CA Online

Several landmark judgments have improved the woman’s position in a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), such as one that ruled the eldest daughter, even if married, can replace her father as karta in an HUF after his death. However, a karta ’s wife or daughter-in-law cannot replace him. According to HUF laws, when a karta –or manager – of an HUF passes away, his eldest son automatically replaces him. But, cases where a karta only has daughter/s, or his children are minors, have been subjects of dispute. The position of a karta is a powerful one, for this person controls, and is also the custodian of, the finances of an HUF. “The karta borrows money on behalf of the family. He can spend money for the family without being accountable to the members, as all his actions are assumed to be carried out for the benefit of the family. The decisions of the karta are binding on other members,” says Hitesh Jain, senior partner at ALMT Legal. But, the karta cannot divide the estate disproportionatel...

The special investigation team(SIT)on black money has asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)to furnish the details of all those investing through participatory notes (P-Notes),according to sources in the know. This is the first time the government -constituted body has sought such massive amount of data,which includes the list of beneficial ownersand transfer trial sof investors taking the PNote route to invest in domestic equity and debt markets. The markets regulator,Sebi, which recently tightened the disclosure requirement for P-Notes, has already furnished the information to the SIT and the exercise would take a few more weeks to complete,sources added. The SIT wants to ensure that there gulatory changes made by Sebi are sufficient to curb misuse of tools,particularly with respect to end beneficiaries. The expert panel is concerned that the P-Note route coulds till be used by Indian companies to bring back unaccounted money, one of the officials who works...

Managements evading hard decisions, bank consolidation depends on resolving NPAs: Rai Banks Board Bureau chief Vinod Rai said little progress has been made on resolving bad loans as managements are reluctant to take hard decisions on recasting debt despite concerns that the rising burden of non-performing assets (NPAs) is holding back the economy. “We are not making much progress and I don't think we have anybody else to blame but the banks themselves,“ Rai told ET, adding that the government and RBI had created a conducive environment for lenders to clean up their books. The veteran bureaucrat, who was roped in by the government to oversee a planned transformation of state-owned banks, added that he doesn't see any prospects for consolidation until bad loans are sorted out. Rai, whose mandate is likely to get broader, said he now sees signs of recovery in the economy . But banks need to push sluggish credit expansion to spark private investment, which has been lagging ...