From the desk of the Editor-in-Chief
A Tribute to Late Shri Narayan Varma
A great visionary of the tax profession
My Senior, Late Shri V. H. Patil Advocate had encouraged me to write for the Bombay Chartered Accountant’s Journal (BCAJ). I had the fortune of contributing to the BCAJ since 1984, when Shri Shyam Argade, was the editor. Later on I used to contribute to the subject of unreported judgments of the Bombay High Court, Special Bench cases, etc. It was a great rewarding experience to attend yearly meeting of the Journal committee of the BCAS and listen to the new ideas by the editors and other members of the journal committee.
Late Shri Narayan Varma was one of the great visionaries of the tax profession who used to share several new ideas for Professional Organisations, Journals, Seminars, etc. I had the fortune of associating with Shri Narayan Varma in the educational activities of the Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society, the Chamber of Tax Consultants, and public interest litigation relating to taxation matters. It is Shri Narayan Varma who inspired me to start “Allied Laws” as a new regular feature for the BCAJ.
In April 1996, with my friend Mr. Chetan A. Karia, Chartered Accountant, we co-authored the first feature. Ever since, with the help of my associates, our chamber has contributed to the feature regularly.
This feature on “Allied Laws” is drawn from referring to the All India Reporter (AIR), Supreme Court cases (SCC), Customs and Central Excise Times (Now known as GST Law Times), Sales Tax cases (STC) (Now The Goods and Service Tax Reports (GSTR) and many more journals.
I must acknowledge that the support of my professional colleagues,
Mr. Chetan A. Karia, Chartered Accountant, Mr. K. Gopal Advocate,
Mr. Reepal Tralshawala Chartered Accountant, Mr. Ajay R. Singh Advocate, Mr. Shashank Dundu, Advocate, Mr. Rahul Hakani, Advocate and Mr. Shashi A. Bekal, Advocate, who have from time to time, shared the effort in ensuring timely and regular contribution to the feature “Allied Laws”. The Journal Committee and Editorial team of the Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society (BCAS) have always added value with their regular inputs for the feature.
Chartered Accountants have domain knowledge of business and accounts and are recognised as experts in the field. Tax Laws do not stand in isolation from other laws and it does not operate in a vacuum. Certain enactments like the General Clauses Act are laws that apply to all enactments of the Legislature. Then there are commercial laws like the Companies Act and, the Indian Contract Act, which will have a direct bearing on a commercial transaction. There are also enactments to which reference is made in the Tax Law itself, as Legislation does not re-enact the same provision again. To top it all, the Rules of Interpretation of Statute, are secular in the sense the Rules will apply equally to interpret an enactment, irrespective of its subject. Therefore, it can be said that general law is the backbone of tax and legal practice.
This publication will serve as a guide and reference to Chartered Accountants in their day-to-day practice. Case laws on general law help the chartered accountants, lawyers, and tax practitioners to be better equipped for representation as well as advisory services. One will find most of the tax journals have now started digesting important judgments on allied laws.
The idea of publishing a publication on “General Laws” was discussed a few years back when I had a discussion with Shri Deepak R. Shah, Chartered Accountant and Past President of the BCAS who has shown a positive response and he had discussed with then President and Chairman of the Publication Committee of the BCAS who then agreed to the proposed publication. I discussed this with Mr. Pradip Kapasi, Chartered Accountant, Past President of the BCAS, and one of my close friends who has supported this publication. When I discussed with my associates who were contributing to Allied Laws, all of them agreed to be part of this prestigious project. Senior members of the profession and my close associates in the profession have agreed to spare their time for editing the publication. They have edited the contents of this publication and added value to the publication. It is due to the great teamwork of the research team and editorial team we were able to bring out this publication.
I owe a lot of gratitude to the BCAS, its past presidents and especially my friend Shri P. D. Desai who gave me the opportunity to deliver a lecture at BCAS’s forum.
I was pondering on the idea of giving back to the BCAS and its members. The idea came to me to come out with a publication on General Laws relevant to Direct Tax as a tribute and in remembrance of the Late Shri Narayan Varma.
This publication will be a useful reference to chartered accountants, lawyers, and tax consultants who practice exclusively on tax laws. This publication will be very useful to all who desire to know about legal issues relating to various acts such as succession, will, nomination, registration, etc. and many other acts.
In this publication, 75 Acts and 924 cases relevant to Direct Tax practice have been discussed. The Research team has digested section-wise, the important case laws on respective Acts. It is a matter of pride that the publication is a joint effort of leading tax professionals. Twelve senior members have edited research material gathered and digested by sixteen professionals. All of them have spared time from their busy schedule.
In my 45 years of practice, I had the opportunity to associate with the BCAS and I must acknowledge that BCAS is one of the finest organisations. The members are dedicated to the professional cause and the BCAJ is a must for every professional who practices on direct and indirect taxes.
This publication is possible due to the support of Mr. Chirag Doshi, President and Past Presidents Mr. Mihir Sheth, Mr. Anil Sathe, and the positive support of Mr. Deepak R. Shah, Past President of the BCAS and convenors Mr. Shashi A. Bekal, Advocate and Ms. Divya Jokhakar, Chartered Accountant. Special Thanks to Ms. Neelam Jadhav, Advocate who has devoted time in preparing the subject-wise index which is very useful to readers.
There is constant change in the law, what we consider today may not be good law tomorrow. I feel that this publication may have to be revised at least once in five years.
We look forword to the valuable suggestions of the readers of this publication.
Dr. K. Shivaram
Senior Advocate
[Source : Bombay Chartered Accountant Society Publication 75 Laws Relevant to Direct Taxes]
Dr. K. Shivaram, Senior Advocate, has lauded the recent philosophy of the Income-tax Dept of “Honouring the Honest“. He has described it as a “Game Changing Fiscal Policy“. He has advised that the tax administration has to make sincere efforts to satisfy at least 10 expectations of high tax payers. He has opined that this will be a way forward to eliminate the so-called “Trust Deficit” between the Tax Department and the Asseessees
Dr. K. Shivaram, Senior Advocate, has pointed out that the stakeholders in the ITAT will have no option but to adapt to a mixture of virtual and physical hearings, in order to dispose off appeals and do justice. The ld. author has offered valuable suggestions on how the challenges can be overcome and the task achieved with least hardship to all concerned
Dr K. Shivaram, Senior Advocate, has lauded the Income tax Appellate Tribunal and the Tax Professionals for playing a proactive role during lock down by organising Webinars on several subjects which have helped tax practitioners to better their understanding on various issues. He has pointed out that this salutary practice has also helped them to do away with negative thoughts that set in as a result of the Lockdown
Dr. K. Shivaram, Senior Advocate, has pointed out that the lament by Nani Palkhivala several decades ago regarding the ‘maddening instability‘ of the Income-tax Act and it being a “national disgrace” holds good today as well as is reflected by the numerous amendments ushered in by the Finance Bill 2020. Some amendments are ill-thought of and have led to enormous confusion and anxiety amongst taxpayers. Also, the non-allocation of funds to the Judiciary shows a lack of seriousness in the Government regarding clearing the massive backlog of cases in Courts. The learned author has also made valid points regarding the ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ scheme and other important proposals in the Budget