Page 22 - Banking Finance March 2023

LEGAL UPDATE

and upholding human rights and rule help not only judges and lawyers but are not identified at the time of issu-
of law." it added. also law colleges. ance. The petitioner had challenged a
2021 order passed by the Karnataka
The court had dismissed two petitions
Vouchers not goods or ser- Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling
filed by lawyers of the Madras high
that vouchers are taxable as goods at
court who objected to the elevation of vices, exempted from GST,
the time of supply.
justice Gowri (as she presently is) on
says HC
the basis of her statements against
Law interpretation must
Vouchers are exempted from GST, the
minorities and her alleged association
Karnataka high court ruled in a recent be as per changing times:
with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
judgment, asserting that these don't
She was Deputy Solicitor General rep- SC
carry any value and they're not goods
resenting the Union government be-
Holding that the court's interpretation
or services either.
fore the Madras high court prior to her of the Constitution must be in tune with
elevation. "The definition of 'vouchers' under the the changing times and some of its
CGST Act makes it clear that vouchers
The court referred to several past de- earlier interpretations are no longer
are mere instruments accepted as valid, the Supreme Court has said that
cisions of the Supreme Court and said,
consideration for supply of goods or excommunication or ostracisation of a
"The question whether a person is fit
services. They have no inherent value person in society is against constitu-
to be appointed as a judge essentially
of their own," a division bench headed tional ethos as it will result in his "civil
involves the aspect of suitability and
by Justice PS Dinesh Kumar said. death" and decided to re-examine its
stands excluded from the purview of
six decade old verdict permitting a re-
judicial review." "As vouchers are considered 'instru-
ligious community to excommunicate
ments', they would fall under the defi-
Supreme Court launches nition of 'money'..." as defined by the its dissidents.
law, which also "excludes 'money' from A five-judge bench of Justices Sanjay
AI for live transcript of
Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, Abhay S
the definition of goods and service"
court hearings Oka, Vikram Nath and J K Maheshwari
and therefore no tax can be levied on
In a first, the Supreme Court launched it, the HC said. said the apex court's 1962 judgment
the use of Artificial Intelligence and protecting the rights of the Bohra com-
Allowing a petition filed by Premier
technology powered by Natural Lan- munity to excommunicate its mem-
Sales Promotion, a Bengaluru-based
guage Processing on a trial basis to bers required reconsideration. It said
company, the HC said that in sub-
provide live transcriptions of court much water has flown after that deci-
stance, the transaction between the
hearings. sion and the court at that time did not
assessee and his clients is procurement
examine that Article 26(b), which talks
The service was launched in the court- of printed forms and their delivery.
about the right to manage its own af-
room of Chief Justice of India DY "Printed forms are like currency. The
fairs in matters of religion, is also sub-
Chandrachud, who is heading a Consti- value printed on the form can be ject to morality.
tution bench hearing a bunch of pleas transacted only at the time of redemp-
"For example, the narrow interpreta-
on Maharashtra political party Shiv tion of the voucher and not at the time
tion given to Article 21 in the 'A K
Sena. A screen displaying the live tran- of delivery of vouchers to the
Gopalan era' is no longer valid. The
scription of court proceedings has been assessee's client. Therefore, the issu-
concept of freedom has undergone
placed in the CJI's courtroom facing ance of vouchers is similar to pre-de-
changes. In the 21st Century, society
lawyers. posit and not supply of goods or ser-
looks completely different from what
vices," the court said.
The CJI said that SC was trying to ex- it looked in the last century. We see a
plore the possibilities of live tran- The bench said the vouchers involved change in the socio-cultural ethos of
scripts. "It is an experiment. Then we in the petition are semi-closed prepaid society. Thus, the interpretation of law
will have a permanent record of argu- payment instruments (PPIs) in which must keep pace with changing needs
ments," he said, adding the facility will the goods or services to be redeemed of society," Justice Oka said.
20 | 2023 | MARCH | BANKING FINANCE