Page 22 - Banking Finance January 2024

LEGAL UPDATE

HC: Can't quash criminal sion during a two-month-long special The high court, in a recent verdict,
drive. In a written reply to a question underlined that "neither the legislature
cases involving kids via in Rajya Sabha, the minister said to nor the traditional Hindu law in any
settlement safeguard the interest of honest tax- way limits the right of a woman to be
payers and avoid extreme hardship to a karta. The court said, "To say that a
Delhi High Court has observed that crimi-
nal proceedings in cases involving chil- taxpayers, instructions have been is- woman can be a coparcener but not a
dren cannot be quashed on the basis of sued from time to time, directing of- karta, would be giving an interpreta-
a settlement reached between parties ficers to exercise due caution and care tion which would not only be anoma-
as it could perpetuate a culture in which in the exercise of powers such as sum- lous but also against the stated object
the rights and dignity of minors are sub- mons, provisional attachment of prop- of introduction of amendment." It de-
jugated by negotiation and compromise. erty, blocking of tax credit etc. clared a woman Sujata, the grand-
The division bench of justices Rajiv "A total of 21,791 entities (11,392 en- daughter of the patriarch of the fam-
ily, as karta, after taking note that all
Shakdher and Girish Kathpalia made tities pertaining to state tax jurisdiction his sons had passed away.
the observations while refusing to and 10,399 entities pertaining to CBIC
jurisdiction) having GST registration The court noted that Sujata's candida-
quash an FIR regarding the kidnapping
of two siblings, a three-year-old girl were discovered to be non-existent. An ture was opposed on "myriad hypoth-
and a two-year-old boy, in a case amount of Rs 24,010 crore (state - Rs eses justifying why it would be incor-
lodged by their father. 8,805 crore + Centre - Rs 15,205 crore) rect for a woman to become a karta
of suspected tax evasion was detected from the societal standpoint." The
The matter will be heard on Decem-
during the special drive," Sitharaman court added that the claim that the
ber 14."We make it clear that the said.
affidavit(s) will be filed by the person/ husband of a female karta would have
departments who are in charge and The minister was replying to a question an indirect control over the activities
have dealt with each of these issues. on the number of entities identified as of the HUF of her father's family is "a
Therefore, if necessary, more than one having fake registrations, and the to- parochial mindset."
affidavit can be filed so that we have tal amount of evasion detected during
a granular view of the matter," the the special drive against fake GST reg- HC: After three years, I-T
bench said in its order. istrations conducted by the Central cases under Rs. 50L cannot
Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
The court directed the Delhi govern- (CBIC) from May 16 to July 15, 2023. be reopened.
ment to indicate in the fresh affidavit
the number of complaints in sexual A woman can be 'karta' of As per the recent ruling of the Delhi High
assault cases that were converted into Court, income tax assessments can only
FIRs and the number in which HUF: HC be reopened after an extended 10-year
chargesheets have been filed. In a significant ruling, Delhi High Court term if the claimed disguised income
has said that a woman can be the above Rs. 50 lakh. According to Live
The bench directed that the affidavit "karta" (head) of a Hindu Undivided Law, the bench of Justices Rajiv
has to include the number of cases Shakdher and Girish Kathpalia noted
which are undergoing trial and those Family (HUF). The ruling upheld a land- that no notice was meant to be sent "in
which are at the stage of oral argu- mark verdict by a single judge in 2016 normal cases" more than three years
ments, adding that the information that had extended the meaning of Sec- after the conclusion of the pertinent
tion 6 of the Hindu Succession Act,
should be given separately for adults which brings women on par with men assessment year.
and children.
on matters of inheritance. "Notice, beyond the prescribed three
Suspected GST evasion of The latest verdict by a bench of jus- years from the end of the relevant AY,
tices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena could be issued only in a few specific
Rs. 24K crore detected: FM Bansal Krishna quoted Ruth Bader cases; one such example which is given
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Ginsburg, a former judge of the Su- in the Bill is where the AO was in pos-
said, GST officers have detected preme Court of the United States, to session of evidence that escaped in-
21,791 fake GST registrations and over point out that "real change happens come amounted to Rs. 50 lakhs or
Rs 24,000 crore of suspected tax eva- one step at a time." more," the court ruled.

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