Tax can’t be paid in instalments, says HC

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, November 27, 2017 00:00 IST

Order in favour of distillery reversed

Observing that the law does not permit payment of tax in instalments, a Division Bench of the Madras High Court has reversed an order passed by its single judge permitting Empee Distilleries, which supplies liquor to Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac), to pay tax arrears of over Rs. 34 crore to the Commercial Taxes Department in five instalments.

Allowing a writ appeal preferred by the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, a Division Bench of Justices S. Manikumar and R. Suresh Kumar said: “Statute does not provide payment of tax in instalments, therefore the respondent (Empee Distilleries) has no right to seek for payment of tax in instalments.”

The judges said the distillery, which holds a licence to manufacture 4.19 lakh cases of liquor every month, had suppressed the fact of having collected Value Added Tax from Tasmac, the wholesale purchaser of the liquor, but did not remit the amount to the Commercial Taxes department within the stipulated time.

Pointing out that this was not the first time that a single judge of the High Court had permitted the distillery to remit the tax arrears in instalments, the Division Bench recalled that another single judge of the High Court had given a similar concession to it early this year with a rider that no such indulgence shall be granted in future.

Stating that the distillery had suppressed the text of that order, the Bench led by Mr. Justice Manikumar said: “Remedy under Article 226 (power of the High Courts to issue writs) of the Constitution of India is equitable and not to be extended to a person who has suppressed material facts and approached the court with unclean hands.”

Periyar varsity V-C search panel releases list of aspirants

R. Sujatha 

 

CHENNAI, November 27, 2017 00:00 IST

Bharathidasan University search committee to release the list today

In a move aimed at ushering in transparency in appointment of vice-chancellors to State universities, the Periyar University V-C search committee has released the of list of applicants on its website.
The search committee has T.S. Sridhar, retired IAS officer, as government nominee and convener of the panel; R. Manian, a retired professor of the TNAU, is the Senate nominee, and M.N. Ponnusamy, another retired professor, is the Syndicate nominee.

As many as 194 applications were received by the committee until November 21. The publishing of the names of the aspirants has come as a surprise even to academicians.

When the State government issued new regulations on appointment of V-Cs earlier this year, some academics had pointed out that there was no mention of making the entire process transparent.
A senior academic who has been on earlier V-C search committees said, “It is rare for a search committee to make the list [of applicants] available. It is a good move towards total transparency.”
The notification for the search committees for Periyar University in Salem and Bharathidasan University in Tiruchi were released on October 4. “The Bharathidasan University V-C search committee would release the list of aspirants on Monday evening,” said S. Sivasubramanian, Syndicate nominee in the panel. The committee is expected to meet more frequently in the next few weeks to shortlist candidates, he added.

Thrust on transparency

Among the conditions that candidates are expected to fulfil are that they should not be more than 67 years of age and must satisfy the norms as per the Government Order and the Bharathidasan University Act.

Mr. Sivasubramanian said: “We want to be transparent. We would like people to give us feedback about the candidates. We want an academician of honesty and integrity, someone with communication ability and leadership skills. Honesty and integrity cannot be compromised.”

“The 10 shortlisted candidates would be called for an interview. Candidates would be evaluated on their respect for research and innovation and the ability to not only communicate but also have the felicity to showcase the university at the national and international level and talk to the students,” said Mr. Sivasubramanian.

Wedding called off, 3 of a family commit suicide

By Express News Service  |   Published: 27th November 2017 02:25 AM  |  

TIRUVARUR, MADURAI, VIRUDHUNAGAR: A father, mother and their daughter committed suicide near Thiruthuraipoondi allegedly because of the cancellation of the wedding fixed for the daughter.

Sources said Ganesan (55), a goldsmith of Pillayarkoil North Street in Ammalur and his wife Rajathi (50) had fixed the marriage of their daughter Geetha (25) with a bridegroom from Tiruvarur and the engagement formalities had been completed. The marriage was scheduled for January 24, 2018. The bridegroom’s family abruptly cancelled the wedding a few days ago without citing any reason.

On Sunday morning Ganesan, Rajathi and Geetha were found dead in their house. Rajathi’s second son, Harihara Sudan (20), who found the bodies, informed neighbours. Edayur police rushed to the spot and retrieved the bodies of the deceased and sent them to Thiruthuraipoondi Government Hospital for post-mortem. The police suspect the trio might have consumed poison but said only the postmortem report would reveal the exact cause of death.

The police have registered a case under Section 174 (suspicious death) and are conducting an investigation. If it is confirmed the deaths were due to suicide caused by the wedding cancellation, the case would be altered to one of abetting suicide, police sources added.

In another unrelated incident in Madurai, a woman attempted suicide by hanging herself after she was allegedly forced to do so by usurers. The incident occurred on Saturday, following which the city police registered a case against two women under Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Interest Act, 2003.

According to police sources, the case was registered against D Avvaiyar and M Thangam of Anna Street at Old Vilangudi in Madurai.

Police said that S Marishwari of Old Vilangudi had taken a loan of Rs 25,000 from one Avvaiyar and Rs 20,000 from one Thangam three years ago. However, when she failed to repay the loan amount, the two moneylenders went to her house and allegedly abused and threatened her. As a result of this she went into depression and attempted to kill herself.

The woman was rushed to the Government Rajaji Hospital. She is now undergoing treatment there.
In another case of crime, two Dalits were found dead in an agricultural land in Vachakarapatti Police limits in Virudhunagar.

District Collector A Sivagnanam ordered a magisterial enquiry in connection with the suspicious deaths.

Hyderabad High Court asks government job aspirants to disclose their antecedents

By Express News Service | Published: 26th November 2017 08:30 AM |



Hyderabad High Court. (File photo)

HYDERABAD: In a significant order, a division bench of the Hyderabad High Court has made it clear that the candidates seeking public employment more particularly in police force have to fairly disclose their antecedents, including their involvement in criminal cases. Failure to disclose the facts or found given wrong information, the concerned authorities have got the power to reject their applications or cancel their selection made.

“Assessment of suitability of a candidate to a disciplined force is judged not only with reference to his previous antecedents, but also on the basis of his propensity to remain honest in the service. The candidate, who tells a deliberate lie when specifically asked, cannot be taken even with a pinch of salt and he is wholly unworthy of being drafted into the police department. Furnishing of false statement would even dwarf his earlier conduct of his involvement in a criminal case”, the bench observed.

The bench of Justice CV Nagarjuna Reddy and Justice G Shyam Prasad was upholding the decision of State level police recruitment board of AP state in cancelling the candidature of some of the candidates due to their false representations about their past involvement in criminal cases. The bench was allowing the petitions filed separately by the recruitment board against the order of the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal which has set aside the board orders cancelling the candidature of respondent selectees due to suppression of their involvement in criminal cases.

The tribunal while referring to the nature of offences, held that they were not heinous like murder, rape, involving moral turpitude and that even if their involvement was disclosed, they would not have been disentitled for appointment. After hearing the case and perusing the case records and various judgments of the Supreme Court, the bench held that non-disclosure or submitting false information would assume significance and that by itself may be ground for employer to cancel candidature or to terminate services.

Meanwhile, quoting the Supreme Court observation in Mehar Singh case, the bench said, “The police force is a disciplined force. It shoulders the great responsibility of maintaining law and order and public order in the society. People repose great faith and confidence in it. It must be worthy of that confidence. A candidate wishing to join the police force must be a person of utmost rectitude. A person having criminal antecedents will not fit in this category.”

VIT student’s presentation on mirror neurons bags world title

By Express News Service | Published: 27th November 2017 02:27 AM |

VELLORE: A 21-year-old computer science engineering student of the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) university clinched the world title of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Present Around The World (PATW) 2017 contest held in London last week.

For over 15 years now, the PATW global competition is being held by the IET for young professionals and students in the engineering and technology domains.



VIT student Shubham Saraff |
Express

Following the Vellore Institute of Technology student Shubham Saraff’s technical presentation at the South Asia Final in Bengaluru in August last, which had participants from nine regions of the continent, he was selected for the finals of the Institution of Engineering and Technology in London.

Shubham delivered his technical presentation on ‘Mirror Neurons’ and conceptualised a new technique to treat neurological disorders like stuttering that affects over 300 million people worldwide and currently has no effective cure.

“I will integrate my learning through my understanding of the human brain and my knowledge about computer science,” said Shubham.

His journey to the world title was quite remarkable, starting with a university level round held in March, followed by a zonal round and the local network final in April. Then he took part in the South Asia Final from which he was selected for the last round.

Shubham was the youngest among the global top five contestants who were selected out of thousands of candidates from 150 countries.

He competed against finalists from the American continents, Asia Pacific, UK and Middle East and Africa regions and most of them were doctorate holders.

Shubham has now been invited to present a paper on Artificial Intelligence at the Cambridge University in January 2018.

A licensed scuba diver, he is also a recipient of several International awards for academics including a Merit Scholarship Award and Distinction in Speech from the Trinity College of London.

‘Man fakes’ wife’s death, cheats ICICI of Rs 1 cr

By Express News Service  |   Published: 26th November 2017 08:31 AM  |  

HYDERABAD: A man in Hyderabad faked his wife’s death and cheated ICICI Prudential company to the tune of `1 crore by producing fake death certificates. Banjara Hills police on Saturday arrested the man’s wife, who is also allegedly involved in the case.According to Banjara Hills police, one Syed Shakeel Alam had taken a life insurance on his wife Nazia Shakeel’s name in June 2012 for an amount of `1 crore. In May this year, Shakeel produced certificates in support of his wife’s death and claimed `1 crore in June 2017.

He mentioned that his wife died of chest pain.

After some days, when the documents were being verified, in one of the pages of the attached documents, the name of the deceased was written by striking off another name. On inquiry with the hospital, it was learnt that Shakeel had asked the nurse at the emergency medical department to change the name. The doctor also gave a declaration that he has not seen the dead body and issued certificate based on the documents he produced like death certificate issued by GHMC and the burial ground, said police.

When the officials checked the burial ground, they found the name on the tomb as Mrs Maleka Begum which proved that Shakeel faked his wife’s death to claim money.

Based on the complaint lodged by area manager of the company on September 28, a case was registered against Shakeel and his wife under sections 406, 466, 471 and 420 of IPC.After investigation, Nazia was traced to her relative’s house in Mehdipatnam and was arrested by Banjara Hills police on Saturday. The police are still searching for prime accused Shakeel.

Kuppai Thiruvizha to inspire young minds to become eco-friendly 

By Express News Service  |   Published: 27th November 2017 02:16 AM  |  

Children at the Kuppai Thiruvizha organised by CAG | SUSHMITHA RAMAKRISHNAN

CHENNAI: What could have been a run-of-the-mill school festival took an interesting colour this weekend, as it focussed on the theme of solid waste management (SWM).

‘Kuppai Thiruvizha’, an initiative by the movement, Kuppai Matters, was a two-day event designed to sensitise and expose students to the idea of ‘reduce, reuse, repair, refuse and recycle’.

Groups of students watched with curiosity as they walked through a large display of used plastic bottles mounted on poles and stretched for metres. It made children understand the magnitude of waste we generate.

The auditorium of a private school in Anna Nagar was the venue for the first of 15 ‘Kuppai Thiruvizhas’ to be held in the city. “We will hold this in every corporation ward, and get at least one lakh people to pledge that they will segregate waste,” said Kripa Ramachandran, a member of Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG), which is behind this movement.

The Greater Chennai Corporation recently urged all residents to segregate their degradable and non-degradable waste. Kripa, however, argued that the model might not become successful until and unless the collection, incineration and composting were decentralised. “For this process to be decentralised, citizens have to co-operate by segregating their waste regularly. This programme is a step in that direction,” said Kripa.

Apart from sensitising people to the idea of waste segregation, the festival also sold eco-friendly  everyday objects.

The fete was lined with stalls selling compost pots, recycled decors, degradable accessories and even reusable sanitary napkins. The event was designed to give participants an opportunity to use affordable, eco-friendly fashion accessories and cutlery.

The two-day festival culminated in a public consultation meeting where children brought along their parents too to learn about managing waste at their homes. Parents and children sought help from various experts on SWM to make their home and community ‘zero-waste’.

“I learned about green dustbins and red dustbins from this festival. I brought my mother also today so that we can separate bio-degradable waste at home,” said A Ahmed, an 11-year-old boy who attended the festival. The ‘Thiruvizha’ was conceived by CAG, Vettiver Collective, Arappor Iyakkam, Pennurimai Iyakkam and Poovulagin Nanbargal. It will happen in more wards over the next few months.

For more details, contact +918939107923 or follow the Facebook page ‘Kuppai Matters.’