lawyers

The Supreme Court has ruled lawyers or their associations cannot refuse to appear for accused whether they are terrorist, rapists, murderers or any others as such refusal would be a violation of the Constitution, Bar Council norms and tenets of the Bhagavad Gita. Full Article

Mumbai based lawyers, doctors and film professionals are under Income-Tax department scanner, the department is planning to carry out a series of raids on such professionals, on grounds of incomplete disclosures. According to people familiar with the development, the department got into action after reports that a low-profile Mumbai-based lawyer had an unreported income of Rs 8 crore in his bank account. Full Article

The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has awarded a Thane widow a hefty compensation of Rs 15 lakh—one of the highest given in the state in the recent past—after penalising three doctors for medical negligence that led to her husband’s death. Full Article

The Bar Council of India (BCI) recently sent a clarification to all lawyer associations in Pune that the service tax introduced for lawyers in this year’s budget is applicable only to legal firms and not to independent practicing lawyers.  There was confusion among lawyers regarding the introduction of service tax and the Pune Bar Association [...] Full Article

After its attempt to tax industrialist Nusli Wadia on his land deals ran into trouble, the income tax department is exploring another avenue. Two years ago, the I-T department demanded Rs 31 crore as tax for the money Wadia made by selling around 110 acres of land at Mindspace along the Goregaon-Malad Link road. Wadia’s appeal [...] Full Article

Doctors, lawyers and other professionals —both salaried and self-employed— may now have to pay a higher professional tax. Acceding a long-pending demand of the state governments, the Centre has decided to raise the ceiling on professional tax from Rs 2,500 to Rs 7,500 per annum. The Union Cabinet is expected to take up the proposal on Thursday. Full Article

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has decided to relax norms on scrutiny of tax payers whose premises have been surveyed by the officials, a step aimed at encouraging evaders to pay up. The decision is likely to provide relief to thousands of taxpayers and it would save them from harassment at the hands of taxmen apart from litigation costs, said a senior Finance Ministry official. The decision has been taken following Finance Minister P Chidambaram' s assertion that go.. Full Article