In the complex world of asset distribution, the rights of nominees, particularly in life insurance policies, have been a subject of ongoing legal debate. Traditionally, nominees have been regarded as trustees, holding the proceeds of an insurance policy temporarily for the rightful legal heirs. However, a significant shift occurred with the 2015 amendment to the…
Amid expectations the upcoming budget will address the issue, experts suggest steps such as reintroducing the faceless regime with personal hearings to handle complex cases, ramping up staffing, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and mandating a one-year deadline to dispose of appeals. As per the Central Action Plan data, about 550,000 appeals were pending for disposal…
Attempts to justify this by arguing that it helps control an epidemic of sugar-fuelled obesity weaken on considering the inconsistent approach taken to taxing sugar confectionery, which falls under HSN Code 1704. Taxation is not uniform: some items, like elaichi dana, chikki, gajak etc, attract 5% GST; others like âboiled sweetsâ attract 12%; while the…
In the budget for 2024-25, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act, aiming to make it concise, lucid and easier to understand.  According to Sitharaman, with these reforms the finance ministry seeks to reduce disputes and litigation, providing tax certainty to taxpayers.  While all these objectives are…
Rather than merely adding new digital layers on top of existing non-digital workflows, this bold redesign of the judicial system re-examines how processes at the heart of the system ought to operate. The animating philosophy behind this re-design is the notion that litigants should not have to re-orient their lives around how the justice system…
