Tax
Death Of "Paper Shield": Re-Evaluating CA Certificates In Indian Construction Arbitration
For decades, the Indian construction arbitration landscape has been dominated by a convenient fiction: the "Certificate Culture." Claimants, faced with the daunting task of proving voluminous damages for idling, overheads, or loss of profit, have historically relied on a single sheet of paper, a Chartered Accountant (CA) certificate, as a proxy for thousands of pages of primary...
Agricultural Land Under Valuation Rules, 2017: Who Is Qualified To Value What Law Forgot?
India holds millions of hectares of land within the corporate asset portfolios, yet the Companies (Registered Valuers and Valuation) Rules, 2017, which govern the entire framework for valuation of company assets, are silent about how the agricultural lands are to be valued, who is qualified to value them, and whether they fall within any prescribed asset class. This silence constitutes not just...
Kerala Agriculture Income Tax | Amalgamating Company's Loss Can't Be Set-Off From Income Of Amalgamated Company : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has observed that a loss suffered by an amalgamating company cannot be set off against the income of an amalgamated company upon amalgamation unless permitted by a statute. A bench of Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Vijay Bishnoi dismissed a batch of appeals filed against the Kerala High Court's judgment, which declined the plea for setting off a loss of the...
Situs Of Office; Cyber-Freezes And Jurisdictional Trap
In the digital age, money moves in milliseconds across state borders, but the legal remedies for innocent account holders remain shackled to physical geography. As India pushes for "Digital Inclusion," a parallel and dangerous "Financial Exclusion" is occurring. Investigating agencies, in their zeal to trace "proceeds of crime," are using a borderless digital trail to impose a medieval form...
Tax Searches, Digital Data And Privacy Concerns
The Ministry of Finance has issued a notification on the Income-tax Rules, 2026 on March 20, 2026. The Rules will come into effect on April 1, 2026. The Rules were framed under the Income-tax Act, 2025, and they implement search and seizure powers provided in Section 247. As we approach a new system, an extension of search and seizure powers in the digital sphere sparks an...
Supreme Court Dismisses IT Dept Challenge To Quashing Of Reassessment Notice Against NDTV Holding Company
The Supreme Court today dismissed the Income Tax Department's appeal against the Delhi High Court judgment which had quashed reassessment proceedings against RRPR Holdings Private Limited, a company owned by NDTV promoters Radhika Roy and Prannoy Roy.A bench of Justice PS Narsimha and Justice Alok Aradhe dismissed the appeal on the ground of delay.In 2009, RRPR Holdings took a loan from...
Doctrinally Correct But Institutionally Problematic Approach To Kolhapur HC Bench Jurisdiction
Recently, the Bombay High Court has held that despite creation of a circuit bench, the principal seat will continue to retain jurisdiction. Apart from the legal impact, this decision is going to have wider repercussions for the cases which have been transferred or were due to be transferred to the circuit bench Kolhapur.The Order dated March 06, 2026, delivered by the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court in Shekhar Champalal Pagaria & Ors. v. CFM Assets Reconstruction Pvt. Ltd. & Ors....
Allahabad High Court Summons Husband's ITRs To Determine Income, Remands Matter To Trial Court To Decide DV Case
Recently, the Allahabad High Court summoned the income tax returns of a woman's husband for ascertaining his income.In proceedings under the Domestic Violence Act, the wife-applicant had filed an application seeking production of the income tax returns of the husband as he had disputed being an architect and claimed to be a labour. The Trial Court rejected the application under Section 91 of...
Wife Can't Seek Husband's IT Returns Under RTI Act For Maintenance Proceedings, Exempt Under 'Personal Information': Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court has held that a spouse cannot obtain the Income Tax Returns and financial records of the other spouse through an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, as such information constitutes 'personal information' under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, exempt from disclosure."…The details disclosed by a person in his income tax returns are...
Karnataka HC Issues 'Gender Neutral' Guidelines To Obtain Spouse's Financial Records In Maintenance Cases, Says RTI Act Cannot Be Utilised
The Karnataka High Court has recently issued uniform guidelines to be followed in 'maintenance' cases to apply for the financial records of their spouse, instead of resorting to the RTI Act.Earlier, the single judge bench of Justice Suraj Govindaraj held in the same order that a spouse cannot obtain the Income Tax Returns and financial records of the other spouse through an application under...