents Index, the world’s most trusted and authoritative value-added patent database. Data from 2010-2014 was used for the analysis. The metrics used are patent volume, grant success rate, globalization, and citation influence. This analysis is done using proprietary Thomson Reuters data and tools. The threshold for inclusion in the Top 50 Indian innovators is at least 25 patents published during the period 2010-2014.

Six innovators from the top 50 list have also been selected as the recipients of the Thomson Reuters India Innovation Awards 2015 across three different industrial sectors: Corporate-Pharmaceuticals, Corporate-Hi Tech., and Academic & Research Institutions.

CSIR was also the recipient of the Thomson Reuters India Innovation Awards 2013 in the category of Hi-Tech Academic & Government.

CSIR, constituted in 1942 by a resolution of the then Central Legislative assembly, is an autonomous body registered under the Registration of Societies Act XXI of 1860. Known for its cutting-edge R&D knowledgebase in diverse S&T areas, CSIR is a contemporary R&D organization, having pan-India presence, with a dynamic network of 38 national laboratories, 39 outreach centers, 3 Innovation Complexes and 5 units.

CSIR covers a wide spectrum of science and technology – from radio and space physics, oceanography, geophysics, chemicals, drugs, genomics, biotechnology and nanotechnology to mining, aeronautics, instrumentation, environmental engineering and information technology. It provides significant technological intervention in many areas with regard to societal efforts, which include environment, health, drinking water, food, housing, energy, farm and non-farm sectors. Further, CSIR’s role in S&T human resource development is noteworthy.

Pioneer of India’s intellectual property movement, CSIR today is strengthening its patent portfolio to carve out global niches for the country in select technology domains. CSIR is granted 90% of US patents granted to any Indian publicly funded R&D organization. On an average CSIR files about 200 Indian patents and 250 foreign patents per year. About 9% of CSIR patents are licensed - a number which is above the global average. Amongst its peers in publicly funded research organizations in the world, CSIR is a leader in terms of filing and securing patents worldwide.

The next challenge that the Institution places before itself is to convert this wealth of innovation for societal and industrial outcomes much beyond the present. 

Mission is to Achieve One Nation, One Grid, One Price:

Government Mission is to Achieve One Nation, One Grid, One Price: Shri Piyush Goyal

Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy has said that the Government’s mission is to achieve one nation, one grid, and one price. While speaking at an Energy Conclave, Shri Goyal said, “This is momentous! It is a delight to tell you all that as of this moment all of India has power at the same rate that is Rs 4.40”.

Shri Goyal stated that he was trying to achieve the target of uniform power rates across the country. People everywhere should be able to find out if power is available through the mobile application “Vidyut Pravah”. This mobile application also gives the rates at which power is available on the grid, Shri Goyal added.

Shri Piyush Goyal stressed that said bringing power to all was not just a target but a mission and commitment as well for the Government. He further said that Centre believes that it should achieve energy sufficiency for the next generation and is also confident of transformational changes in the coming three years.

Talking about the rural electrification programme , the Minister said that his ministry is constantly monitoring number of villages getting powered every day. “Power has to be affordable as well as of quality. We are conscious of the environment, also of the fact that India must not become non-competitive in the world economy. We are conscious of the fact that village children who are talented should not forego opportunities due to absence of electricity,” Shri Goyal said.

Highlighting Power sector achievements of last year, the Minister said that electrifying 7,108 villages out of 18,452 un-electrified villages against the target of 2,800, distribution of more than 9 crore LED bulbs by EESL only, thus, contributing to 150% growth, addition of highest ever 3,200 MW of wind power capacity have been some benchmarks of the year.

The Minister asserted that the UDAY scheme launched by the government will be the fulcrum of the power sector reforms and renewal. “By 2019, the power sector will save nearly Rs 1.8 lakh crore annually, he added.

Talking about the hydro power, Shri Goyal said, “The year 2016-17 is dedicated to hydro power. It got a push some 30-40 years ago, but in recent past it has been ignored due to huge challenges like local resistance and issues of land acquisition,”. 

Cabinet approves recommendations of 14th Finance Commission on fiscal deficit targets and additional fiscal deficit to States during 2015-20

Cabinet approves recommendations of 14th Finance Commission on fiscal deficit targets and additional fiscal deficit to States during 2015-20

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister has today given its approval to Recommendations on Fiscal Deficit Targets and Additional Fiscal Deficit to States during Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) award period 2015-20 under the two flexibility options recommended in para 14.64 to 14.67 of its Report (volume – I).

FFC has adopted the fiscal deficit threshold limit of 3 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for the States. Further, FFC has provided a year-to-year flexibility for additional fiscal deficit to States. FFC, taking into account the development needs and the current macro- economic requirement, provided additional headroom to a maximum of 0.5 per cent over and above the normal limit of 3 per cent in any given year to the States that have a favourable debt-GSDP ratio and interest payments-revenue receipts ratio in the previous two years. However, the flexibility in availing the additional fiscal deficit will be available to State if there is no revenue deficit in the year in which borrowing limits are to be fixed and immediately preceding year.

Since the year 2015-16 is already over, the States will not get any benefit of additional borrowings for 2015-16. However, the implications for the remaining period of FFC award, i.e., 2016-17 to 2019-20, would depend upon respective States’ eligibility based on the criteria prescribed by FFC.

For the year 2016-17, the following fiscal parameters need to be taken into account before determining states eligibility for additional borrowings of 0.5% of GSDP recommended by FFC: (Para 14.64 to 14.67 – Vol. I read with Annexure 14.2 of Vol. II of the FFC Report):

a) The revenue position of the State as per Finance Account for t-2 and as available from Revised Estimates for t-1. To illustrate, for the year 2016-17, the revenue position of the State for 2014-15 (actual as per Finance Accounts) and 2015-16 (RE) would be relevant.

b) The IP/TRR ratio and Debt/GSDP ratio based on the data as contained in Finance Account for t-2. To illustrate, for determining States’ eligibility for 2016-17, the IP/TRR ratio and Debt/GSDP ratio as disclosed in Finance Account of States for 2014-15 would be relevant.

If a State is not able to fully utilise its sanctioned fiscal deficit of 3 per cent of GSDP in any particular year during the 2016-17 to 2018-19 of FFC award period, it will have the option of availing this un-utilised fiscal deficit amount (calculated in rupees) only in the following year but within FFC award period. For the purpose of calculating the unutilised borrowing space, the unutilised fiscal space as compared to FD limit of 3% of GSDP is to be reckoned. Similarly, any additional borrowings availed beyond the State’s entitlements shall be adjusted from Net Borrowing Ceiling of the following year.

There is no financial implication for Government of India as the borrowings are made by the respective State Governments within the fiscal deficit limits laid down by Finance Commission and incorporated in FRBMA of the States. However, the State will get additional space to raise borrowings which may result in much needed Government Expenditure for Capital projects/ infrastructure. 

Ladwa Centre play a pivotal role in promoting cultivation of high value fruits,

Ladwa Centre play a pivotal role in promoting cultivation of high value fruits, as viable option to wheat – rice cycle- Shri Singh

Human Resource Development is another area of high importance bearing significance to the Indo- Israeli collaboration- Shri Singh

Inauguration of Centre of Excellence for Fruits under

Indo-Israel Work Plan

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh today on the occasion of inauguration of Centre of Excellence (CoE) for fruits, Ladwa, Haryana under Indo-Israel work plan, said that the centre is an outcome of the MOU signed between the two countries in May, 2006. Shri Singh thanks the Israeli Government for their technical support in commissioning the project. Shri Uri Ariel, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel was also present on the occasion and inaugurate the Centre of Excellence. On the occasion, Chief Minister of Haryana, Agriculture Minister of Haryana, Minister of State for Agriculture Haryana, M.P. and MLA were also present.

Shri Singh said that the Work Plan was visualized to avail the latest technological expertise of Israel to accelerate the growth of Indian Agriculture.  In this context, Israel’s technical competence in the area of water management and protected cultivation is well known world over.  

            Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister said that fruits and vegetables occupy a prime place in Indian horticulture. Most of these crops are being produced by the small and marginal farmers by using conventional methods, resulting in low productivity.   However, with the development of protected cultivation and use of quality planting material there is a tremendous scope to enhance yield as well as quality for fetching good market price by the farmers.   In this context, the CoE at Ladwa assumes high significance, not only due to the fact that the focus is on fruits but also due to its proximity to Delhi, a high fruits consumption centre. The CoE, Ladwa spread over an area of 12 ha shall play a pivotal role in promoting cultivation of high value fruits, as viable option to wheat – rice cycle.

Shri Singh said that the major interventions of the Centre are focused for introduction of improved varieties/cultivation, demonstration of modern production and post harvest technologies and develop human resource & capacity building.

            Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister said that the Government of India has provided high priority for the successful implementation of the Indo-Israel collaborative projects.  Human Resource Development is another area of high importance bearing significance to the Indo- Israeli collaboration.   Many Officers and field functionaries have had the opportunity to visit Israel to gain firsthand knowledge and training on different aspects of horticulture.  While their experience is being gainfully utilized in India, there is a need to strengthen the calibre and skills of the Indian personnel deployed in the development of horticulture through the National Horticulture Mission.  The Centres of Excellence being set up should, therefore, play an effective role in disseminating the technology through training and demonstrations. So far, 26 Centre of Excellences have been sanctioned by MIDH under Indo – Israel Action Plan out of which 10 Centre of Excellences have already been completed during first two phases and commissioned for transfer of technology.