No escaping VAT, high court tells builders

Dismisses clutch of petitions seeking the quashing of govt circulars on the tax

DNA Correspondent l Mumbai

Builders will have to assess their tax liabilities the way the government wants it to and pay VAT (value added tax) by October 31.  Also, they can avail of the option of composite payment for agreements entered after April 2010, the Bombay high court ruled on Tuesday.  While upholding the two sales tax department circulars related to VAT, the court dismissed a clutch of petitions from various builders’ bodies that had sought the quashing of the circulars.  The Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry and the Builders Association were among the petitioners. A division bench of justices DY Chandrachud and RG Ketkar directed the developers/builders to register themselves with the sales tax department and pay VAT as per the new Maharashtra Value Added Tax (MVAT) Act, 2002. Under the act, the new definition of “sale” makes it mandatory for developers to pay tax every time they sell a flat/house.  As per the circular, developers were supposed to register by September 15 and pay the taxes by October 31. The earlier deadline was August. The SC had extended it while admitting a petition that challenged the HC order, which had upheld the constitutional validity of an amendment in the MVAT Act (changing the definition of “sale”). Going by the circulars, developers will have to pay 5% of the agreement value as tax for flats built between June 2006 and March 31, 2010. In case of tax liability after April 1, 2010, developers will have to pay 1% of the agreement value as tax without any land deduction and input tax credit.  For the period 2006-2010, input tax credit, with conditions, will be available. Also, deduction for labour and service will be available on actual basis. Deduction of land cost too will be there followed by a 30% standard deduction from the remaining amount.  The petitioners wanted the composite scheme — offered to developers for agreements entered after April 1, 2010 — to be extended to them.  But the bench rejected it saying, “The state is empowered to provide scheme of composition to registered dealers. While providing the scheme the first principle is to encourage voluntary compliance of the law.”  The court went on to add, “The scheme is not a way of amnesty but provisions made by the state acting as a delegate of the legislature.” Source:::: DNA, 31-10-2012, p.01. http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=30776&boxid=23190&ed_date=2012-10-31&ed_code=820009&ed_page=1

Divorce granted abroad valid: HC

Overrules decision of Bandra family court which ignored US verdict

Mustafa Plumber

The Bombay high court recently quashed and set aside an order of the Bandra family court allowing a wife to live with her estranged husband overlooking a divorce decree passed by the judicial district court of Harris County, Texas, United States of America.  According to the court, a wife cannot exercise her right to live with her husband in the US by invoking the provisions of restitution of conjugal rights in a Mumbai court once she has contested and the local court in US has declared them as divorced. While setting aside the order passed on July 31, the court said, “Once the decree of divorce is granted by a foreign court after the parties submit to its jurisdiction and after contest or agreement, the marriage stands dissolved. Nothing further survives in the marriage. Therefore conjugal rights cannot be restituted.” The couple married in 2006 and went to the US in the same year. They lived together there until 2010. In the meantime, they had disputes and the husband filed a petition for divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage, and cruelty. The wife filed a counter claim. The parties applied for, opposed and ultimately accepted an interim order by consent. The interim order restrained the parties from entering each other’s places of residence. The husband was told to pay house rent, car and motor cycle loan and phone bill up to the end of July, 2010.  After this interim order was passed, the wife came to India on August 22, 2010. She filed the petition for restitution of conjugal rights and an application under the Domestic Violence Act against the husband, his father and mother. The wife instructed her attorney to withdraw her counter claim and sent emails to the court in the US. Hence, the petition for divorce filed by the husband was to proceed without a counter claim and without her defence. The wife argued that the judicial district court in the US would have no jurisdiction and the decree of divorce passed would not become a final judgement conclusive upon both parties. She further argued that the grounds for divorce would be different in the courts of the US and hence no decree of divorce can stand in India. She also said that the parties were domiciled in India and the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 would apply. The high court, however, dismissed all her contentions and set aside the family court order, thus holding the divorce granted by the foreign court as correct. Source:::: DNA, 29-10-2012, p.05, http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=30613&boxid=13219&ed_date=2012-10-29&ed_code=820009&ed_page=7

HC: Father must support daughter till her marriage

Rosy Sequeira TNN 

Mumbai: An adult, unmarried daughter is entitled to receive maintenance from her father, the Bombay high court has said, coming to the rescue of a 20-year-old who was left in the cold by her Bahrain-based dad who had remarried. A father of three, he had agreed to pay maintenance to his two minor children but not his eldest daughter, saying she was legally not entitled to it as she was a major. 
    The girl’s mother had challenged the family court’s order last year upholding the man’s claim and rejecting maintenance for their eldest daughter who was then 19. Justice K U Chandiwal of the HC recently agreed with her lawyer’s contention that a father is liable to pay maintenance to daughters till they marry and added that though a major, the eldest daughter has no independent income and is entirely dependent on her mother, a homemaker who has studied up to SSC. 
    The woman’s petition said the couple, who married on November 29, 1987, has three children—two daughters and a son. The man worked in Bahrain and would visit his wife and family who stayed in Mumbai every two years. After the death of her father-in-law, the woman went to Mahad in August 2008 to stay with her mother-in-law. On returning to Mumbai two years later, she learned that he had allegedly divorced her through talaq and remarried. 

‘Family court did not cite any reasons’ 
Mumbai: On May 23, 2011 the wife, who was divorced through talaq, moved the family court for maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. She claimed her husband who was working in the finance department of the Bahrain government for over 25 years easily earned over Rs 90,000 per month. However, he claimed he got only Rs 30,000 per month. The family court, taking into consideration his statement, directed him to pay Rs 5,000 to his wife and Rs 2,500 each to the two minor children as interim maintenance. 
    In his October 16 order, Justice Chandiwal noted that family court principal judge U S Iyer did not assign reasons for rejecting maintenance for the couple’s eldest daughter as she had come of age and said the order requires interference. 
    He ordered the man to pay his eldest daughter Rs 1,500 as an interim measure from the date of the petition till the application for maintenance is finally heard. He also directed that an additional Rs 5,000 be paid to the wife. The HC also asked the family court to dispose of the main petition for maintenance within three months.


Source:::: The Times of India, 29-10-2012, p.01, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW

Govt scraps patent for jamun-based diabetes drug

Sidhartha TNN 

NewDelhi:In a first such move since 1994, the government has revoked a patent granted by the Indian Patents Office for a medicine made from the extract of jamun, lavangpatti and chundun meant to treat diabetes. 
    Using a “rarest of rare” provision in the Patents Act, the government decided to quash the protection that drug maker Avesthagen had got earlier this year on the grounds that the patent right was “mischievous to the state and generally prejudicial to the public” as it was an “integral part” of ayurveda, unani and siddha systems of medicine.

Govt rejects claim of drug ‘invention’

Sidhartha TNN 

New Delhi: After combating bio-piracy in the US and Europe, India has woken up to the problem in its own backyard and cancelled a patent given to an anti-diabetes drug based on traditional ingredients. 
    But this time, the patent given to the mix of jamun, lavangpatti and chundun was proving to be an embarrassment for India. What is more curious is howthe Indian Patents Office gave the protection after the government had got European authorities to reject the application. 
    Cancelling the patent given to Avesthagen was not easy as the company argued that the extracts, which work individually in managing diabetes, had an aggressive effect when combined. In addition, it used an approach that is “innovative, novel and scientific” in developing a formulation and screened it for efficacy and safety using modern technology. 
    Arguing that the patent was not prejudicial to public interest, the company said the “invention” was novel and provided scientific validation to Indian traditional knowledge. The government, however, countered it by saying that for centuries, it was known that the plants were used for management of diabetes and there were no inventions.


Source :::: The Times of India, 27-10-2012, p.01 & 16, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW

The Law Library of Congress is pleased to announce a new homepage:

The Law Library of Congress is pleased to announce a new homepage at http://loc.gov/law/. It is less text-heavy, easier to scan, and includes a highlights carousel.

Two of the most used products, Congress.gov and the Guide to Law Online, are prominently displayed. The @LawLibCongress Twitter stream is now on the homepage in the right column. 

The homepage updates compliment the enhancements made in June that widened the page layout and improved search by adding metadata and related facets. For more on the June update see http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2012/06/we-have-a-new-look-changes-to-the-law-library-of-congress-website/.

Visit the blog, In Custodia Legis, for more information on the new homepage at http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2012/10/welcome-to-our-new-front-door-a-revamped-homepage/.

Gujarat HC gets woman job back after 15 years

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat HC has got a woman her job back in the company that fired her 15 years ago following a complaint against two colleagues for sexual harassment at workplace. 
    An industrial tribunal had earlier ruled in the woman’s favour and ordered the company where she worked — Lyka Labs — to pay her Rs 50,000 towards compensation for sexual harassment, all wages, as well as, Rs 2,500 towards litigation cost. 
    However, the tribunal did not accept her demand to reinstate her in the job, and the company agreed to pay the sum in lieu of reinstatement. Justice S R Brahmbhatt, however, held that fetching her money was not enough, and ordered her reinstatement. 
    The woman had already put in 10 years of service as an operator, when she joined a new union called Gujarat Kamdar Mandal in 1995. She began facing problems after this.


Source:::: The Times of India, 25-10-2012, p.11.
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW

HC differs on judicial backlog data

Says Those Out On Bail Are Not Undertrials; So Figure Is 13k & Not 28.6L

Rebecca Samervel TNN 

Mumbai: Bombay high court has disagreed strongly with the National Crime Record Bureau’s figures on judicial backlog in Maharashtra. The court said that “strenuous efforts to reduce overall pendency of cases...have achieved great results”, with the “undertrial prisoner” population in the state at 13,425 at the end of September this year. 
    Statistics released by NCRB, and quoted by TOI in a report, had pegged the “undertrial” population at 28.6 lakh. These included those in prison and out on bail. According to NCRB data, 31 lakh undertrials were awaiting verdict in Maharashtra in 2011. Of these, just 2.4 lakh saw their cases conclude during the year. The remaining 28.6 lakh undertrials are waiting for their fates to be decided another day. Compared to rest of the country, the figure was the highest among all states. 
    However, the high court disputes the NCRB’s definition of ‘undertrial’. According to its registrar general, the term applies to only those who are incarcerated and not those out on bail. By this understanding, the undertrial prisoner population in Maharashtra in 2010-end was 15,744. By 2011-end, it diminished to 14,873 and by end of this September to 13,425. S B Shukre, registrar general of the Bombay high court, said, “Undertrial refers to only undertrial prisoners.” 
    He said a letter has been sent to NCRB in Delhi, seeking a correction of the figures. When contacted, NCRB joint director Nasir Kamal said, “We have received a letter from the Bombay high court and are looking into the matter. We will check the figures and get back.” 
    Bombay high court said that disposal rate had increased greatly over the last five years. While in 2007 the number of cases disposed of was 19.67 lakh, in 2011 this number went upto 26.25 lakh. Till September 30 this year, a total 16.88 lakh cases had been disposed of. Over the last five years, there were also periods when the number of cases disposed of surpassed the number of cases instituted. In 2011, 19.96 lakh cases were instituted and 26.25 lakh disposed of. Till September 30 this year, 13.48 lakh cases were instituted and 16.88 lakh disposed of. 
    Shukre said that pendency has drastically dropped from 41.35 lakh in July 2010 to 29.36 lakh on September 30 this year. “All this was done without any major additions to the existing manpower and infrastructural requirements and by only focusing on effective use of existing procedural law and devising new approaches to the way dockets are managed by individual courts,” Shukre said. 
    R N Laddh, registrar, Inspection II, Bombay high court, said that alternate remedies like Lok Adalat have helped bring down the figure. However, legal experts feel the there is a pressing need to increase the number of competent judges. “29 lakh pending cases is still a big number. The courts are short of judges and competent judges need to be appointed soon,” said Justice H Suresh, a retired Bombay high court judge. 
 
FIGURE IT OUT 
    National Crime Records Bureau had pegged the ‘undertrial’ population in Maharashtra at 28.6 lakh, the highest in the country. The figure includes those in jail and those out on bail. But Bombay high court disputed the figure, saying those out on bail cannot be called undertrials 
    By this definition, it said, the undertrial population in Maharashtra at the end of September 30 this year was only 13,425. NCRB authorities admitted they had received a letter from Bombay HC in this regard and were checking the figures.
    HC also said that pendency of cases had drastically dropped from 41.35 lakh in July 2010 to 29.36 lakh on September 30 this year



Source::: The Times of India, 23-10-2012, p.08. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW