Latest news with #2017
Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal dismisses Congress appeal against Rs 199 crore tax assessment
Denying relief to the Indian National Congress, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on Monday dismissed an appeal by the party against a tax demand of ₹199.15 crore for the year 2018-19. Late return filing and violations of cash donation limits were among the main grounds due to which the ITAT rejected the party's claim for tax exemption. 'The assessee's return filed on 02.02.2019 is not within the 'due' date to make it eligible for the impugned exemption,' ruled the coram on July 21. The INC had filed its income tax return on February 2, 2019 – over a month after the extended due date of December 31, 2018, prescribed under the IT Act. It had declared income after claiming an exemption of Rs. 199.15 crores. Another issue that the ITAT looked at was a violation of cash donation limits. According to scrutiny proceedings, the party had received ₹14.49 lakh in cash donations exceeding ₹2,000 from various individuals. Donations above ₹ 2,000 can only be received through banking channels like account payee cheques or electronic transfers as per the Finance Act, 2017. 'As per section 13A(d) of the Act, donation in excess of ₹2,000/- is mandatorily be received through a/c payee cheque/draft or through electronic mode and therefore donation in excess of ₹2,000/- received in cash violates provisions of clause (d) of first proviso to section 13A of the Act,' the ITAT order stated. The Congress tried to find respite in Section 139(4) of the IT Act which states that if an individual misses the ITR filing deadline, they can still file a belated return, subject to penalties. The ITAT, however, denied it relief. '…it is manifestly clear that the legislature has incorporated the statutory expression therein as 'within the time allowed under that section' i.e. section 139(1) as well as u/s 139(4)…we thus reject the assessee's instant first and foremost substantive grievance in very terms and decide the above first question framed between the parties; in the department's favour,' the tribunal ruled.
Daily Maverick
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Civil society groups threaten court action over US deportations of criminals to Eswatini
The NGOs called on the Eswatini government to clarify the legal and factual basis on which the five individuals were accepted into Eswatini and to commit to not accepting inmates from third countries. Civil society groups in Eswatini and South Africa have threatened legal action against the Swazi government for accepting five hardened third-country criminals from the US. And Eswatini's Prime Minister Russell Dlamini has said his country is open to receiving more deportees if requested to do so by the US and if Eswatini has the capacity. The Swaziland Litigation Centre, the Swaziland Rural Women's Assembly and the Southern Africa Litigation Centre based in Johannesburg have issued a statement in which they threatened legal action if the Eswatini government did not back off from the deportee deal with the US. The US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, said last week that the deportees, from Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, Vietnam and Yemen, had criminal records which included convictions for murder, homicide and child rape. They were 'so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back', she added. The Eswatini government confirmed that the men had arrived and had been detained. It claimed they presented no threat to Swazi people. But the three civil society organisations said the arrival of the men raised many questions — especially in a country where correctional centres were overcrowded, the government was grappling with a range of crises, including a shortage of essential medicines, 'and where there have been consistent calls for a democratic, open and transparent government'. They asked whether the convicts had been sent to Eswatini to serve out the remainder of their prison sentences or whether these sentences had already been served, and they left the US under removal orders. They questioned whether the men had been informed that they were going to be removed to Eswatini, and whether they had access to consular services from their countries, an automatic right of every person detained in a foreign country. 'Who in Eswatini authorised the country's acceptance of these individuals, and on what legal basis did they do so? Are they detained under a detention warrant or a certificate of detention as per the Immigration Act? Any other basis of detention would be contrary to the Correctional Services Act No. 13 of 2017.' The NGOs asked whether the convicts would remain in Eswatini until the end of their sentences, and if not, how long they would remain in the country. 'What we do know points to the illegality of the detention in Eswatini and the unlawfulness of their removal from the United States,' the three NGOs said, because Swazi law only allowed for two scenarios for the detention of convicts. One was the transfer of a Swazi citizen convicted in a foreign state to serve their sentence in Eswatini. The second was the transfer of a foreign citizen convicted by a Swazi court to serve their sentence in their own country. They noted that Swazi law stipulated that a citizen of Eswatini must consent voluntarily and in writing to be transferred from a foreign country to serve their sentence in Eswatini. They said Eswatini's Immigration Act deemed any person convicted of murder in any country an undesirable immigrant. The government could grant such a person a temporary stay in exceptional circumstances, but there had been no indication of how long they would be detained in Eswatini. They noted that the Eswatini government had claimed the convicts would be returned to their countries of origin — yet the US had said it was sending them to Eswatini because their countries of origin did not want them back. Degrading treatment The NGOs said the law required that 'someone who is to be removed to a third country should be given notice and opportunity to claim that such removal could expose them to torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment. 'Removing people who had already served their sentences to be detained in a third country would amount to cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment and a violation of their right to due process. From a purely practical angle, it is unlikely that the individuals were able to exercise their due process rights given the haste with which they were sent to Eswatini. 'The United States has domesticated the Convention Against Torture, which means that they cannot send them to a country where people might be tortured. In the United States' 2024 report on Human Rights Practices in Eswatini, it noted the prisons were overcrowded, constituting inhumane treatment, and that there were reports of torture in prisons.' The NGOs called on the Eswatini government to clarify the legal and factual basis on which the five individuals were accepted into Eswatini and to commit to not accepting inmates from third countries. They called on the consulates of the countries where the five individuals are citizens to urgently arrange for consular services to ensure that they obtain legal representation. They called on the Eswatini Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, the International Committee of the Red Cross in Pretoria and other relevant international bodies to visit the five individuals to establish the facts surrounding their detention and their detention conditions. Eswatini's acting government spokesperson, Thabile Mdluli, told Daily Maverick, 'We are not aware of the threats to block the transfer of deportees, but only about safety concerns, which we have adequately addressed.' Responding to speculation in Eswatini that Prime Minister Dlamini had announced that his country would be receiving more deportees from the US, Mdluli said: 'He didn't say we would be receiving more, but the question was whether Eswatini would accept more deportees if the US were to advance a similar request in future, to which the PM said we would be open to receiving more, depending on capacity.' Mdluli also denied speculation in Eswatini that the US had paid Eswatini $5.1-million to accept deportees. 'No, we are not paid anything by the US. The US government, however, caters for the welfare of the deportees, including repatriation costs.' DM
Time of India
4 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
SC adds NHRC to PIL for law on mental health care
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the National Human Right Commission to be made a party to the PIL for the implementation of a 2017 law on safeguarding the rights and needs of persons with mental illnesses. A bench comprising Justices P S Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar asked petitioner Gaurav Kumar Bansal to file an application to make rights body NHRC a party to the PIL filed in 2018. The bench said the PIL may be transferred to the NHRC for implementing the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. Bansal said a committee headed by a former apex court judge could be set up to oversee the implementation. "We cannot create a parallel mechanism just because the existing system has any flaws," the bench said. The bench, in the meantime, asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Centre, to share its affidavit with Bansal and posted the hearing after three weeks. The bench had previously said Parliament enacted the Mental Healthcare Act in 2017 which contemplates establishment of "Central Mental Health Authority (CMHA), State Mental Health Authority (SMHA) and Mental Health Review Board (MHRB)". The top court on March 2 directed Centre to file an affidavit indicating the establishment and functioning of the Central Mental Health Authority, State Mental Health Authority and Mental Health Review Board. The affidavit was further ordered to show the statutory and mandatory appointments to the authority and the review board. On January 3, 2019, the apex court issued notices to the Centre, all states and Union Territories on the petition which has claimed that non-implementation of provisions of the Act by the states and UTs was a gross violation of life and liberty of the citizens. Taking note of an incident, the bench said chaining people with mental illness was violative of their rights under Article 21 of the Constitution, which deals with life and personal liberty, and their dignity cannot be compromised. The PIL argued persons with mental illnesses were chained in a faith-based mental asylum in Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh in violation of provisions of the Mental Health Care Act 2017. The court examined the photos of such patients calling it a matter of great concern. The PIL said chaining a person suffering from mental illness was a blatant violation of a provision of the 2017 Act which says that every such person shall not only have a right to live with dignity but he or she shall be protected from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Referring to the National Mental Health Survey 2016, he has claimed that around 14 per cent of India's population requires active mental health interventions and around 2 per cent Indians were suffering from severe mental disorders.>
Express Tribune
5 days ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Cabinet body okays 104 business reforms
Listen to article The Cabinet Committee on Regulatory Reforms (CCoRR), chaired by Federal Minister for Investment Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, concluded a series of three meetings to review the Regulatory Reform Package-01 submitted by the Board of Investment (BOI). According to an official statement on Thursday, the meetings marked a key milestone in the government's effort to modernise Pakistan's regulatory environment in line with the prime minister's directives. The BOI's reform package included 136 proposals aimed at reducing compliance burdens, eliminating outdated procedures, and improving the ease of doing business. The package focused on streamlining federal-level Registrations, Licenses, Certificates and Other Permits (RLCOs) and modernising the Companies Act, 2017 for unlisted companies. During the meetings, the committee reviewed all 136 proposals in detail. A sub-committee led by Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Industries and Production, was formed to consult on the Companies Act with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and other stakeholders. Out of 136 proposals, 104 reforms were endorsed for implementation. These include the removal of 19 redundant regulatory requirements and streamlining of 57 procedural steps through simplification, modernisation, and digitalisation. Once implemented, the approved reforms are expected to deliver significant cost savings, shorten approval timelines, and create a more transparent and business-friendly regulatory ecosystem. The committee directed relevant ministries and departments to implement the reforms within set deadlines, up to 90 days depending on each reform's complexity. BOI will coordinate implementation and regularly report progress to the committee. The committee noted that more reform packages are in development, targeting key sectors of the economy. These future reforms aim to reduce compliance pressures and create space for businesses to invest and grow locally and globally.
Business Recorder
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
‘Regulatory Reform Package-01': CCoRR undertakes comprehensive review of 136 proposals
ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Regulatory Reforms (CCoRR), chaired by the Federal Minister for Investment, Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, concluded a series of three meetings held to review the Regulatory Reform Package-01, prepared and submitted by the Board of Investment (BOI). These meetings marked a key milestone in the government's efforts to simplify and modernise Pakistan's regulatory landscape in line with the directives of the prime minister. The reform package, formulated by BOI's reform team, comprised of 136 targeted proposals aimed at reducing compliance burden, eliminating outdated procedures, and enhancing the ease of doing business. The package focused on two principal areas: the streamlining of federal-level Registrations, Licenses, Certificates and Other Permits (RLCOs), and modernisation of the Companies Act, 2017 for unlisted companies. CCoRR begins deliberations on Regulatory Reforms Package 01 Over the course of the three meetings, the committee undertook a comprehensive review of 136 proposals. Notably, a sub-committee under the convenorship of Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Industries and Production, was constituted to lead consultations on the Companies Act in coordination with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and other stakeholders. It is pertinent to note that out of 136 proposed reforms, 104 of proposals have been endorsed by the Cabinet Committee for implementation. These include the elimination of 19 redundant regulatory requirements, streamlining of 57 procedural requirements that includes simplification, modernisation and introduction of digital mechanisms to enhance transparency and service delivery. Once implemented, the endorsed reforms are expected to result in substantial cost savings, reduced approval timelines, and a more business-friendly regulatory ecosystem. The committee issued clear directives to relevant federal ministries and departments to ensure time-bound implementation of the approved reforms, with timelines upto 90 days based on the complexity of each reform measure. The BOI will continue to coordinate and monitor implementation progress and report back to the Cabinet Committee accordingly. It was noted that additional reform packages are in the pipeline, targeting key areas across different sectors of the economy. These upcoming packages are aimed to reduce the compliance burden on businesses and create the space they need to invest, grow and compete more effectively in local and global markets. The federal minister for investment commended the dedicated efforts of the BOI's reform team and acknowledged the constructive engagement of regulatory bodies in furthering this vital national reform agenda. The conclusion of this review process reflects the government's strong commitment to regulatory modernisation and its resolve to foster an enabling environment for business and investment in Pakistan. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
