• New Delhi,Dec 30,2020:In view of the challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting the statutory and regulatory compliances due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Government brought the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 (‘the Ordinance’) on 31st March, 2020 which, inter alia, extended various time limits. The Ordinance has since been replaced by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act.

  The Government issued a Notification on 24th June, 2020 under the Ordinance which, inter alia, extended the due date for all Income Tax Returns for the FY 2019-20 (AY 2020-21) to 30th November, 2020. Hence, the returns of income which were required to be filed by 31st July, 2020 and 31st October, 2020 were required to be filed by 30th November, 2020. Consequently, the date for furnishing various audit reports including tax audit report under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) was also extended to 31st October, 2020.

  In order to provide more time to taxpayers for furnishing of Income Tax Returns, the due date was further extended vide notification No 88/2020/F. No. 370142/35/2020-TPL dated 29th October, 2020:

  (A) The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the taxpayers (including their partners) who are required to get their accounts audited [for whom the due date (i.e. before the said extension) as per the Act was 31st October, 2020] was extended to 31st January, 2021.

  (B) The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the taxpayers who are required to furnish report in respect of international/specified domestic transactions [for whom the due date (i.e. before the said extension) as per the Act was 30th November, 2020] was extended to 31st January, 2021.

  (C) The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the other taxpayers [for whom the due date (i.e. before the said extension) as per the Act was 31st July, 2020] was extended to 31st December, 2020.

  (D) Consequently, the date for furnishing of various audit reports under the Act including tax audit report and report in respect of international/specified domestic transaction was also extended to 31st December, 2020.

  Considering the problems being faced by the taxpayers, it has been decided to provide further time to the taxpayers for furnishing of Income Tax Returns, tax audit reports and declaration under Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme. Further, in order to provide more time to taxpayers to comply under various ongoing proceedings, the dates of completion of proceedings under various Direct Taxes &Benami Acts have also been extended. These extensions are as under:

  a.            The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the Assessment Year 2020-21 for the taxpayers (including their partners) who are required to get their accounts audited and companies [for whom the due date, as per the provisions of section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act,1961, was 31st October, 2020 and which was extended to 30th November, 2020 and then to 31st January, 2021] has been further extended to 15th February, 2021.

  b.            The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the Assessment Year 2020-21 for the taxpayers who are required to furnish report in respect of international/specified domestic transactions [for whom the due date, as per the provisions of section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act,1961, was 30th November, 2020 and which was extended to 31st January, 2021] has been further extended to 15th February, 2021.

  c.             The due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the Assessment Year 2020-21 for the other taxpayers [for whom the due date, as per the provisions of section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, was 31st July, 2020 and which was extended to 30th November, 2020 and then to 31st December, 2020] has been further extended to 10th January, 2021.

  d.            The date for furnishing of various audit reports under the Act including tax audit report and report in respect of international/specified domestic transaction for the Assessment Year 2020-21 has been further extended to 15th January, 2021.

  e.            The last date for making a declaration under Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme has been extended to 31st January, 2021 from 31st December, 2020.

  f.             The date for passing of orders under Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme, which are required to be passed by 30th January, 2021 has been extended to 31st January, 2021.

  g.            The date for passing of order or issuance of notice by the authorities under the Direct Taxes &Benami Acts which are required to be passed/ issued/ made by 30th March, 2021 has also been extended to 31st March, 2021.

  Further, in order to provide relief for the third time to small and middle class taxpayers in the matter of payment of self-assessment tax, the due date for payment of self-assessment tax date is hereby again being extended. Accordingly, the due date for payment of self-assessment tax for taxpayers whose self-assessment tax liability is up to Rs. 1 lakh has been extended to 15th February, 2021 for the taxpayers mentioned in para 4(a) and para 4(b) and to 10th January, 2021 for the taxpayers mentioned in para 4(c).

  The Government has also extended the due date of furnishing of annual return under section 44 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for the financial year 2019-20 from 31st December, 2020 to 28th February, 2021.

  The necessary notifications in this regard shall be issued in due course.

• Hyderabad, Dec 30,2020: Demanding a rollback on the three farm bills, a call for ‘Chalo Hyderabad’ has been given by farmers’ union All India Kisaan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) and a protest staged here in Hyderabad. Speaking to ANI, Kiran Kumar Vissa, National group member of AIKSCC said, “The three farm laws that have been passed by the Central Government are harmful to the interest of all the farmers in the nation. Unlike what the central government is saying, this agitation is not just limited to farmers of Punjab but farmers across the nation are protesting against these farm laws. These farm laws do not give any advantage to farmers but are advantageous to the corporates of this country.” He said, “If the government doesn’t step back and roll back the farm laws, even the agitating farmers are also not ready to step back from the agitations.”
  Usha Seeta Lakshmi, member of Mahila Kisaan Adikaar Manch, said, “We clearly demand the central government that the three farm laws must be rolled back. These laws do not help any farmer. The central government is just trying to bring the agriculture sector into the hands of corporates.”

Srinagar, December 27

An Army Captain accused in the Shopian alleged fake encounter killings of three civilians in July this year is likely to be court-martialled after the completition of formalities, Army officials said.

The Army had ordered a court of inquiry earlier this year after reports appeared on social media that three youths, labelled as terrorists, had been gunned down by its personnel.

The court of inquiry, which completed its probe earlier in September, had found “prima facie” evidence that troops had “exceeded” powers under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) during the July 18 encounter in which three men were killed. Following this, the Army had initiated disciplinary proceedings.

Officials in know of the development said the two Army personnel may face court martial proceedings for violating the powers vested under the AFSPA, 1990, and not following the do’s and don’ts of the Chief of Army Staff as approved by the Supreme Court.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday filed a chargesheet against three persons, including the Army officer. The chargesheet was filed in the court of Principal District and Sessions Judge, Shopian, by the head of the Special Investigation Team.

Captain Bhupinder of 62 Rashtriya Rifles of the Army, Bilal Ahmad and Tabish Ahmad were named as accused in the chargesheet for their role in the alleged fake encounter killings of the youths hailing from Rajouri district, they said. The Army said on Friday it had completed the summary of evidence against two of its men involved in July’s Amshipura encounter in Shopian district. — PTI

Victims hailed from rajouri district

• Captain Bhupinder of 62 Rashtriya Rifles of the Army, Bilal Ahmad and Tabish Ahmad were named as accused in the chargesheet for their role in the alleged fake encounter killings of the youths hailing from Rajouri district, officials said
• The Army said on Friday it had completed the summary of evidence against two of its men involved in July’s Amshipura encounter in Shopian district
• A possible court martial could take place after completion of formalities against the accused, Army officials said

Patiala, December 29:As part of ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ celebrations, 25 Veer Naris and 70 Veterans of Patiala and surrounding areas who had participated in 1971 Indo-Pak War were felicitated by General Officer Commanding, ‘Airawat Division’ in a grand event held at the Yadvinder Officer Institute, Patiala; a historic landmark building.

A Guard of Honour was given to the Victory Flame as it was brought to the venue, with school children and NCC cadets showering flower petals enroute and shouting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. Students of Kendriya Vidyalaya No 1 and Army Public School, Patiala lit up the atmosphere by singing patriotic songs and performing ‘Bhangra and Gidda’ on the occasion. A Military Band also performed at the event and infused a new zeal in all present by playing Marshal Tunes. Veterans and Veer Naris were presented with specially designed mementoes and shawls commemorating the Golden Jubilee event. Veterans and Veer NAris

The event was attended by representatives of all three services of the Indian Armed Forces and prominent Civil Dignitaries. Amongst the veterans, two gallantry awardees of the 1971 war were also present.

While addressing the gathering, General Officer Commanding, ‘Airawat Division’ paid homage to all the soldiers who had fought and made the supreme sacrifice for the nation and thanked all the veterans present for their glorious sacrifice. He said that the Indian Army continues to move forward with its ethos of Honour, Valour and Tradition and is always prepared and ready to defend the nation and give a befitting reply to any adversary.

The Victory Flame was then handed over by the General Officer Commanding, Airawat Division to a Team of Nabha Military Station. Similar commemorative events will also be conducted there.

Army celebrates 49th Nagi Day to remember 21 jawans’ sacrifice

Fazilka, December 28, 2020:   The 49th Nagi Day was celebrated at Nagi War Memorial at Sadhuwali Cantonment – small village located in Sri Karanpur close to International Boundary) in memory of gallant soldiers of the Indian Army who laid down their lives for the nation during famous Battle of Nagi on 27-28 December 1971, in violation of the ceasefire.

A grand ceremony was held in Sadhuwali Cantt to commemorate the sacrifices made by these young men.

In the ensuing battle, a total of 21 Indian Soldiers including three officers made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.  In this war, heroism was shown by the Indian Army in the Battle of Nagi with 51 Parachute Brigade, 4 Parachute Regiment, 9 Para Field Regiment and 410 Field Company and18 Cavalry Regiment to defeat the enemy.

During the ceremony, army personnel, veer naris, civil dignitaries, and locals of Shikarpur were given a warm welcome followed by various programmes at Nari War Memorial by Sudershan Chakkar Division, with participation from soldiers, retired personnel, families enthusiastically and saluted in honour of their martyrs. Army Pipe Band, Khalsa Yudh Kala Gatka and Gorkha Khukri dance especially graced the occasion.

Nepal’s rudimentary experience with its new and controversially conceived constitution (adopted in 2015) has again shown its inadequacies that make it vulnerable to political exploitation. It will take both time and imagined scenarios to make this constitution a comprehensive lodestar for governance in the Himalayan nation.

The fact that the current ruling composition, Nepal Communist Party, is a disharmonised, tentative and suspicious unification of the two principal leftist parties i.e., Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) – makes it susceptible to internal intrigues, conspiracies and combustive tendencies. The current Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli (from Communist Party of Nepal – UML) was the first to be inducted under this Constitution in 2015, and his first premiership had ended with the withdrawal of support from the rival Communist party i.e. ‘Prachanda’ Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s Communist Party of Nepal (MC), which ironically is again at the centre of the current storm, as the tentative and restive partner in Oli’s second term as Prime Minister.

However, this so-called ‘unified’ Communist formulation was always beset with irreconcilable tugs-of-war between the two rival factions, wherein, the arrangement of Chairmanship of the newly ‘unified’ party was given to ‘Prachanda’ and the Prime Ministership to KP Sharma Oli. But as the days passed, Oli became increasingly assertive and started taking unilateral decisions, to the perceived obliviousness and disconcertment of the ‘Prachanda’ faction.

A collateral development of the ongoing fissures within the ruling dispensation was the injection of toxic and competitive nationalism (read, ‘anti- India’ sentiment) that sought to polarise popular opinions, and willy-nilly paint the rival ‘Prachanda’ faction as ‘pro-India’, and conversely, Oli as the ubernationalist.

One key constitutional appointment that played an integral and biased role in the continuing drama was the office of the President, Bidya Devi Bhandari. The constitutional role of the President in Nepal is not even that of a nominal chief executive, as Section 75 of the Constitution explicitly states, ‘The executive power of Nepal shall, pursuant to this Constitution and law, be vested in the Council of Ministers’, thereby reposing extraordinary powers in the office of Prime Minister.

Yet Bidya Devi Bhandari, who is a former member of Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal (UML) faction and his loyalist, has played a crucial role to legitimise Oli’s decisions and to give them the veneer of constitutional correctness. Recently, she facilitated the ‘constitutional coup’ by accepting Oli’s calculated recommendation to dismiss the House of Representatives and have fresh elections, in a bid to checkmate the ‘Prachanda’ faction from holding it to ransom.

Legal experts are in a quandary as the Constitution is unclear, and therefore the matter will go to the Supreme Court – but for now, the President has played along with Oli’s gambit. All eyes are now on the Chief Justice of Nepal, Cholendra SJB Rana (great grandson of Rana Prime Minister, Bir Sumsher SJB Rana), who is known for his independent mind after nullifying many decisions of the government and the parliament, earlier.

Irrespective of how the inevitable split in the Communist party plays out, the next few months will bear tremendous uncertainty and insecurity for a country that is already reeling under the Covid pandemic. As the earlier shadowboxing amongst competing politicos had led to the invocation of the convenient ‘India’ card, more of the same cannot be ruled out as each faction would want to postulate their own political muscularity and ‘independence’.

Yet despite the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal’s personal and frenetic backchannel efforts to keep the warring communist factions ‘united’, this recent crisis has exposed the limitation of ideology in the face of factional ambitions. Despite the initial brouhaha of China replacing India, which was ably supported by some shoddy diplomacy from Delhi, the popular honeymoon surrounding Beijing is also waning given China’s expansionist moves in Nepal itself. Oli recognises the subtle shift in public mood over the last couple of months and has encouraged rapprochement and dialing down of his diatribe against India.

The political and societal situation is in a flux with contradictory passions spilling out on the streets. Some protests were reported from various parts of the country with a section of people demanding the restoration of Nepal’s erstwhile monarchy and the ‘Hindu State’ status, signifying undercurrents of disillusionment with governance failures. However, there is no definitive trend in favour or against any specific party, and it would be prudent for India to stay out of any perceived preference towards any specific, partisan option.

The so-called ‘pro-India’ Nepal Congress is seemingly rudderless with its own factionalism, and it would not shy away from assuming a stridently anti-India stand in order to appeal to the electorate, who still and essentially remain unsure and wary of the ‘big brother attitude’ of India.

There is one dominant strain of the unmistakable frustration with governance in recent times. KP Sharma Oli and his government are seen as the face of rampant corruption, profligacy and manipulation. While Oli has temporarily defined the forthcoming narrative in consonance with the President, he may find the ride ahead extremely rough and isolating. In many ways, this unforeseen political development along with the opportunity to support Nepal during the forthcoming Covid vaccination drive is a serendipitous opportunity for India to ‘correct’ its popular image. India must visibly demonstrate restraint and ‘distance’ from the developing political discourse, as any perceived preference would be rendered counterproductive, immediately.

Secondly, as the hub of global vaccine production, it could provide invaluable aid that could mitigate the memories of the condescending, parsimonious and fleeting aid provided to Nepal after the debilitating earthquake of 2015. Given the overall global and decreasingly warm local perception of the Chinese ‘alternative option’ to India – Delhi would be served best by standing by the Nepalese people, as opposed to any political party or faction. The Chinese would be ruing the implosion of Communist ‘unity’, but that is inevitable whenever the chimera of the Chinese ‘alternative’ gets exposed, be it in Hambantota (Sri Lanka) or now in Kathmandu.

The writer is Lt Gen PVSM, AVSM (Retd) and former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry

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Jhajjar, December 27

A lawyer from Fazilka consumed poison at the Tikri protest site on Sunday. Amarjit Singh Rai, who hailed from Jalalabad, Punjab, was rushed to the PGI-Rohtak where he was declared “brought dead”. In a purported suicide note, addressed to the PM, he said he was “sacrificing” his life in support of the protesting farmers so that the government was forced to listen to the voice of the people.

Fourth such incident

• Baba Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide near the Singhu border protest site earlier this month
• A young farmer allegedly committed suicide in Bathinda on return from Delhi
• A week ago, 65-year-old farmer attempted suicide by consuming poison at Singhu

“The general public of India has given you absolute majority, power and faith… But you have become the PM of special groups… common people like farmers and labourers are feeling defrauded by your three agriculture ‘black’ laws… In order to feed some capitalists you have destroyed the common people and agriculture,” the note read.

Rohit Dahuja, president, Bar Association, Jalalabad, said Amarjit Singh had been practising law for the past about 27 years. The advocate’s clerk, Ram Jeet, said Amarjit was “deeply perturbed” by the farmers’ plight. — TNS