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Delhi High Court on Thursday said that Participatory Notes (PNotes) are not illegal and were regulated under the law. The ruling by a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva came while dismissing a PIL, which had claimed that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had wrongly made a statement that P-Notes were not illegal and sought action against him. The court passed the order after Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain told the bench that P-Notes are part of Offshore Derivative Instruments (ODI) which are issued by or on behalf of Foreign Portfolio In vestors (FPI) and are “generated, operated and destroyed“ outside India. The ASG also said that P-Notes were regulated instruments and placed before the court the Sebi (FPI) Regulations. After going through the regulations, the court ob served, “it appears that ODIs include P-Notes and such other instru ments which are entered into by FPIs in relation to securities listed or proposed to be listed in stock exch...

Those who have retired after a lifetime of defending the nation will get their dues without hurting the exchequer perhaps because those who hid their unaccounted wealth from the taxman have paid theirs. Business Standard has learnt from senior government sources that the three month- compliance window under the black money law could garner around Rs.20,000 crore, an amount without which implementation of one rank, one pension ( OROP) would have led to stretching of the Centre’s fiscal resources. With such proceeds expected through an imposition of 30 per cent tax, and a similar penalty on the value of unaccounted wealth or assets declared by anyone between July and September, the government may be able to stick to the fiscal deficit target of 3.9 per cent of the gross domestic product ( GDP), without cutting capital expenditure required to kickstart investments. “The black money compliance window could fetch the exchequer around Rs.20,000 crore. Without that additional amount, th...

In its Assembly session that began on Wednesday, the Rajasthan government is planning to push some industryfriendly amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition ( Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Act, 2013. If it is able to amend the law inthecurrentsession, Rajasthan will become the first Bharatiya JanataParty( BJP)- ruledstateto change the central Act, after the Narendra Modi- led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre recently succumbed to opposition pressure and allowed its land ordinance to lapse. The state government had tried to amend the central Act last year, too. But BJP’s own legislators had stonewalled the RajasthanLandAcquisitionBill, 2014. This time, however, the statehopestobeabletoconvince itslegislators. The freshattempt comes after Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje recently announced at a NITI Aayog meeting of chief ministers, chaired by the prime minister, thathergovernmentwouldsoon enact its own land law. Afte...

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday relaxed norms for banks to grant certain loans to their chief executives and directors, by doing away with the prior approval requirement. Business Standard, New Delhi, 17th Sept. 2015

The government panel set up to suggest a uniform rate of indirect tax under the GST regime will submit its report by this monthend and the roll out of the reform measure is possible any time next fiscal, a senior CBEC official said on Wednesday. CBEC has also suggested to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to set up consultative bodies in each state in the form of GST Secretariat for better coordination between the Centre and states for the roll out.CBEC member GST V S Krishnan said: “A very high rate could dilute the advantages of GST.There is a committee set up under the CEA which is likely to give its report by month end.“ The Economic Times, New Delhi, 17th Sept. 2015

Finmin, DIPP and RBI weigh raising FDI limit in sector from current 74% ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and their private sector peers could turn into fully foreign-owned entities if a proposal to raise the overseas investment limit in the sector to 100% from 74% is accepted. The measure is being discussed by the finance ministry, the department of industrial policy & promotion (DIPP) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), a senior government official said. The move would be in keeping with the government's push to streamline foreign direct investment and open up key sectors to overseas participation. It's also significant in light of the RBI deeming ICICI Bank as one of India's two systemically important banks, the other one being governmentowned State Bank of India. Within the current 74% limit, 49% is allowed automatically and the rest through the approval route, which means permission has to be sought from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) beyond that thresh...

The Employees Provident Fund Organisation ( EPFO) on Wednesday increased the maximum amount assured under its employees’ deposit linked insurance scheme (EDLI) to Rs.6 lakh from the existing Rs.3.6 lakh. Business Standard, New Delhi, 17th Sept. 2015

These exemptions will be over and above those already excluded from GST in Constitution Amendment Bill itself In an effort to minimize the number of exemptions under the goods and services tax (GST), the centre and the states have agreed to restrict this list to less than 100. In a GST regime, the centre and the states will have one common list of exempted goods and services. At present, while the states put together have around 99 exempted items under value-added tax (VAT), the centre has around 250 exempted items under central VAT or excise duty. It has been decided to adopt the states’ exempted list under the GST regime as and when it is rolled out, said a senior finance ministry official who did not want to be identified. Typically, those goods that are consumed by the lower strata of society and those that are considered to be of national importance are exempted from taxes. Food items such as rice, wheat, salt, fresh vegetables and fruits, milk and milk products are some...

The government on Wednesday came out with details of the twin gold schemes, Gold Monetisation Scheme and Gold Bond Scheme, aimed at reducing the demand for physical gold and said that interest rate on the schemes would be decided in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India. Business Standard, New Delhi, 17th Sept. 2015

Transgenders to be recognised on a par with other workers In a first, the Union labour ministry has mooted setting up a safety regulator for factories in India, which will set the guidelines for establishments after public hearing and consultation. The regulator, Occupational Safety and Health Board of India, is aimed at making factories a ‘ zero- accident place’ for work and substantially reduce the time to set up factories. According to the proposed amendments to the Factories Act, transgenders will be at par with other workers and there won’t be any discrimination against them. The amendment Bill states state governments may frame rules to ensure respect for “ inherent dignity, non- discrimination and respect for difference and acceptance of transgender persons as part of human diversity”. The proposed amendments say a factory will be deemed approved in 15 days of the receipt of application if guidelines set by the regulator are followed by the employer. The proposal to amen...

1.  President ICAI suggested Finance Minister to extend due date of filing of ITR & Tax Audit Report be extended from 30.9.2015 to atleast 31.10.2015 for genuine hardship to the assesses and members of the profession. 2.  Individuals can now apply for PAN online with digital signature w.e.f 6.9.2015. 3.  Salary and Interest to partner to be allowed as deduction while estimating the profits of the firm where books of accounts are rejected- Inter Continental Constructions (High Court of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana). 4.  If the notice u/s 148 of I T Act was not served on the assessee in accordance with law, the re-assessment made is liable to be quashed.[ CIT vs. Chetan Gupta, High Court of Delhi] 5.  Now a private company can accept unsecured loans also from a relative of director, with a declaration that such loan is not from borrowings. Notification dated 15.09.2015. 6.  Union Cabinet has approved to promulgate the Negotiable Instruments (Am...