Over 100 ex-bureaucrats request PM to call for end to 'politics of hate'
New Delhi, Apr 26: Over 100 former civil servants have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a hope that he will call for an end to what they termed as "politics of hate" allegedly practised "assiduously" by governments under BJP's control.
In an open letter, they said "we are witnessing a frenzy of hate filled destruction in the country where at the sacrificial altar are not just Muslims and members of the other minority communities but the Constitution itself".
Former Lt Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung, former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, ex-foreign secretary Sujatha Singh, former home secretary G K Pillai and former prime minister Manmohan Singh's principal secretary T K A Nair are among the 108 signatories to the letter.
As former civil servants, it is not normally our want to express ourselves in such extreme terms, but the relentless pace at which the constitutional edifice created by our founding fathers is being destroyed compels us to speak out and express our anger and anguish, the letter said.
The escalation of hate violence against the minority communities, particularly Muslims, in the last few years and months across several states - Assam, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, all states in which the BJP is in power, barring Delhi (where the union government controls the police) - has acquired a frightening new dimension, it said.
The former bureaucrats said they believe that the threat is unprecedented and at stake is not just constitutional morality and conduct; it is that the unique syncretic social fabric, "which is our greatest civilizational inheritance and which our Constitution is so meticulously designed to conserve, is likely to be torn apart".
"Your silence, in the face of this enormous societal threat, is deafening," the letter said.
"We appeal to your conscience, taking heart from your promise of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas'," it said.
"It is our fond hope that in this year of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', rising above partisan considerations, you will call for an end to the politics of hate that governments under your party's control are so assiduously practising," said the letter.
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PIL in SC seeks abolition of TDS system, cites constitutional violations
New Delhi (PTI): A PIL filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday sought to scrap the TDS system calling it "arbitrary and irrational" and violative of various fundamental rights, including equality.
The PIL challenged the tax deducted at source or TDS framework under the Income Tax Act, which mandates the deduction of tax at the time of payment by the payer and its deposit with the income tax department. The deducted amount is adjusted against the payee's tax liability.
The plea filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay through advocate Ashwani Dubey, made the Centre, ministry of law and justice, law commission, and NITI Aayog as parties.
It sought a direction to "declare the TDS system manifestly arbitrary, irrational and against Articles 14 (right to equality), 19 (right to practice profession) and 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution, hence void and inoperative".
The plea further sought directions to the NITI Ayog to consider contentions raised in the plea and suggest necessary changes in TDS system.
It said the law commission should examine the legality of the TDS system and prepare a report within three months.
The TDS system imposes significant administrative and financial burdens on taxpayers tasked with compliance which include managing complex rules, issuing TDS certificates, filing returns, and defending against penalties for inadvertent errors, argued the plea.
Assessees often incur substantial expenses, ranging from salaries of compliance staff to professional fees for tax consultants, without receiving compensation, it said.
The plea said the system violated Article 14 (equality before the law) by disproportionately burdening economically weaker sections and small earners who lack the capacity to navigate its technical requirements.
Referring to Article 23, it said the imposition of tax collection duties on private citizens amounted to forced labour.
The TDS system was stated to adversely affect individuals below the taxable income threshold, as tax was deducted at source irrespective of their liability.
"The regulatory and procedural framework surrounding TDS is excessively technical, often requiring specialised legal and financial expertise, which most assessees lack. The result is an unjust shifting of sovereign responsibilities from the government to private citizens without adequate compensation, resources, or legal safeguards," it said.
