The Q whether the promise made by the FM & the CBDT in Circular dated 29.05.2012 not to reopen completed assessments despite the retrospective amendments is legal has created a major controversy. The author, in the light of the criticism of his earlier view, objectively reconsiders the entire law on the subject and makes out a compelling argument why his earlier view that the promises are unenforceable is correct

The promise made by the FM in Parliament, which is now endorsed in a CBDT Circular dt 29.05.2012, that completed assessments as of 1.4.2012 will not be reopened pursuant to the retrospective amendments made by the Finance Act 2012, has created a controversy. While one view is that these promises are without authority of law & illegal, the author has taken the converse view after reviewing the entire law on the subject

The author argues that the promise made by the Finance Minister in Parliament, which is now endorsed in a CBDT Circular dated 29.05.2012, that completed assessments as of 1.4.2012 will not be reopened pursuant to the retrospective amendments made by the Finance Act 2012, is without authority of law & illegal. The author makes good his contention by reference to several landmark cases

No practitioner can afford to be unaware of latest judgements & whether experts view the judgement as being right or wrong. Towards that end, the author has agreed to take time out of his busy schedule to make an analysis of landmark judgements every quarter. In this part, the author has identified three landmark judgements analyzed them with a critical eye and identified their strengths & shortcomings

The authors have carefully analyzed all the recent landmark judgements on the law of tax recovery and identified their core points. The authors have also given invaluable advice on the points that an assessee must emphasize in the stay application so that his case falls within the ratio of the case laws and he can get a complete stay on recovery of the demand

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee delivered a speech yesterday in the Rajya Sabha in which he cleared the air on the retrospective amendments to nullify the verdict of the Supreme Court in the Vodafone case. The Government was not being disrespectful or confrontational with the Supreme Court, he said & added that if the Government had not taken the proactive stand, the consequences would have been draconian for the Country

Noted economist Bibek Debroy argues that GAAR and the Vodafone retrospective amendments send a “perverse signal” and are a “terrible” idea. He says the proposals create great uncertainty, subjectivity and non-transparency which does not auger well for India as an investment destination. He urges the Finance Minister to admit his mistake and do a honourable strategic retreat before it is too late

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee delivered a fiery speech in Parliament yesterday in which he explained the rationale behind the Government’s resolve to tax Vodafone despite the Supreme Court’s verdict. He made out a strong case on why the Supreme Court’s verdict was against the rule of law & argued that if the UK could enact a 21 year retrospective law, India was not an “inferior” Country to be not entitled to do the same

Eminent Senior Advocate Harish Salve, the principal architect behind Vodafone’s spectacular success in the Supreme Court, has sent out a powerful emotive appeal that the retrospective amendments proposed in the Finance Bill 2012 to nullify the judgement of the Supreme Court and several other verdicts will malign India’s image in the minds of its citizens and foreign investors

In 1991, Nani Palkhivala called the Income-tax Act “a national disgrace” because of its “maddening instability“. He expressed anguish at the “pathological change mania” that had gripped the Finance Ministry which caused it to make repeated and mindless amendments to the Law. He also expressed disappointment with the Indian public who endured injustice and unfairness with “feudalistic servility” and “fatalistic resignation“. 20 years later and in the wake of the storm that the proposed retrospective amendments in the Finance Bill 2012 have caused, it is finally time for the Government and the Nation to pay attention to what he was saying