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SC tells Tamil Nadu Speaker to appear before Madras High Court

     New Delhi: The Supreme Court today upheld a Madras High Cort order, asking Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker K Kalimuthu to appear as an accused before the trial court, in a case pertaining to 'Robin Mayne' bank loan scam. Justices Arijit Pasayat and SH Kapadia said in their order that: ''We do not find any infirmity in the High Court order which had on March 31, 2004, reversed the trial court order and directed him to appear there as an accused.'' The charge against Kalimuthu in the case filed by the CBI was that during his tenure as the Agriculture Minister in 1983, he had deposited huge funds the Tamil Nadu State Agricultural Marketing Board in nationalised banks. It was alleged that Kalimuthu had asked officers of the banks to advance vehicle loans to the tune of Rs 56 lakh to the main accused Mayne. Before the trial court it was contended on behalf of Kalimuthu that no prior sanction had been obtained from the government and therefore the cognizance of the offence could not be taken against him. The trial court accepted the contention of Kalimuthu. The High Court on March 31, 2004, reversed the order of the trial court and directed him to appear before the trial court on April 16. The Supreme Court on April 13 had dispensed with his personal appearance in the case by an interim order during the preliminary hearing of his special leave petition against the High Court Order.

Well-known cartoonist OV Vijayan dead (Go To Top)

     Hyderabad: Well known writer and cartoonist OV Vijayan died at a local corporate hospital here this morning, following cardio-respiratory arrest. He was 75. Vijayan was admitted with multiple health-related complications, including cardiac arrest, and was also suffering from aspiration pneumonia and sepsis. His condition was so precarious that he had to be placed on a ventilator over the last few days. The cartoonist declared dead at 5.30 a.m. this morning.

Traders, petrol pumps go on strike against VAT (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: In protest against value-added tax (VAT) due to take effect from April 1, about thousands of traders across the country went on a three-day strike on Wednesday. Supplementing to their protest, about 350 petrol pumps of Delhi also remained closed for 24 hours. Traders at a major wholesale market in the old part of Delhi kept their shutters down in protest. The much-delayed VAT is set to take effect from April 1 in at least 21 states of the country. The tax, which aims to create a uniform system, curb rampant tax evasion and increase revenue for the cash-strapped state governments has been delayed five times in nearly 10 years. The protestors feared that the tax collectors were ill prepared, which could result them pay more under the new tax regime.

     The Congress-led UPA government had affirmed last week that it could not back down despite the dissent of BJP ruled five states. "Traders want to give tax but they want it through a system which makes it easier and fair for them and not VAT. All the traders are protesting against it. We want the government to revoke VAT," said Ramesh Chand, a protestor. Under the new tax regime, the tax will be levied on the value manufacturers and retailers add to goods at each sale point in the chain. This is expected to replace a web of sales taxe across the states that causes duplication of tax. VAT will cover 550 categories of goods.

    The tax will be charged as per two basic rates of 4 percent and 12.5 percent and a special rate of 1.0 percent for gold and silver ornaments. The protestors said that it was yet not known to them which rates apply to which goods. They also complained that other taxes, including a Central sales tax, would continue to run alongside VAT. Another issue raised by the protestors was the government's plans to remover central sales tax by April 1, 2006. Under sales tax, a manufacturer is taxed on products made with inputs that have already been taxed, perhaps more than once. The government says this causes unfair double taxation with cascading effects. Under VAT, the manufacturer or retailers will receive a credit for the taxes paid on their purchases and will be taxed only on the value they add. But expressing their worries the protestors said that obtaining the refund would be complex and they wanted to know if they would get credits for stock held before the new system starts. The refusal by five states ruled by the main opposition BJP to launch the tax on time is also causing anxiety as the protestors said VAT was supposed to level the playing field between states and create a uniform system. Two other states, including India's most-populous Uttar Pradesh, have already made it clear that they will not launch the new tax and it is not certain if one other state would be ready in time.

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