Daughters to inherit father’s property in the absence of a Will, rules SC

Daughters are entitled to inherit father’s self-acquired property, the Supreme Court ruled recently. The Court said that the daughters of a Hindu male who dies without a will or intestate will inherit the property of the father. In such cases, the daughters will be given priority over other family members like sons and daughters of the father’s siblings.

The court said, “If a property of a male Hindu dying intestate (without a will) is a self-acquired property or obtained in the partition of a coparcenary or a family property, the same would devolve by inheritance and not by survivorship, and a daughter of such a male Hindu would be entitled to inherit such property in preference to other collaterals (such as sons/daughters of brothers of deceased father).”

This verdict sheds light on the Hindu Succession Act (HSA) of 1956. The Hindu Succession Act of 1956 was amended in September 2005 following which women were considered as joint holders or coparceners of property.

As per reports, in this case Marappa Gounder, a Hindu male had self acquired property. He had a daughter Kupayee Ammal. After the death of Kupayee Ammal the property was acquired by five heirs of the younger brother of Marappa Gounder, Ramasamy Gounder. One of the five heirs, Thangammal had filed a suit for partition of the property.

The court said that as per the Hindu Succession Act 1956 Ramasamy Gounder’s daughter, being Class-I heirs of their father, shall also be the heirs and entitled to the share in the suit properties.

It also shed light on the provision of the act where the inherited property of a Hindu female dying intestate or without will goes back to the source.

“If a female Hindu dies intestate without leaving any issue, then the property inherited by her from her father or mother would go to the heirs of her father whereas the property inherited from her husband or father-in-law would go to the heirs of the husband,” the court said.

The SC bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari held that after the father’s death, the property would devolve by inheritance and not by survivorship.

“The main scheme of this Act is to establish complete equality between male and female with regard to property rights and the rights of the female were declared absolute, completely abolishing all notions of a limited estate. The Act brought about changes in the law of succession among Hindus and gave rights which were till then unknown in relation to women’s property,” the Court has said as per reports.

Views on budget 2022:

Eventhough budget is not excellent, it is good in long term perspective.It is in fact a booster budget for economical growth.Big focus on infrastructural developement such as roads and railways.

I am sure above focus will definitely creat employment opportunities.

In defence sector the provision is not made only for purchases but around 65% funds are allocated for inhouse and domestic creation of defence equipments. This will also lead to employment growth.

This budget will also increase pvt sector competitiveness in overall terms.

This budget is very unique & different but impactful since over a period if time Govt has come to the conclusion that the budget is not the occasion to make big announcements and propose changes every year.

In my considered opinion, the way budget is discussed in India, it does not happen in other countries during their budget session. There is really no need to make the budget presentation a major event.

Hence even on TV Channels we will observe less discussion on what citizens got and more discussion on what Govt does and how they implement the budget.

Large investment in infrastructure will definitely boost the growth and give momentum to economy in long term.

No doubt this budget did not make any announcement on labour laws reformations and implementation of labour codes but it seems it’s there in their mind.

Let’s wait for few more announcements in coming days.

By Dayanand N. Mangaonkar

Replacing Income Tax with Expenditure Tax is the Blockbuster Reform India Needs…

The shift from the income to expenditure base will not only mitigate harmful effect of a non-comprehensive income tax but will reduce extravagant consumption and promote savings .

Every stimulus package to boost the economy has its own burdening impact on the country’s fiscal position. However, a stimulus through tax reforms will be more helpful in infusing resilience in the economy in a sustainable manner. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is seeking suggestions from stakeholders in the run-up to finalise the annual budget for 2022-23. It is high time to go for an out-of-the-box initiative on the front of personal income tax. There is an opportunity to provide stimulus through direct tax reform in the form of an expenditure tax, which will be a more rational substitute for the income tax.

If personal income tax is done away with, about 6.32 crore people will have the freedom from the burden of submitting annual Income Tax Returns (ITR). The ITR has a demoralising effect on new entrepreneurs and emerging start-ups to grow as they are not exempted from personal tax compliances. Income tax regulations require people to maintain and submit various records and file returns. The Income Tax Department tirelessly scrutinises millions of returns, which are followed by queries, clarifications, refunds and protracted correspondence.

The litigations, if any, go on for years, taking a toll on both the citizens and the government.

The various organisations complying with TDS will also be free from the burden of collecting, remitting and submitting various returns if personal Income Tax is shelved.

67% of Karnataka-based firms favour phased rollout of Labour Codes:

About 67% of the industry prefers a phased rollout of Labour Codes for better preparation and ease of implementation, according to a survey conducted on over 133 companies in Karnataka, many of which have national operations.

The survey was done by Karnataka Employers’ Association (KEA) and employment law consulting firm BCP Associates.

According to a press release on the survey findings, 67 per cent of the industry prefers a phased rollout of the Codes, rather than all at once, for better preparation and ease of implementation.

Around 34.9 per cent of companies have been proactive in taking various steps towards implementation of the Codes while 18.6 per cent have not initiated any action thus far. It also found that 83 per cent of the industry clearly understands that the Codes have an all-encompassing implication on the entire employee lifecycle, as opposed to the general perception that the Labour Codes only entail changes to wages.

The four Labour Codes on wages, industrial relations, social security and occupational safety, health & working conditions have already been passed by Parliament.

The union government has firmed up rules under the Codes to enforce them and intends to implement them in one go.

WFH has put working women under ‘triple burden’:

Work from home during the Covid pandemic has its benefits but it has also put working women under a “triple burden”, says President Ram Nath Kovind.

In a letter to young Indians published in the Manorama Yearbook 2022, he says women already have the double burden of paid work and “unpaid work”, that is, domestic responsibilities.

“On top of that, as children attend school from home, their learning has to be supplemented by the parents, and that task usually falls on the mother,” Mr. Kovind writes in the letter, titled “Arise, The Future Beckons”. “The new stress on family time should be welcome for male employees, so that they can share some of the responsibilities of their partners. In any case, studies show that hard work in itself can be even counterproductive and as the number of hours spent on work goes up, productivity comes down in some instances,” he writes.

New startups, IT/ITES companies exempted from Haryana local employment act

Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Tuesday said that the new startups and new IT/ITES companies will be exempted for two years under the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020, which mandates 75% job reservation for locals.

Short-term (45 days) work will also be exempted from this Act, the deputy informed while addressing media in Chandigarh.

Dushyant said that in addition to sowing of crops, embroidery, the primary works related to fruits, vegetables, tea leaves, coffee, fish, animals etc. also taken up under the ‘Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act are exempted. Exemptions have also been given to domestic servants and those industries for which skilled workers are not available

Few Important Judgments for your reference & perusal;

• Shouting of slogans has to be at a distance of 300 meters from the premises of the Hotel where foreigners visit and stay.
  East India Hotels Ltd. vs. Oberoi Intercontinental Hotel Employees Union (Regd.), 1994 LLR 929 : 1995-I LLJ 1177 (Del. HC)
•  Territorial jurisdiction for raising an industrial dispute will be at the place where termination orders were issued.
  S. Ramesh vs. Tamil Nadu Petro Products Ltd., Manali Express Highway, Manali, Chennai, 2001 LLR 367 (Mad. HC)
•  Assaulting and abusing the Factory Manager, outside the factory premises will amount to misconduct and the dismissal of the workman will be justified.
  Narayanan vs. State of Tamil Nadu (represented by Secretary, dept. of Labour & Employment), Madras, 1999 LLR 382 : 1999-I LLN 693 (Mad. HC)
•  The onus of proof lies on Management to prove abandonment of service by a workman.
  Bhuna Co-operative Sugar Mills Ltd., vs. Mohinder Singh, 2001, LLR 141 (P&H HC)
• Dismissal is not disproportionate when the charge proved in criminal trial is of serious nature i.e. rash and negligent driving.
  Jage Ram vs. DTC, 2013 LLR 478 (Del. HC)

  Transfer when unsustainable, the workman to be reinstated at his original place.
  The Management, Micro Labs Limited vs. Patil Veershetty & Anr. Case No. WMP. No. 3730 OF 2021 IN WP No. 10833 of 2020 dt. 26.10.2021 (Mad. HC)

What is Set-On and Set-Off under Payment of Bonus Act, 1965?

(i) Set-On:
Where in an accounting year, the allocable surplus exceeds the amount of Bonus payable to the employees under the Payment of Bonus Act, the excess amount shall subject to 20% of the total salary or wages of the employees employed during the account year shall be carried forward for being Set-On in the succeeding accounting year and so on to be utilised for the purpose of payment of Bonus.

(ii) Set-Off
Where in an accounting year, there is no allocable surplus or the allocable surplus of that accounting year falls short of the amount payable to the employees under the Payment of Bonus Act and there is no sufficient amount already set-on, then no such amount as is necessary for payment of Bonus under the Payment of Bonus Act shall be carried forward for being set-Off in the succeeding account year.&

If you have any other opinion/views/inputs/advice or any other latest case laws differing the above, please do share it in this Group.

HCL Technologies asks resigning employees to return performance bonus

Pune-based IT labor rights nonprofit Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) has filed an official complaint against HCL Technologies

According to TOI report, HCL Technologies is asking employees who are resigning to return the performance bonus that was given to them every month during the financial year.
Pune-based IT labor rights nonprofit Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) has filed an official complaint against HCL Technologies, alleging the business has instituted a policy to claw back bonuses from resigning employees.

Commenting on this issue, Harpreet Saluja, President, Nites said, “We have received multiple complaints from employees across India that the employer HCL Technologies Limited has initiated a policy to recover bonus[es] paid to the employees.

If the employees fail to pay the amount, their experience certificate, relieving letter, and other employment documents & benefits are withheld by the company.

“HCL’s policy to recover the money as “iniquitous, arbitrary and harsh.” It is also to be noted that such a recovery policy without any statutory approval is resulting in hardship and it far outweighs the equitable balance of the employer’s right to recover.

It is almost impossible for an employee to bear the financial burden of a refund of payment of bonus received over a period of time under the current pandemic conditions,” he added.

Commenting on this HCL Technologies said, “it is not doing anything that the employees did not already know. But for employees, many of who have already spent at least part of the money they received, the demand is turning out to be onerous. Some of them have approached IT employee unions.”

The company further said, “Supporting employees is HCL’s top priority. We have strict global compliance policies whereby every relevant applicable law, including those applicable to employees, are adhered to as per the laws of the countries we operate in.

“We would like to put on record that the matter around the recovery of bonuses has been incorrectly reported. As a law-abiding organisation, HCL follows the best HR practices and continues to honour commitments and work in a fair and equitable manner towards all including employees.” the company added.

Budget 2022 for salaried: Rs 50,000 Work From Home allowance, Rs 1 lakh Standard Deduction expected

Covid-19 pandemic has badly hit salaried employees since 2020. The raging virus has forced employers across businesses to ask their employees to Work From Home.

Under unprecedented circumstances, employees had not only to spend extra to protect themselves and their families from Covid-19 but also undertake several additional expenses like internet and telephone charges, furniture to set up home office, extra electricity bills etc.

Before the pandemic, employees didn’t have to bother about the latter expenses as all necessary things for work were provided by the office. In view of the above, salaried employees are expecting the Government to provide a Work From Home Allowance in the upcoming Budget 2022 to provide tax relief on expenses incurred for carrying out office works from home during the pandemic.

The Government may take inspiration from countries like the UK, where a flat rate of GBP 6 per week of tax relief for additional household costs, if one has to work from home, has been provided to salaries employees.

What do labour law violations at Foxconn say about Make in India?

In 2021, India announced production-linked incentive schemes for thirteen sectors to push the Make in India initiative. But alleged disregard by factories may cast a pall on its manufacturing dreams

Last week, the Union Minister of State for Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the government would love to see the world’s largest contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company invest in India, among other firms.

His statement came amid the government’s efforts to attract semiconductor companies with a $10 billion incentive scheme launched last month. As India tries to woo one Taiwanese giant, another has been embroiled in a labour issue at its factory near Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

Protests started at Foxconn’s factory after more than 250 women workers, who live at one of the company’s hostels, had to be treated for food poisoning. The factory employs 17,000 workers and makes iPhones for Apple. The Taiwanese company is the world’s biggest contract electronics manufacturer. The factory has been shut down since December 18. Some of the women told a news outlet that workers slept on the floor in rooms that housed between 6 to 30 women.

The toilets reportedly had no running water and food sometimes had worms on them. Food safety officials closed the hostel’s kitchen after finding rats and poor drainage. Apple and Foxconn accepted that some dormitories and dining rooms at the factory did not meet required standards. In fact, Foxconn attracted global media attention after 14 workers committed suicide at its factories in China in 2010 over low pay and stressful work conditions.

For Apple, this is the second incident involving a supplier in India in a year. In December 2020, thousands of contract workers at a factory owned by Wistron destroyed equipment and vehicles over alleged non-payment of wages. There’s also another hurdle that India faces as it strives to become a manufacturing hub. Apple’s suppliers are not the only offenders.

Recent examples include a BBC report in November 2020 that revealed how Indian workers in factories supplying UK’s top supermarket chains were being subjected to exploitative conditions. The US-based Workers Rights Consortium found that more than four lakh workers in Karnataka have not been paid the state’s legal minimum wage since April 2020.Foxconn plans to expand the factory, which has become central to Apple’s efforts to shift production away from China.

The worker unrest comes as India is trying to encourage global companies to shift some of their supply chains to India, to take advantage of the trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. But it has exposed the working and living conditions of workers at our factories, as well as their vulnerability.

The government should impress on companies like Apple on how they should treat Indian labour. Advancement in India’s manufacturing prowess should not come at the cost of its workers. India should set a better example than settling for apologies from manufacturers like Foxconn