transparency

The only silver lining for the Supreme Court in the Delhi High Court verdict holding that the Chief Justice of India's office comes within the purview of RTI Act was that it said notes, jottings and draft judgements would not fall within the umbrella of the transparency law. The apex court registry through Attorney General G E Vahanvati had expressed fear that bringing the CJI's office under the ambit of the Act would compel it to disclose judges' notes, jottings and dra.. Full Article

Also, there have been incidents where mortgaged properties were auctioned off at “undervalued” prices, the sources said. The meeting is to find out whether there was any actual mischief or if it was due to practical difficulties in finding a buyer to pay a higher value for the property as the registered value shown on paper would have been lesser than its actual value, they added. Full Article

The directive was issued in December in the wake of mounting “indefinitely adjourned” cases, which stood at 150,000 in March 2009. On the heels of a key amendment that brings India’s intellectual property laws in line with international standards, the screws are being tightened on corrupt and inefficient officials who deal with trademarks. Full Article

In order to increase transparency in the financial statements of banks, Reserve Bank of India has from time to time issued circulars to banks requiring disclosures in the ‘Notes to Accounts’ to their Balance Sheet. These instructions were consolidated in the Master Circular No.DBOD.BP.BC.NO.22/21.04.018/2009-10 dated July 1, 2009. Full Article

"Keeping in view the need for transparency in the interest of the customers... it has since been decided that Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) should disclose to the customers, details of all the commissions or other fees received, if any, from various mutual fund or insurance companies for marketing or referring their products," RBI said in a notification. Full Article

This new service is a new centralised web based software application of CBEC which provides us an online electronic interface with the department. ACES aims to reduce paperwork, visits to the department and transaction costs while increasing accountability, responsiveness, efficiency and transparency in indirect tax administration. Full Article

Presently in India, there are no Accounting Standards for Local Bodies in place and as a first step in this direction, the ICAI has issued the above two Accounting Standards for Local Bodies. The ICAI has already issued the ‘Preface to the Accounting Standards for Local Bodies’ in 2007. Further, Accounting Standard for Local Bodies (ASLB) 1, ‘Presentation of Financial Statements’ and Accounting Standard for Local Bodies (ASLB) 2, ‘Accounting Policies, Changes i.. Full Article

Your company could face a tax scrutiny if it had introduced fresh capital exceeding Rs 50 lakh last fiscal, or, as in the tax lingo, during the previous year relevant to the assessment year 2008-09. This is according to the new scrutiny norms by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Full Article