The National Green Tribunal has ruled no fresh environmental clearance would be granted to new
industrial units or for expansion of any operating industry in Noida without its consent.

Employers can now file provident fund returns online from anywhere, anytime. With the formal
launch of the e-challan-cum-return (ECR) system, the employers need not visit EPFO offices to file
various monthly and annual paper returns.

A partner who is not in charge of the day-to-day affairs of running the firm and who is merely a
sleeping partner should not be harassed for non- compliance with law.This was the Delhi High Court verdict in a petition filed by Mr. Dharampal Gulati, the octo generation brand ambassador of MDH, whose 'Kitchen King' was sent for analysis under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. Following this, a case was filed against the firm and the petitioner. The High Court, after going through
the partnership deed, agreed with the petitioner that he was only a sleeping partner and, hence, ought
not to be disturbed. Hence, the proceedings against the petitioner, a sleeping partner in the firm, were quashed.

Issuing a cheque which is dishonoured by a bank can lead to two separate criminal proceedings,
one under Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act and another for cheating or breach of trust
under the Indian Penal Code. The Supreme Court stated that they can precede independently of
each other, in the case, Sangeeta Ben vs. State of Gujarat. In this case, the person who issues
the case was convicted and later acquitted under the cheque law. However, there was another case
for cheating. The accused moved the Gujarat high court arguing that she cannot be tried again on
the same offence as it would amount to abuse of process of law. The high court dismissed the
petition and allowed the cheating case to proceed. Counter appeal to the Supreme Court was also
dismissed.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has made it mandatory for operators to
offer at least one tariff plan based on per-second billing. Operators are free to offer up to 25 tariff plans but at least one should be on per-second pulse.

The Supreme Court has held that In case of dishonour of cheques issued by the company, prosecution under section 141 of the Negotiable Instrument Act, 1882 against directors (vicarious liability) is possible subject to arraigning of company as an accused. If directors are prosecuted without arraigning of company as an accused, prosecution order against directors is liable to be quashed. However, directors can be proceeded against with or without arraigning company as an accused where company cannot be arraigned as accused due to some legal impediment which attracts "lex
non cogit ad impossiblia" rule (law does not recognize that which is impossible).

Civil Aviation Sector

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to allow External Commercial Borrowings
(ECBs) for working capital as a permissible end-use for the civil aviation sector, under
the approval route, subject to some conditions.

Refinancing/Rescheduling of ECB

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided that the borrowers desirous of refinancing an
existing External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) can raise fresh External Commercial
Borrowings (ECBs) at a higher all-in-cost/ reschedule an existing External Commercial
Borrowings (ECBs) at a higher all-in-cost under the approval route subject to the condition that the enhanced all-in-cost does not exceed the all-in-cost ceiling prescribed as per the extant guidelines.

Power Sector

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided that Indian companies in the power sector will be allowed to utilise 40 % of the fresh External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) raised towards refinancing of the rupee loan/ s availed by them from the domestic banking system, under the approval route, subject to the condition that at least 60 % of the fresh External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) to be raised should be utilised for fresh capital Expenditure for infrastructure project(s).

Maintenance and operation for Toll systems for Road and highways

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided that External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs)
would also be allowed for Capital Expenditure under the automatic route for the maintenance
and operation of Toll systems for roads and highways they form part of the original project.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to allow bank to determine their interest rates on
export credit in foreign currency with effect from May 5,2012.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to permit all India financial institutions, namely, Export Bank of India (EXIM), National Bank for agriculture and rural Development (NABARAD),
National Housing Bank (NHB) and Small industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to participate in the Credit Default Swaps (CDS) Market as user to hedge the underlying credit risk in corporate bonds in their portfolio.

The Mumbai ITAT bench held that processing charges paid by assessee for availing a bridge loan from a bank is part of interest as provided in section 24 and, therefore, is an allowable expenditure.

The Delhi High Court has held that section 50 of Act is applicable only in respect of sale of a capital assets forming part of a block of asset in respect of which depreciation has been allowed. As no rate
of depreciation has ever been prescribed for land, it does not form part of 'block of assets'. Thus, the deeming provisions of section 50 are not applicable in case of transfer of land (even if sold along with depreciable building). The surplus of sale price over indexed cost of acquisition would be taxable as long term capital gain if it is held for more than 36 months

The Delhi High Court has held that the contract envisaged by the section 194C would be one under which one person merely renders certain services to the other person for consideration. It would not be possible to view the franchisee agreement as a contract for carrying out any work by the franchisee. The franchisee arrangement consists of mutual obligations and rights. The essence of such contract is one under which the trade name or reputation or know how belonging to the assessee is permitted to be made use of by the franchisees in different places for a monetary consideration.
Therefore, in case of franchisee arrangements, there would not be any obligation to deduction tax under section 194C

The Delhi High Court has held that it will not be appropriate to exclude or include any day of the holding for the purpose of computing the period of holding. The date on which the asset is acquired is not to be excluded because the holding starts from the said date. Neither is the date of sale/
transfer to be excluded. Thus, if an asset is held for 12 months/36 months and is sold the very next day after the period of 12/36 months is over, the asset would be treated as a long term capital asset.
Further, there is nothing in the said section to show and hold that the time period would not include fraction of a day

The Mumbai ITAT bench held that In case interest-free loan is given to the non-resident associated enterprise, the provisions of transfer pricing regime shall be applied and the notional interest on such
loan shall be taxable in the hands of the lender.

The Allahabad High Court held that Section 50C not applicable to sale of plots by a builder since plots are his stock-in-trade and not capital assets

The Bombay High Court held that notional interest on deposits paid by employer to landlord cannot be taken into consideration while computing perquisite value of residential accommodation.

The Mumbai ITAT bench held that no penalty u/s 271(1)(c) on the ground that judicial decisions favourable to assessee were not available as on date of filing return and were pronounced later on.

The Hyderabad ITAT bench held that for purpose of allowing deduction under section 80-IA, it is not necessary that assessee should be owner of infrastructure facility.

The income tax department is set to introduce a free-of-cost and easy-to-operate electronic signature facility to file income tax returns electronically. The facility will help taxpayers who do not have
a digital signature. It will save them from the mandatory requirement of sending a hard copy
of the return filed electronically through speed post to the department's central processing centre
in Bangalore.

Gains made by a Mauritius company by selling compulsory convertible debentures (CCDs) to an
Indian company are taxable as interest in India.

Taking this stand, the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) has said that any gains made by
selling such instruments will not be eligible for capital gains exemption under the India-Mauritius
tax treaty. Simply put, withholding tax obligations would arise on the Indian company making the
payment as consideration for the compulsory convertible debentures (CCDs). According to the experts, the Authority's decision is in line with the rulings of the Supreme Court and High Courts that compulsory convertible debentures (CCDs) are basically debt instruments. By this ruling, the Authority for advance rulings (AAR) has rejected the contention of an applicant that sale of compulsory convertible debentures (CCDs) is sale of assets and the premium received is not interest income, but capital gains.

The Delhi ITAT has held that payment received by a foreign university for offering distance educational courses in India is not taxable.

The Finance Ministry has said that the proposed retrospective changes in the income tax law are only 'clarificatory' and will not override double tax avoidance pacts.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued an important circular regarding issuance of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) certificate in  Form 16A in respect of all sums deducted on or after 01-04-2012. It provides that:

• All deductors shall Issue Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) certificate in Form No. 16A  generated through Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) central system which is downloadable from the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) website with a unique Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) certificate number in respect of all sums deducted on or after the 01-04-2012;
• The deductors, issuing the Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) certificate in Form No.16A by downloading it from the Taxpayer  Identification Number (TIN) website, shall authenticate such Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) certificate either by using digital signature or by manual signature.

The Karnataka High Court held that where non-payment of service tax was not with an intention to avoid tax, penalty was to be reduced.

The Supreme Court has held that an assessee of service tax can enter into a contract to shift the liability to another party in its judgement Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. v/s M/s Dewan Chand. Moreover, the court also held that it should not interfere in the arbitral award by substituting for that of the arbitrator if two views are possible.

The CESTAT, Ahemdabad Bench held that prima facie a stock broker is not liable to pay service tax on NSE/BSE transaction charges and demat charges.

The Bombay High Court held that prima facie, an assessee can avail Cenvat credit of service tax paid on outward freight.

For the first time, the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers has indicated that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) may be implemented by April 1, 2013. This indication comes after the Centre said it is willing to consider States' demand on the issue of compensation for reduction in Central Sales Tax.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has unveiled a new reporting format for
disclosing financial results for companies other than banks. Companies have to file their income
statement and balance sheet in this format starting FY 12-13. Companies filing consolidated results have to include details of profit / loss of associates and minority interest. They have to provide separate details on promoter/ promoter group shares pledged. In their balance sheets, companies now
have to provide details of money received against share warrants under shareholder's funds.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has decided that the draft offer documents
in respect of issues of Size up to Rs 500 crores shall be filed with the concerned regional office
of SEBI under the jurisdiction of which the registered office of the issuer company falls.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has said that it will not relax the deadline
for companies to achieve 25 per cent public shareholding. The deadline for compliance is June 2013 for private companies and August 2013 for public sector undertakings (PSUs). The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will unveil new guidelines on consent mechanism in the next four weeks.

Private equity fund-raising has hit a regulatory hurdle with the Securities and Exchange Board  of India (SEBI) directing alternative investment funds (AIFs) to stop raising money till they register again with it. More than a dozen private equity firms and real estate-focused funds are in the midst of raising capital of over Rs 26,000 crore, according to Chennai-based researcher Venture Intelligence.

Last week, The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) revamped Alternative Investment
Funds (AIFs) rules by saying that Private Equity firms shall not raise any fresh funds after  notification of these regulations except commitments already made by investors as on date of the notification. 

The following companies are registered with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as Credit Information Companies:-

• Experian Credit Information Company of India Pvt. Ltd.
• Equifax Credit Information Services Pvt. Ltd.
• Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd.

State lender India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL) is set to announce a $1-billion infrastructure debt fund through mutual fund route on April 10. With the funding of Rs 1,350 crore, IIFCL will own 26% stake in the fund while IDBI Bank will have 14% and Life Insurance Corporation 10% stake. Asian Development Bank, HSBC and Barclays will contribute the remaining 50% in the fund. IIFCL along with LIC and IDBI will be contributing $500 million while Asian Development Bank will be putting in $250 million and Barclays and HSBC will be contributing $150 million each. Such infrastructure debt funds (IDFs) are expected to address the long-term financing needs of infrastructure projects and fast track them.

The government has decided to set up an expert committee to examine if there is a need to ban
futures trading in seven farm commodities, which have witnessed a sharp jump in prices recently.

The Reserve Bank (RBI) allowed regional rural banks (RRBs) and cooperative banks to participate in the centralised payment systems.

State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, plans to buy loans from banks in the US and
Europe to boost its overseas credit assets and profitability.

The government has put on hold its plan to levy duty on import of power equipment by all
developers to protect the interest of domestic firms, such as BHEL and L&T. The concern is that once the duty is imposed, the changes will dilute the government`s mega power policy, which offers benefits to big thermal & hydro power projects by way of a tax holiday for 10 years and customs waiver equipment imports.

Reserve Bank of India has decided to reduce the Repo Rate by 50 basis points from 8.50 % to 8.00 % under the Liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) w.e.f. 17th April, 2012.

China will increase liquidity via open market operations and cutting banks' required reserves
to steer the economy towards soft landing. An official of People's bank of China has said that
the bank will raise reverse repo operations and cut reverse requirements at an appropriate time.

The Union Cabinet has allowed private banks to raise voting rights to 26% as recommended by a parliamentary standing committee. However, for buying equity stake of above 5%, approval of the central bank will be mandatory.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved Brickwork Ratings as an eligible Credit Rating Agency for bank loans/facilities. In addition to the existing four domestic credit rating agencies.
Brickwork Ratings has been registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India as a Credit
Rating Agency since 2008.

Home loan customers need no longer worry about transferring their loans from one bank to another.
In line with the recommendations of the Damodaran Committee on customer service in banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has abolished foreclosure charges, levied by banks on prepayment of home loans with floating interest rates.

The Indian economy is in the threshold of a big leap towards India shining once again, but the main stumbling block being a sense of confusion about government policies, scarcity of low cost adequate money for funding further investments and most importantly India Inc. awaiting for specific policy decisions and creative actions in the areas which has been adversely impacted due to lack of policy initiative.

It has been observed that economy of Brazil is growing leaps and bounds in last 2 years and the growth rates have moved up substantially in the year 2011 and further in the current year. Even China has regained its momentum of growth. If Brazil and China can grow, there is no reason why India cannot grow that fast. It may be very important for the Government of India to confidently move and take policy initiatives in respect of the following :

1. Income Tax Department should be advised by the Government to not to play their aggressive role of  collection of taxes. As a ruling government, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that the tax collection is done in a manner that does not create apprehension in the mind of tax payers. The spree of over enthusiastic tax proposals have to be shelved once for all. The Government of India needs to restrain from a spree to collect too much taxes, thereby impacting the growth itself. In the words of legendry statesman, Chanakaya "A king has no right to collect more than 1/6th of the income as tax and the people (subject) are free not to pay taxes in case the state try to levy taxes beyond this limit."
2. Availability of low cost adequate fund for real estate sector, infrastructure sector, power sector as well as all other businesses and service sector is a must. The policy rates are needed to be reduced by at least 3% to 4% over a period of 6 months to a year in a pre  announced structured plan, to provide confidence to the investors about the intentions of the government. The recent initiative of 0.5% reduction in Repo rate is only a good beginning.
3. The Power Sector is suffering from the absence of coal linkages, a proper and transparent power purchase policy and empowerment of creation of a large private sector set up for distribution and trading of power, in addition to existing State Government framework.
4. The issues in respect of Foreign Direct Investment are not very crucial at this stage as the government has already substantially liberalized this area. FDI in real estate, even by NRIs need to be regulated more strictly.
5. It is important to give confidence to foreign investor of a fair play by the government. Our government is actually fair but the messages get transmitted internationally is in the wrong direction, in the absence of appropriate structured communication from the government.
6. The government need to give confidence to the business community that it means business and is committed to provide all necessary support and facilities to the businesses to grow including micro  and small businesses as well as mid size and large corporate. The businesses are in fact looking for an appropriate commitment in this regard which should be seen to be getting converted into action with appropriate communication.
7. It is important to improve the investment climate, so that the entrepreneurial initiatives can attract adequate investment and the lack of investors' confidence currently prevailing in the stock market is to be addressed effectively by bringing in regulatory changes.
8. It is important for the government to consider mandatory valuation of IPO or FPO, independent monitoring of application fund raised from the market and to impose mandatory dilution of the promoters holding, in case the share prices goes down by more than 25% in the 1st year itself, by making compulsory additional allotment in favour of public investors so as to compensate them for wrong pricing determined by the management, on the basis of 52 weeks average prices.