Congratulations

SHADOWS UNDER GST...

     

       An AEC meeting of the AIACEGEO was held in New Delhi on 20.08.2016. A delegation of CESA-Mumbai attended the meeting.

      Apart from the AEC agenda, CESA-Mumbai urged the AIACEGEO to call for an emergency meeting, exclusively on GST to ascertain the changes in the ensuing new tax regime and safeguard the careers of the members of our Cadre. Dignity of the cadre needs to be safeguarded. AIACEGEO agreed with our concerns and proposed to hold a meeting on 10.09.2016 in New Delhi, for discussing exclusively on GST issues and another meeting on 11.09.2016 for discussing other burning issues and to chalk out a future strategy in this regard. It is also agreed to have a joint meeting of all the Cadres of Chief Office Bearers i.e. Group ‘C’, ‘B’ and ‘A’ at Mumbai on 17.09.2016.

      The process for the implementation of GST is proceeding at a fast pace. Recently, the Hon’ble Chairman of CBEC was in Mumbai for disseminating the developments in GST.  Those who attended the meeting were disheartened as nothing concrete has been projected about the role of CBEC and its employees in the new tax regime.

       It reminds one of the British parliamentarian, Lord Macaulay’s address to the British Parliament on 02.02.1835 that

  “ I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar or who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage ….”

        This was the pride this country had in the eyes of Britishers in the early 18^th century. In our Department, the field officers have shown their courage and booked smugglers, tax evaders, drug peddlers, money launderers, etc. The so called big industrialists, whoever he may be, for ex. Reliance, Kingfisher, Adanis, Ruias, Bombay Dyeing, so on & so forth, but unfortunately, it is the top officials who are interested in shaking their hands and tightening ours. Our tax system, as on date, is a tried, tested & a trusted one. Wherever the police and other law enforcement agencies have failed in booking the high and mighty offenders, the officers of CBEC have acted with empty hands, without caring for their lives, have booked them. That the law is equal and no one is above or below it.

         In the ensuing GST, can anyone say and certify to the extent, that my country will be free from beggars and there will be no theft, whether it is personal or national. It pinches those who are in the highest realm, instead of guiding the huge workforce (roughly around 70,000) have chosen to remain in a silent mode without raising any concerns/issues from our side before the authorities.

         Yesterday, on 22.08.2016, DoPT has issued an OM for constitution of a task force for a comprehensive study on the cadre structure of organised Group ‘A’ Central Services. The comments and the views of the Cadre Controlling Authorities have been requested for within 15 days. The detailed OM is annexed.

         Time is too short. We have to act and react in the forthcoming scenario, what will be the status of the other cadres, i.e. Group ‘C’ & ‘B’, which forms the base cadre and are large in numbers. CESA-Mumbai appeals to everyone to introspect and act as well as fight for our rightful place in the coming new tax regime, so that in the future, no one will blame us for not reacting on a timely basis, for what we lose or gain ultimately.

 

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PARITY & PARMAR JUDGEMENT... TWO SIDES OF A COIN...

The issue of the Supreme Court judgement in the Parmar case had certain effect in Income Tax as the seniority list was revised from 1981 onwards as the applicants were of the 1981 batch. 
Thereafter we awoke. CESA-Mumbai raised the issue in Patna and Chennai AEC in 2012 & 2013 and made several representations to make similar changes in our seniority list at the Zonal level. However, cold response was received from the Apex body. CESA-Mumbai on its own requested the then Chief Commissioner, Shri V. S. Krishnan, Cadre Controlling Authority, Central Excise, Mumbai Zone-I and Shri A. K. Kaushal, Chief Commissioner, Cadre Controlling Authority, Customs, Mumbai Zone, to take up the issue with the Board for early implementation of the Parmar judgment as has been done by CBDT. On being called for Cadre Restructuring by the Ministry in Sept-2014, both the Chief Commissioners, leaving the main agenda aside, raised the issue of the implementation of the Parmar judgment and compelled the Board to issue instructions immediately. However, it did not serve the purpose and Board directed implementation from the date of decision of the Parmar judgement, i.e. from 2012.

            As the apex body did not take up the issues, CESA-Mumbai filed two applications before the Hon’ble Tribunal, Mumbai, for implementation of the Parmar judgement from 1986 & 1981. Both are pending decision, but the Board is insisting implementation from the date of the judgement.

Meanwhile, the Hon’ble Tribunal, Ernakulam, in the case of Shri. M. Chenchuraman, Preventive Officer, Kochi, vide order dated 16.11.2015 has directed the Respondents i.e. Union of India & Ors to implement the Parmar judgement from the date of initiation of process of recruitment. The Hon’ble Tribunal has relied on the decision of the Hon’ble Tribunal, Bombay bench and held that the DOPT OMs dated 07.02.1986 and 03.07.1986 had followed the rota-quota principle and the parmar judgement had extended the said benefit and directed that the direct recruits are to be inter spaced with the promotees at appropriate slots in the seniority list in reference to their recruitment year, which is the initiation of the process of recruitment.

            On the basis of the above judgement, the Hon’ble Tribunal, Madras bench in OA No. 310/01237/2016 filed by Shri P. Bharathan & 2 others v/s. UoI & Ors vide order dated 05.08.2016 has directed the Board to postpone the holding of DPC for considering the personnel in the feeder post to the post of Assistant Commissioner, Central Excise posts, based on the existing seniority list of DR Inspectors till 06.09.2016.

The seniority list are prepared in 16 Zones which is further compiled by DGHRD while preparing All India Seniority Lists (AISL) and promotions from Gr. ‘B’ to Gr. ‘A’ are accorded. In all the 16 zones, there are several zones who are ahead in their promotions as compared to others. The last promotion was issued in October-2014, thereafter no promotion orders have been issued. More than 1600 posts are lying vacant as on date. In the last order, officers of the 1985 batch of other zones were considered for promotion, whereas officers of 1984 batch of some zones are behind and in anticipation of promotions who are having 3-4 years of service.

            CESA-Mumbai through its members have also filed an application before the Hon’ble Tribunal, Bombay bench seeking parity with the officers of the same batch of other zones and an interim order has been passed to reserve the positions of the applicants interest in this regard.

Now, officers are stagnating in the same grade for more than 14 years and no promotions are in the offing as no DPCs are being held on one or the other pretext. All the promotions carried out are also on ad-hoc basis which does not entitle the officers to get regularised. The life of the 2118 temporary posts created in the Cadre Restructuring expires in 2018 and only one year and six months are left for filling up these posts.

Who knows what will happen in the GST and what will be the fate of CBEC is not known even to the custodians. CESA-Mumbai feels that the temporary posts should be filled up by holding DPC without considering the roadblocks and the orders can be made subject to the final decision in various Tribunals/Courts. It will serve the purpose of the larger interest.

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Happy Independence Day

Kurtas For The 'BIG' Family!

On the Eve of 70th Independence day CESA MUMBAI. presents from the archives as-

Children loved visiting Gandhi. A little boy who was there one day, was greatly distressed to see the way Gandhiji was dressed. Such a great man yet he doesn't even wear a shirt, thought.

"Why don't you wear a kurta, Gandhi?" the little boy couldn't help asking finally.

 "Where's the money, son?" Gandhi asked gently. "I am very poor. I can't afford a kurta."

The boy's heart was filled with pity.

"My mother sews well", he said. "She makes all my clothes. I'll ask her to sew a Kurta for you."

 "How many Kurtas can your mother make?" Gandhiji asked.

"How many do you need?" asked the boy. "She'll make as many as you want."

Gandhi thought for a moment. Then he said, "But I am not alone, son. It wouldn't be right for me to be the only one to wear a kurta." "I have a very large family, son. I have forty crore brothers and sisters" . "Till every one of them has a kurta, how can I wear one? Tell me, can your mother make kurtas for all of them? At this question the boy became very thoughtful. The whole nation was Gandhi's family, and he was the head of that family. What use would one kurta be to him?

ORDERS OF THANE I & II

AGT Orders of both Thane-I  and Thane - II  Commissionerates were issued on 12.08.2016 (Friday) 

  Within No Time,The Divisional posting Orders where  issued at lightning speed . 

 Officers are not happy with these Divisonal Orders  The Administration shows undue haste in issuing posting Orders, containing several flaws 

Certainly The Divisional Posting Orders Dent the image of the Administrations.

TRIBUTE TO DS

GLITTER OF GOLD...

Recently, in Hyderabad, the biggest jewellery showroom was opened by Joy Alukkas on the 30^th July, 2016. It caused a heavy traffic jam on the Rajbhavan Road, as the showroom was inaugurated by the Home Minister of Telengana State in the presence of CMD of the Joy Alukkas group. “Alukkas” is a popular brand in Kerala, which was started in 1960, by the father of Joy Alukkas, Shri A. J. Varghese, in Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala. Now, they are having their business interests in gold and real-estate in Dubai. 

In 2005, they had the biggest show room in T. Nagar, Chennai and now in Mumbai they have show rooms at Mulund, Vashi and Bandra. In 2002 they had 5 shops in Kerala and presently in South around 50 show rooms and more than 65 show rooms all over India. They are in the gold business since 1960.

They have inaugurated the showroom with an advertisement, wherein it is mentioned that each customer will get a chance to win the biggest name in luxury cars, 2 Mercedes Benz and a lot more other exciting prizes. The said owners are not actual manufacturers of gold & diamond jewellery, but, rather a procurer of gold and engaged in the sale of jewellery.

India is known as the highest producer of rice, but also a place where maximum ‘farmer suicides’ are happening. The procurer of grains or such traders never launched such type of scheme/s for luring their customers by offering a mercedez benz or for that matter, even a bicycle !!

While passing the GST bill Hon’ble Prime Minister emphasized that terrorism in the taxation will be stopped. Like Joy Alukkas, there are several mega jewellery brands having their mega showrooms all over India. The actual mining & production of gold in India is very small, which is a well known fact. We depend on the large-scale import of gold, either legally or illegally, for satiating this gold-craze.

In the early days, landings (gold smuggling) used to take place in the coastal areas and seizures were effected by various agencies. After the passage of time, gold has started coming through the air-route, through various airports like Kochi, Chennai, Trivandrum, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Calicut, Mumbai etc.. Comparatively where is the seizure? The route from Nepal and Bangladesh is no more a viable conduit. The operators from high seas prefer their ‘poppats’ (carriers) through air as it is faster for landing as well as their delivery at the destination.

Recently a seizure was effected by DRI, Mumbai at Igatpuri railway station, in a Mumbai bound train from Kolkatta. The quantity of the gold so smuggled was about 12kg. which was recovered from two carriers, who have confessed that they have delivered about 700 kgs of gold in the same manner, during the last one and half years. There may be several syndicates running such carriers and this needs an open introspection that when seizures are being made at Railway Stations and from various other places, apart from the several Airports, which appears to be giving a smooth passage to syndicates to run their nefarious activities.  

Our administration appears to be very happy with a image make-over, (based on complaints) rather than to implement the existing Rules, strictly without any discrimination and favour.

The great astronaut Mr. Neil Armstrong and his 2 other colleagues, when they returned from the moon, on 24^th July,1969 in Apollo-11 had to go through Customs and submit a declaration that they had brought from moon, samples of moon-rocks and dust, and the same was countersigned by the then Customs Inspector, to complete the formality. The said piece of paper is in circulation as evidence and a proud moment which the entire world appreciates. This is called the Rule of law exactly.

But in our country, especially at the International airports, are we strictly adhering or following the Law or are we there only for facilitation and/or salutation...

The attraction of gold in our country is ever increasing but due to the loose manner in the implementation of law, the smuggler not only gets away scot free but is also emboldened to run their syndicates in a mega manner. People are starving in our country and there are several projects of the Government that are held-up due to the financial crunch. But those who are in the business of gold are prospering many-fold.

Time has come to book these offenders whose actions are profusely bleeding our beloved Bharat Mata.

In earlier days, when there were limited resources and mechanisms, but action on the information/intelligence received was well thought-out to carry out numerous seizures. Now we are more advanced as compared to the earlier days, having the latest mechanisms & equipment, as well as several dedicated young officers who are ready to face any eventualities while carrying out their duties to enforce the Law, but our seniors should support them instead of tying their hands behind them with Conduct Rules, Sevottam, CPGRAMS, RTI etc. 

So what should be done… 

a) officers should be allowed to carry out their duties of implementing the existing laws & regulations, in a responsible manner and should not be linked to the receipt of complaints.

b)   The functioning of Customs at smaller airports,likepune,manglore Ahmadabat etc should also be tightened and there should not be any laxity in the implementation of Customs law. 

c) No officer is indispensible, continuing in the same formation / cell is only to provide comfort levels to the superiors and nothing else.   

d)   All the officers, posted to anti-smuggling agencies like DRI, M&P, ED, etc., on deputation, and who have completed more than a decade in these organizations, should be repatriated and fresh young officers are to be inducted in their place, so that the organization is  strengthened and made more effective.

    Thousands are dying in cancer due to tobacco but we cannot ban. But here who prevents to tighten the noose who are indulging day and night in draining out the exchequer. 
   
    When legendary Mr. Dayashankar was on duty it was cautioned at the Singapore Airport that Mr. DS is on duty. Where our Administration has failed to produce such type of Officer who is not only loyal dedicated but also tough in all the situations to prevail the law with a clear message that no one is above Law. 

   Hope the Administration is as active in listening to passenger complaints as to its officers...

   This article is dedicated to our beloved Dayashankar Sir, whose's Death Anniversary is tomorrow. His actions, contributions, style of developing intelligence will remain alive ever in the minds of the officers of the Department. 

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GST - IN OUR PERSPECTIVE ... FROM SALT TO SERVICES

                    When tax was imposed on salt by the Britishers, the Father of the Nation started a Satyagraha in 1930, by making salt, which brought about the downfall of the empire finally in 1947.

        The Central Excise Act, which was earlier known as the Central Excise & Salt Act, 1944, along with around 240 Rules were introduced. In 2004, the word ‘Salt’ was removed and the new Act is known as the Central Excise Act, 1944, scrapping around 200 Rules and keeping alive only about 40 Rules.

Coming to GST, the said GST is aimed for creation of a common national market in the country by eliminating the plethora of taxes imposed by the Centre and State on movement of goods and services in the country.  3^rd August, 2016 will remain as a memorable day in the economic front, as a Constitutional Amendment Bill, amending Article 368, was unanimously passed, enabling the Centre to centralize the powers by withdrawing powers from the States for a unified taxing system - “One Country–One tax”. 

Finally, the Goods and Service Tax Bill has been passed. A great victory to the citizens of India for the much talked about bill being passed in the upper house of Parliament. The Act is likely to be presented in the coming winter session. Our country is an agricultural country and the economy is based on agriculture, which depends solely on monsoons for a bountiful harvest or face severe drought, which either brings smiles or tears in the eyes of people of our country. Whether the passing of the GST Bill will be beneficial to the digital traders or foreign investors or our domestic traders and/or the farmers and/or the common man, only time will tell.

A great relief, after a long tussle, has seen the day. It may take many more months to roll out its specifications and for its implementation.  CESA-Mumbai does not have the jurisdiction over Government Policy, because we are here only to implement judiciously and efficiently the policies decided upon by the Government of India. But the other stakeholders, state govt. employees, who will deal with state GST, have done so without compromising their dignity and their present grade.

In the GST, Petroleum products and alcohol are not covered in its ambit. The use of spurious Alcohol have caused several tragedies but only crocodile tears have been shed to show sympathy to those who have lost their bread-earners and shattered the dreams of innumerable families. The desire of the states to keep Petroleum products and alcohol etc. out of the GST is not entirely honorable, as it is a milking cow and is an additional means of fund raising for them. The states safeguarded their interest by keeping petroleum products and alcohol out of the ambit of GST and have protected their employees’ career positions and progressions with GST. As long as any policy has a vision, which is beneficial, as inscribed in our Constitution “for the people, by the people, of the people”, it will go a long way.

Presently, CBEC, comprising of three formations, i.e. Central Excise, Service Tax and Customs.  Recently, Income Tax senior officers had a meeting and passed a resolution that their Board should be headed by their own cadre and no other cadre will intervene in the decision-making process.

The new taxation system was the outcome of a report submitted by a committee headed by Shri VIjay Kelkar.  The process started in 2003 and has taken more than 13 years to reach this stage. Initially, it was planned to compensate the states around Rs. 5,000 cCores, which may have now reached more than 15 times.

We were fortunate to have hosted such a great luminary for our Mumbai Central Excise Day function in 2012.

In the proposed GST, Customs is excluded. The time has come that the career progression of Central Excise officers is also protected on the eve of new taxation system, otherwise the gap will widen further. Also the Bhardwaj Committee had recommended in the year 2003, merger of both the cadres, i.e. Customs and Central Excise, so that it is a unified cadre. However, the same has not been implemented till to date. Hence, if, in the new taxation system, where Central Excise and Service Tax play a major role, then once for all, it is better to be parted from Customs and to have our own systems to manage our cadres. The Officers of Central Excise and Service Tax will acquire skill, trained to deal with GST for smooth operation, then bringing officers from the Customs to grab the senior postings should not be allowed.  It is in the interest of the new taxation systems as well as the Central Excise and Service Tax Group ‘B’ & ‘C’ cadres. CESA-Mumbai expects the Federation to act promptly, otherwise, like the proverb goes, or we will be left searching for blankets when winter sets in.

GST is an opportunity to set right our long pending objective to mitigate stagnations in Group ‘B’ & ‘C’ cadres. The expansions will be in Service Tax and Central Excise, hence we should gear up to handle our own career progression exclusively by us only.

 PART-II

GST Bill rollout: As many as 60,000 revenue officials of central and state governments will be trained on GST laws and IT infrastructure framework to prepare them for rollout of the new indirect tax regime by April 2017.

As per the detailed Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout roadmap prepared by Revenue Secretary, the IT infrastructure framework will be ready by March-2017 and a massive outreach and industry sensitization programme will also be launched.

After the training on GST laws gets completed by December-2016, GSTN will train them on the related IT infrastructure by March-2017. Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) is a non-government company set up by the Centre and states to provide shared IT framework and services to central and state governments, tax payers and other stakeholders.

The revenue department has already started stakeholder consultation with the industry in Hyderabad and Jaipur.

         The IT network of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), banks, RBI, state accounting authorities and states will be ready by December-end 2016, according to the road map and the testing and integration of the IT backbone of all stakeholders is slated for January-March 2017.

         To make life easier in the new regime, the Revenue Department has planned fresh registration will not be needed for the existing dealers. Existing VAT/service tax/central excise dealer data are to be migrated to the GST architecture automatically.

         As for new dealers, a single application will be filed online and registration will be granted within three days.

         On GST returns, only one filing will be required for both the Centre and State governments.

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HIGH COURT DIRECTIONS TO AMEND LTC POLICY

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today asked the Centre to file its policy regarding grant of leave travel concession (LTC) to government servants while observing that there were “serious anomalies” in the scheme.

 “There are serious anomalies in it (LTC), not just with regard to airfare, but generally,” a bench of Justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar said while hearing a PIL alleging misuse of the leave fare concession (LFC)/LTC scheme by employees of Syndicate Bank.

The court asked the Centre to file its LTC policy along with an affidavit, which would also include the “air travel component” applicable all over the country, on the next date of hearing on September 19.

The bench also suggested to the government to streamline the LTC policy to include air travel to foreign destinations, saying travelling to some overseas locations cost less than what it did to go to some places within the country.

It noted that air travel to Thiruvananthapuram was costlier than taking a flight to Nepal.

During the hearing, advocate Anuj Jain, appearing for the petitioner Yatendra Kumar Jain, contended that enquiry carried out into the alleged misuse of LTC scheme by bank employees was an “eyewash” as the travel agents who booked tickets were not traceable.

He also alleged that CBI was being reluctant to probe the matter, after which the bench also sought response from the agency on the issue.

The lawyer alleged that misuse of the scheme has caused a loss of Rs 450 crore to Syndicate Bank alone and the amount would be much more if all the 27 public sector banks in the country are taken into account.

The bank, meanwhile, filed an affidavit stating that to curb the alleged practice of travel agents presenting bills which were higher than that of the actual fare, it has started asking for copy of the ticket and boarding pass.

Jain has alleged that officials of the bank, even in higher scales of their rank, misused LFC by over-billing and excess-drawing hugely inflated fares, in league with private travel agents as well as the bank’s sanctioning authorities.

He has sought an investigation into the alleged misuse of LTC by the bank employees as well as disciplinary action or initiation of criminal proceedings against those held responsible.

 Let us hope for amendments in LTC policy so that staff will be benefited