Page 1335 - Law Crime
Centre hikes monetary limit for filing tax appeals
In order to reduce the long pending grievances of taxpayers and to minimise litigations pertaining to tax matters and facilitate the Ease of Doing Business, Government of India decided to increase the threshold monetary limits for filing Departmental Appeals at various levels, be it Appellate Tribunals, High Courts and the Supreme Court.This is a major step in the direction of litigation management of both direct and indirect taxes as it will effectively reduce minor litigations and help the Department to focus on high-value litigations.In the case of the Central Board of Direct Taxation (CBDT), out of total cases filed by the Department in Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), 34% of cases will be withdrawn.For High Courts, 48% of cases will be withdrawn and in the case of the Supreme Court, 54% of cases will be withdrawn. The total percentage of reduction of litigation from the Department's side will get reduced by 41%. However, this will not apply in such cases where a substantial .
SC to revisit its 2006 verdict barring reservation in promotion
A seven judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court will hear, as a routine exercise, the Centre's plea seeking a re-look at 2006 judgment that had barred reservation in promotion on the grounds that a large number of posts are lying vacant due to it.
Revenue dept arrests company director for tax evasion
The revenue department today said its Delhi unit has arrested a director of a company for tax evasion. The company had collected more than Rs 3 crore as service tax from its clients but had not deposited the same with the exchequer, it said in a statement. The arrest was made by officers of CGST Delhi North Commissionerate. However, the release did not disclose the name of either the company or the director. The arrested director was produced in a local court, which sent the accused to 15 days of judicial custody. Further investigations are being conducted and the amount of service tax evaded is bound to increase, the release added. The government wants to assure taxpayers that compliant taxpayers do not run the risk of facing such punitive action in carrying out their day to day operations, the statement added. "The power to arrest is to be exercised where there is deliberate fraud of sizeable magnitude with intent to evade tax," it said. "It is meant to serve as a deterrent to ...
Sebi settles takeover, insider trading violation case with 11 entities
As many as 11 entities today settled a Sebi probe into alleged violations of takeover and insider trading regulations in the matter of Sangam Health Care Products after paying nearly Rs 45 lakh towards settlement charges. The Sebi agreed to settle proposed adjudication proceedings in the case after it was approached by these entities with a plea under the settlement regulations. Under the settlement, an entity is allowed to settle charges by paying a penalty without admission or denial of guilt. The adjudication proceedings were initiated by the regulator against the entities for alleged violations of SAST (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) norms and PIT (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations. In two settlement orders passed today, Sebi said it has disposed of the adjudication proceedings initiated against the 11 entities. These entities are -- Padmaja Patil, L S Patil, S S Patil, Nanda Patil, Shailaja Patil, Shobha S Patil, Siddling S Patil, V S Murthy, ...
Right to choose sexual partner fundamental right: SC
The Supreme Court today said the right to sexual orientation is not a fundamental right but indicated that the right to choose a sexual partner is a fundamental right. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and also comprising justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra was told by various petitioners that section 377 of the IPC violates various fundamental rights under articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution. Advocate Saurabh Kripal, appearing for a petitioner resumed his arguments on challenge to the constitutional validity of section 377 and said that consensual sexual relationships between same sex is protected under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution. While referring to various verdicts, Kripal said that right to choose one's partner is manifest in Article 21. Advocate Maneka Guruswamy, appearing for some students from all Indian Institute of Technology, said that the section 377 which criminalises gay sex ...
Cal HC refuses to pass order on Chhatradhar's bail plea
The Calcutta High Court today refused to pass any order on a bail petition by Chatradhar Mahato, a prominent tribal leader who was the face of the Lalgarh movement in West Bengal, saying it would hear out his appeal and bail application together. A division bench comprising Justice M Mumtaz Khan and Justice Joy Sengupta said it would hear the appeal and bail application from July 25. Senior counsel Sekhar Bose prayed for the bail of Mahato who was serving a life sentence and had been in jail for nearly 10 years. The court said that it would not decide on the bail petition before hearing Mahato's appeal against his conviction and sentence by a trial court. Mahato was the convenor of Police Santrash Birodhi Janasadharaner Committee (Peoples Committee Against Police Atrocities) at Lalgarh in West Midnapore district. He was arrested in September 2009 on several charges, including waging war against the country and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and was alleged to be close to ...
Delhi sealing: SC directs DDA vice-chairman, senior civic body official to appear
The Supreme Court today directed top officials of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the South Delhi Municipal Corporation to appear before it next week and explain why they were not taking action on unauthorised construction in the city. A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta passed the order directing the DDA vice-chairman and the SDMC deputy commissioner to appear before it on July 18. The direction was issued on the basis of a report filed by the court-mandated monitoring committee which has claimed that the authorities were not taking action against illegal constructions on the ground that amendments in the Master Plan of Delhi-2021 were not finalised yet. Referring to another report filed by the committee, the bench said the panel has also said that police force was not being made available to them to carry out the sealing drive. The court also said that as per report of the committee, unauthorised constructions were going on in the city, that too on the ...
"Priests acted as predators", says HC; declines bail to 3 Kerala clergymen in rape case
The Kerala High Court today rejected the anticipatory bail petitions of three priests of a church accused of raping a woman, observing they acted as "predators" and took "undue advantage" of her. The three--Abraham Varghese alias Sony, Job Mathew and Jaise K George-- had approached the court soon after the crime branch of Kerala Police slapped rape charges against four of the five Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church priests, who were accused of sexually exploiting the victim. "Prima facie the applicants acted as predators...they have taken undue advantage of the position of the survivor," Justice R Vijayaraghavan said, dismissing their bail pleas. According to the woman, she was "systematically abused" by the accused, who were all closely known to her family. The court said it cannot ignore the prosecution's apprehension that the accused would tamper with evidence and influence the witnesses as the investigation was in the preliminary stages. "The reasonable possibility of the accused ..
MP: Two cases of gang-rape of minor girls in Raisen district
Two minor girls were allegedly gang-raped in separate incidents in the district in the last two days, police said today. The fist incident was reported at Murpar village under Gairatganj police station limits, while the second took place at Gahlaban under Devri police station limits. Inspector Sanjay Pathak of Gairatganj police station said that Ravishankar Lodhi (32) and a minor boy allegedly persuaded a 15-year-old girl to go to a shack in a field in Murpar on Monday, and raped her. She was left unconscious in the field. The girl reached home the next morning and narrated the incident to her family, the officer said. Both the accused were arrested yesterday under the IPC section 376 (D) (gang-rape) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. In the second incident, two men, Rammu (24) and Billa (26), allegedly entered the house of a 17-year-old girl in village Gahlaban last evening when she was alone, and took her to the nearby forest where they ...
Jayant Sinha regrets garlanding lynching convicts
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, who has come under sharp attack from the opposition for meeting and garlanding eight convicts of a lynching incident in his Lok Sabha constituency in Jharkhand, on Wednesday expressed regret for his act.
Kejriwal withdraws pleas in HC for quashing two criminal defamation cases
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today withdrew from the Delhi High Court his pleas seeking quashing of separate criminal defamation proceedings initiated against him by a senior advocate and a former aide of Congress leader Sheila Dikshit. Kejriwal moved the application for withdrawing his petition in the case involving senior advocate Amit Sibal, son of former Union minister Kapil Sibal, as the CM and his deputy Manish Sisodia had settled the matter by apologising before a trial court for making "unfounded allegations" against the lawyer. In the second case, the AAP chief has already moved the trial court seeking quashing of the criminal defamation complaint filed against him by Dikshit's then political secretary Pawan Khera on the grounds that the plea was not maintainable as the person affected had not approached the court. Today, Justice A K Pathak allowed Kejriwal's advocates Rishikesh Kumar and Mohd Irshad to withdraw both the pleas in both the cases from the high court. Besides .
Three workers asphyxiated to death
Three workers died due to asphyxiation after they entered a factory's boiler-tank in Ramanagar district to clean it, police said today. One worker, who tried to rescue them, was somehow brought out, they said, adding, due to timely medical aid he is out of danger. The incident had occurred last night. Among the deceased was a worker from Tamil Nadu, police said. A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered against the factory management.
Unnao case: CBI charges BJP MLA with raping minor girl
BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar was today charged by the CBI with raping a minor girl at his residence at Makhi village in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh on June 4 last year, officials said. The CBI was handed over the case by the state government nearly 10 months after the crime after a self-immolation bid by the victim in front of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's residence and the subsequent death of her father in jail from injuries allegedly inflicted by the brother of the MLA in April this year. In its charge sheet filed in a special CBI court here today, the agency charged Sengar and his associate Sashi Singh with rape (section 3 and 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act), criminal conspiracy (IPC Section 120B), kidnapping (IPC sections 363 and 366), criminal intimidation (IPC section 506), the officials said. They said during the three-month-long probe, the investigators found that the allegations levelled by the minor girl were tenable, prompting the agency to .
India, UK sign MoU on exchange of experience by legal experts
India and the United Kingdom signed an agreement on exchange of experience by legal professionals and government functionaries for resolution of disputes before various courts and tribunals. The agreement was signed by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and UK's Secretary of State for Justice David Gauke in London during the former's visit this week. The MoU sought to enhance bilateral cooperation in legal affairs which would provide a framework for promoting greater cooperation between the judicial and legal professionals in both countries through exchange of expertise and training. The two countries would also exchange information regarding current issues of international significance. The MoU also provided for establishment of a Joint Consultative Committee to facilitate such an exchange, a statement said. The MoU was cleared by the Union Cabinet last week . "The MoU takes care of concerns and requirements in the field of exchange of experience by legal professionals, government ...
If there's an impression that I support vigilantism, I express regret: Jayant Sinha
Facing intense criticism from the Opposition over felicitating eight Ramgarh lynching case convicts, Union minister Jayant Sinha today expressed regret. "If by garlanding them (Ramgarh lynching case convicts) an impression has gone out that I support such vigilantism then I express regret over it," he told reporters here. "I have said many times that the matter is still sub-judice. It won't be fair to talk on this. Law will take its own course. We have always worked towards punishing the guilty and sparing the innocent," he said. The minister for state of civil aviation had stoked a controversy by felicitating the eight convicts after they came out of prison on bail and met him at his residence in Hazaribagh on July 6. He had garlanded them and offered them sweets. Trader Alimuddin Ansari was beaten to death on June 29 last year by a mob in Ramgarh on the suspicion that he was carrying beef in his vehicle. Ansari's widow Mariam Khatoon had lodged an FIR with Ramgarh town police ...
Saw Indrani near the spot where victim's body was later found: Witness
A witness in the Sheena Bora murder case today told the trial court here that he had seen prime accused Indrani Mukerjea and two others near the spot where the remains of the victim's burnt body were later found. "I came to know that she (Sheena) was murdered and her body was burnt at Gagode Khind (in neighbouring Raiagad district) through TV news (in August 2015), said Sandeep Patil, the witness. "When TV news was displaying (pictures of) Indrani, Sanjeev Khanna and Shyam Rai, I realised I have seen these people," said Patil, who runs a gym at Khalapur in Raigad. Patil deposed as a prosecution witness before special CBI judge J C Jagdale. He said that he was riding his motorcycle from Shivali to Pen early on the morning (in April 2012) when he noticed a stationary car and three persons standing near it. During an identification parade conducted by police, he identified Indrani Mukerjea, Khanna and Rai, he told the court. When asked if these persons were present in the court today, ..
Deaf and mute man held for making 'obscene' video calls
A 27-year-old man, suffering from speech and hearing impairment, was today arrested by the city police for allegedly making video calls posing in the nude to two women. Like the accused, the complainant women too are deaf and mute. Amol Gaikwad, who works in a hotel, was arrested from Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, said Jitendra Singh, Superintendent of Police, Indore Cyber Cell. Two hearing- and speech-impaired women had lodged a complaint last month that an unidentified man, posing stark naked but for a mask on the face, was making video calls to them through WhatsApp and Emoji applications. "We zeroed in on Gaikwad and with the help of sign language experts, questioned him," the SP said. He admitted to have made obscene video calls to the complainants after getting their numbers from a WhatsApp group of mute and deaf persons, Singh said. Gaikwad has been booked under relevant sections of the IPC and Information Technology Act, and further probe is on, the SP
Centre opposes plea in SC challenging penal law on adultery, says decriminalisation threat to sanctity of marriage
The Centre today told the Supreme Court that the sanctity of marriage would be "weakened" if the penal law on adultery which only punishes a married man for having extra-marital sexual relations with another married woman is scrapped. This submission was made by the Ministry of Home Affairs in an affidavit to the apex court while seeking dismissal of a plea challenging the validity of section 497 of the Indian Penal Code(IPC) on the grounds that it does not make men and women equally liable for the crime of adultery. Asserting that section 497 "supports, safeguards and protects the institution of marriage", the Centre also referred to Justice Malimath Committee report on reforms in the criminal justice system which had suggested making section 497 gender-neutral. "It is submitted that striking down section 497 of IPC and Section 198(2) of the CrPC will prove to be detrimental to the intrinsic Indian ethos which gives paramount importance to the institution and sanctity of ...
Vanzara was mastermind of Sohrabuddin fake encounter: Counsel
Former Gujarat ATS chief D G Vanzara was today accused in the Bombay High Court of being the "mastermind" of the "fake encounters" of alleged gangster Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati. The allegation was made by the counsel for Sohrabuddin's brother Rubabuddin Shaikh during hearing of a plea against discharge of senior IPS officers Dinesh M N, Rajkumar Pandian and Vanzara in the alleged fake encounter case. Rubabuddin's counsel Gautam Tiwari claimed before the bench of Justice A M Badar that Vanzara orchestrated the fake encounter killings. "He was heading the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad which abducted and killed Sohrabuddin and others. Though Vanzara himself wasn't present at the site of abduction or killings, it was under his instructions that his officers executed the plan. Vanzara was the mastermind...," advocate Tiwari said. Prajapati, who, as per the CBI, was an eye witness to the killings of Shaikh and Kausar Bi, had narrated the ...
HC exempts scribe from personal appearance in defamation case by BJP spokesperson
The Delhi High Court has exempted a journalist from personally appearing before a trial court in a criminal defamation case filed against her by a BJP spokesperson. The journalist's lawyer had yesterday told the media that the high court apart from exempting her from personal appearance had also stayed the proceedings in the trial court. However, the order made available to media today, indicated that Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva had not stayed the proceedings initiated by BJP spokesperson Tajinder Singh Bagga for the scribe's tweets regarding his appointment to the post. The journalist, Swati Chaturvedi, was on May 17 summoned by the trial court as an accused in the defamation case and was asked to appear before it on July 12. In her plea filed through advocate Pranav Sachdeva, Chaturvedi had challenged the summons as well as sought quashing of the criminal proceedings initiated against her by Bagga.