Page 17 - Banking Finance October 2023
P. 17

LEGAL UPDATE

         defaults in payment of the tax to the  Indian Penal Code. Law Commission  sumption of constitutionality; it has no
         government treasury, ITC cannot be  reports exert considerable influence on  bearing on the provision's constitution-
         claimed and  in  fact,  if it  has been  both the government and the Supreme  ality itself. Instead, I will restrict my-
         claimed - there will need to be a re-  Court and, given that the provision's  self to its discussion of the court's free
         versal of such credit," Abhishek Jain,  constitutionality is pending, it is impor-  speech jurisprudence, as that forms
         partner and indirect tax head at KPMG  tant to closely read a document that  the basis of its proposed substantive
         India, said.                       will likely form an important part of  amendment, and the absences that
         In the case of Aastha Enterprises, the  any future judgement on the matter.  mark the text.
         HC said that ITC by its very nomencla-  The report walks the reader through
         ture contemplates a credit being avail-  sedition law's history in India, the Law Can't  refuse  education
         able to the buyer in its credit ledger by  Commission's previous reports that dis-  loan over student's CIBIL
         way of payment of tax by the supplier  cussed the law, Constituent Assembly
         to the government. "The contention of  debates, and the courts' public-order  score: Kerala HC
         double taxation does not impress us,  jurisprudence.  After discussing the  The Kerala High Court stayed an order
         especially since the claim is denied only  threats to India's security and the law's  passed   by   single-judge   PV
         when the supplier who collected tax  "alleged"  misuse (the  Commission  Kunhikrishnan  which  said  that  a
         from the purchaser fails to pay it to the  passes the buck onto the police instead  student's credit score cannot be a fac-
         government. Taxation, as has been  of the "political class," as if the police  tor in rejecting an education loan ap-
         held, is a compulsory extraction made  are an autonomous body) and under-  plication.
         for the purpose of public good by the  taking a wide-ranging comparative  Acting on an appeal filed by the State
         welfare state and without the levy be-  survey of sedition law in diverse juris-  Bank of India (SBI), a Bench of Acting
         ing paid to the government; there can  dictions (the UK, US, Australia, and  Chief Justice SVN Bhatti and Justice
         be no claim raised of the liability to tax  Canada!), the report concludes with  Basant Balaji temporarily stayed an or-
         having been satisfied and hence, there  why the law should be retained on the  der dated May 30, directing the banks
         is no question of double taxation," the  books.                       to sanction educational loans to stu-
         court order said.                  It adds a series of recommendations  dents without rejecting them on the
                                            that ignore the Supreme Court's post-  basis of a low CIBIL or credit score.
         The Law Commission's Re-           Kedar Nath  jurisprudence, set  out  The bank had challenged the order on
         port on  Sedition misun-           vague procedural guidelines, and in-  grounds that the credit sanctioning
                                            crease the punishment for the offence.  has to be carried out according to the
         derstands what the courts
                                            I will not examine the report's history  applicable rules and guidelines such
         said                               of the provision as, beyond establish-  as the Credit Information Companies

         The 22nd Law Commission of India re-  ing the purpose of the provision, it  Act,  2005,  which  deals  with  the
         cently submitted its final report ("Us-  serves no purpose. Highlighting the  regulation of credit information com-
         age of the Law of Sedition") on the  colonial origins of the provision is only  panies and facilitates efficient credit
         constitutionality of section 124A of the  relevant insofar as it displaces any pre-  distribution.

                21 proposals with potential to succeed identified: RBI Governor

           To align cross-border payments ecosystems with G20 priorities, 21 innovative proposals with the potential to suc-
           ceed have been identified, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said. "In collaboration with the
           Bank for International Settlements (BIS), 21 proposals in total were shortlisted...they have the power to provide
           solutions to maintain the integrity of the financial system, empower the underserved, reduce frictions in cross-bor-
           der payments and amplify the resilience of financial systems," Das said at the G20 TechSprint Finale in Mumbai. The
           G20 TechSprint is a global long-form hackathon series that the BIS Innovation Hub co-hosts annually with the G20
           Presidency.


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