HC stays order to disclose top loan defaulters

Recently, Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the Reserve Bank of India to provide details of industrialists who have defaulted in repayment of loans taken from nationalized banks. However, the Delhi High court has stayed an order to publicly name top 100 loan defaulters.

A bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi, in its interim ex-parte order, asked the information-seeker to respond to the petition filed by the RBI challenging the CIC order. The court listed the next hearing on February 27, 2012, on the RBI’s petition which said the CIC’s directives were in violation of the Right to Information Act.

Counsel T R Andhiyaarjuna, appearing for the RBI, contended the CIC’s order would have a far-reaching impact as this kind of information is confidential and the Information Commissioner has dealt with the matter in a wrong way, without considering all the relevant provisions under the RBI Act. He also said the order of the CIC directing the RBI to provide information was beyond its jurisdiction under the transparency law, as the RBI is exempted from providing such info under section 8(1)(a). “It’s not open to the CIC to issue such a direction under section 8 (2) of the RTI Act when the RBI is exempted under section 8 (1) (a),” he added.

From the desk Of Daniel & Boaz
Helpline; Legal Team: 9962111818

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What to do before purchasing a property?

POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED BEFORE BUYING OF INDIVIDUAL PLOT AND CONSTRUCTION OF A RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

CHECK WHETHER THE SELLER HAS A RIGHT OVER THE PROPERTY.
VERIFY PATTAH AND ENCUMFERENCE CERTIFICATE FOR THE PROPERTY
CHECK WHETHER THE LAYOUT HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE CMDA AND SANCTIONED BY THE LOCAL BODY. (COPY OF CMDA APPROVED LAYOUT CAN BE OBTAINED FROM CMDA on payment of NOMINAL FEE)
CHECK WHETHER THE ROADS AND PARK AREA HAS BEEN HANDED OVER TO THE LOCAL BODY THROUGH A GIFT DEED
CHECK WHETHER THE ABUTTING ROAD OF THE PLOT HAS BEEN MAINTAINED BY THE LOCAL BODY OR HAS BEEN HANDED OVER TO THE LOCAL BODY.
VERIFY THE LANDUSE ZONE AS PER MASTER PLAN FOR THE PLOT.
VERIFY THE COMPLETION CERTIFICATE OBTAINED FOR THE BUILDING.
VERIFY WHETHER THE PLAN HAS BEEN PREPARED ACCORDING TO THE DEVELOPMENT CONTROL RULES.
CHECK WHETHER ALL THE DOCUMENTS/CERTIFICATES HAS BEEN ENCLOSED BEFORE SUBMITTING THE PLAN FOR APPROVAL TO CMDA/LOCAL BODY.
OBTAIN PLANNING PERMISSION FROM CMDA AND BUILDING APPROVAL FROM THE CONCERNED LOCAL BODY.
IF NOT ACTION WILL BE TAKEN AGAINST THE UNAUTHORISED AND DEVIATED CONSTRUCTIONS.
KINDLY AVOID UNAUTHORISED/DEVIATED CONSTRUCTION AND STAY FREE FROM THE ENFORCEMENT ACTION OF CMDA / LOCAL BODY

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Daniel & Boaz
Ph:- 9962111818

Debt Recovery Laws to be Strengthen

The Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to strengthen two crucial laws that enable lenders to recover their dues from borrowers. The move is expected to benefit banks in lowering their non-performing assets. As per the official data, the outstanding amount of large borrowers with public sector banks alone was R5,80,476 crore at the end of March 2011.
The amendments to the Sarfaesi Act and the Recovery of Debts due to Banks and Financial Institutions (RDBF) Act will be brought into force by introducing the Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011 in the winter session of Parliament, information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni said here after the Cabinet meeting.
An official release issued after the meeting stated that the proposed amendments would enable banks to improve their operational efficiency, deploy more funds for credit disbursement to retail investors and home loan borrowers without fearing for recovery, thus bringing about equity. The Bill seeks to strengthen the regulatory and institutional framework related to recovery of debts due to banks and financial institutions, the release stated without specifying the changes proposed. Banks have given suggestions for further strengthening of the secured creditor rights.
Insolvency experts, however, said reforms in the debt recovery regime have to be holistic and not incremental if access to credit is to be ensured to a larger section of the economy. “We need to take a holistic look at the Sarfaesi Act and address the many policy constraints that now impede the efficient functioning of asset reconstruction companies,” said Sumant Batra, past president of Insol International, a global body of corporate turnaround specialists and judges. The government has so far approved 14 securitisation and asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) but only Arcil, promoted by institutions like SBI and IDBI Bank, took off.
ARCs develop a market for the distressed assets they acquire from lenders. The Sarfaesi Act allows banks and financial institutions to take possession of assets when borrowers fail to repay their loans within 60 days of demanding repayment. Now, non-banking finance companies are not covered by the Sarfaesi Act, except the housing finance companies. Also, the central registry conceived under this Act does not cover the assets of proprietorships and partnerships and therefore banks have no way of ascertaining whether the assets of these entities have any charge on them. This lack of comfort discourages banks to lend to these entities that represent 92% of the economy.
From the Desk of Daniel & Boaz
Helpline:- 9962111818.

Trademark Registration in India

A trademark is an important legal document that any inventor will want to complete. Registering trademarks goes back almost over one hundred years. There are a number of reasons you would want to take the time to register a trademark. The first reason being the protection of a valuable asset, this is probably the most important reason behind registering a trademark. This preserves your rights re: the creator and owner of said trademark. This also helps with the second reason to file a trademark – to fend off other people who would want to nip at your heels of your creation. Usually competitors, distributors or other thieves look to steal ideas and items from people. A registered trademark can protect you from this.
Now sometimes a trademark can be misappropriated by mistake or coincidence. This is why the registration exists to keep these other people from infringing on your ideas. The third reason behind the trademark registration is the prevention of dilution. A trademark can become diluted when other companies and businesses all use the same style constantly. In a market where your consumer is constantly exposed to similar trademarks all of which are just about the same tend to lessen your own trademark’s impact and sales diminish in the market.
The fourth reason spins out of the third with the potential loss of goodwill. A copied trademark can lead to mistrust in the marketplace. By whatever means most of the time a similar or copied trademark is not as high quality as your own. This is where cheap imitations come from in the open market. These imitations can sometimes confuse the consumer and your own trademark becomes known for the quality of the copied and imitated ones. This is the number one cause of loss of goods and sales in the marketplace today.
You can also register a trademark as a defensive measure. This is the act of registering your trademark outside of the India. This prevents your trademark being used or copied outside of the confines of your home country.
The final reason anyone would want to register a trademark is for licensing purposes. This is how you gauge the value of your trademark. Other than being a tangible good which can be bought or sold, a trademark can also be an idea that can be licensed to other companies for their own use and sale. This is how most companies make their money from their trademarks by licensing them to other companies for production and sale.

From the Desk of Daniel & Boaz
Helpline to Register Trademark in India:- 9962111818.

Save yourself from credit card fraud

In recent times, there has been a spate of news items revealing a credit card fraud. In one such item, two youngsters were caught duping credit card holders by offering them new credit cards with higher credit limits by trading in their old credit cards. The youngsters then used the old cards to make their purchases, mostly electronics.

This is how they laid the plot. They would call up credit card holders representing themselves as employees of the credit card company. They would inform these clueless customers about a new scheme about new credit cards with greater purchase limits in exchange of old ones.

Then they would also inform customers that the company’s representative would soon visit them with the new card, which would be activated as soon as they filled in a form!

This news only reinstates the importance of being a vigilant customer and using credit cards with utmost prudence. Here are a few things one can do:

If you lose your credit card, it is necessary to inform your credit card company immediately. This will enable the card issuer to freeze the card with immediate effect and prevent any purchases on the card. The important thing for you is that your liability is limited once you inform the credit card issuer.
Destroy your old card completely before you begin using your new card. This is important even if your old card has expired or you are upgrading your card.
Keep your card in a safe place and do not allow other people to handle it.
Be prudent about signing up for new offers. Double-check the genuineness of the scheme. A simple way to verify genuineness of any scheme is to call up the credit card company and inquiring with them.
Change your PIN at regular intervals. Do not use obvious PIN like birth dates.
Inform your credit card company immediately if you do not receive your monthly credit statement. It could be a case of identity theft where the fraudster has changed your billing address.
Use chip based credit cards. These cards offer better security than credit cards with black magnetic stripes. This is because in a chip based card, all information is stored in the small chip in encrypted format and it also uses a PIN. This makes changing or copying this data extremely difficult. So, the chance of data being misused while swiping the card is very remote. It is the highest level of security that credit card companies can offer at present. Citibank and Kotak Mahindra issue chip based cards to select high range customers. Axis bank’s VISA Platinum card is also chip-based. HDFC Bank also has begun issuing these cards.
Be careful while shopping online. This is because you are required to give the CVV number for making purchases over the Internet. For this, be sure you shop only from secure websites. Ensure that the website is certified by VeriSign. Look for a yellow lock on the bottom right hand corner of the screen.
If you have a large credit limit on your card and use it frequently for several purchases including online and telephone purchases, it is a good idea to get your card insured. You cannot prevent credit card fraud but at least minimize its impact on your financial stability! You can protect yourself from fraudulent charges on your card up to 12 hours before reporting the loss to the credit card issuer.

From the desk of Daniel & Boaz
Helpline:- 9962111818

RBI expands Scope of Banking Ombudsman Scheme; Includes Fair Banking Practices

The Reserve Bank of India today announced the revised Banking Ombudsman Scheme with enlarged scope to include customer complaints on certain new areas, such as, credit card complaints, deficiencies in providing the promised services even by banks’ sales agents, levying service charges without prior notice to the customer and non adherence to the fair practices code as adopted by individual banks. Applicable to all commercial banks, regional rural banks and scheduled primary cooperative banks having business in India, the revised scheme will come into effect from January 1, 2006.

In order to increase its effectiveness, the revised Banking Ombudsman Scheme will be fully staffed and funded by the Reserve Bank instead of the banks. Under the revised Banking Ombudsman Scheme, the complainants will be able to file their complaints in any form, including online. The bank customers would also be able to appeal to the Reserve Bank against the awards given by the Banking Ombudsmen.

The new scheme provides a forum to bank customers to seek redressal of their most common complaints against banks, including those relating to credit cards, service charges, promises given by the sales agents of banks, but not kept by banks, as also, delays in delivery of bank services. The bank customers would now be able to complain about non-payment or any inordinate delay in payments or collection of cheques towards bills or remittances by banks, as also non-acceptance of small denomination notes and coins or charging of commission for acceptance of small denomination notes and coins by banks.

The Reserve Bank had first introduced the Banking Ombudsman Scheme in 1995 to provide expeditious and inexpensive forum to bank customers for resolution of their complaints relating to deficiency in banking services. The Scheme was revised in 2002 mainly to cover Regional Rural Banks and to permit review of the Banking Ombudsmens’ awards against banks by the Reserve Bank. The Banking Ombudsmen currently have their offices in 15 centres.

The Reserve Bank is also in an advanced stage of setting up an independent Banking Codes and Standards Board of India to ensure that comprehensive code of conduct for fair treatment to customers are formulated by banks and adhered to.

From the Desk of Daniel & Boaz
Helpline:- 9962111818

The Right of a Female Child

Gone are the days when daughters were dependent on mercy their male relatives for their share in the ancestral property. I am referring the finding of Supreme Court in case of Gaduri Amma & other Vs Chakri Yanadi & others Civil Appeal 8538 / 2011 dated : 12th October 2011.

The finding of the case law as under which any body can understand by simple understanding to law : –

1) Inheritance under Hindu Law is governed by Mitakshara Law through Hindu Succession Act, 1956 which is substituted by Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 w.ef. 9th September 2004.

2) After this amendment the Hindu daughter has equal right in the ancestral property as good as a Son can have. Rather, it is true that in eyes of Law daughter and Son have exactly equal rights and share in property.

3) The marital status of daughter does not have any effect to her rights in ancestral property. (Married or unmarried or divorcee or deserted daughters have equal rights ..marital status does not have any impact in this regard.)

4) If a daughter dies before partition of ancestral property, then her children will have equal rights in property which the deceased daughter can enjoy as if she would be living.

5) Remember, the Mitakshara Law after amendment of 2005 (as above) will not effect in following conditions which means the daughters will not have rights under following conditions :

– Partition took place by registered partition deed before 20th December 2004.

– Court has passed the final decree on property division before 20th December 2004.

6) If a preliminary decree is passed in a partition case but final decree is not passed then the preliminary decree can be amended and a second preliminary decree can be prepared in light of amendment 2005. There is no confusion in this regard now and question of amending the preliminary decree is settled by this Judgment.

7) This judgment or amendment in Hindu law will no way give any right to sue the sons/father/ grand father for division made prior to passing of this Act because this amendment is not having retrospective effect.

It is very useful law for common public and people should be made aware specially daughters who should know their rights protected by Hindu Law.

From the Desk of Daniel & Boaz
For Clarification @ 9962999008

Use of fake notes to be treated as terror act

Union home ministry proposes to include fake Indian currency notes (FICN) in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act

Alarmed by the rising use of fake currencies, the Union home ministry has decided to treat it as an act of terrorism.

Accordingly, it proposes to include FICN in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA, which entails more stringent provisions. Not only will it attract more punitive action, bail will also be more difficult to obtain.

Only terrorist organizations and people associated with them are currently covered under the Act.

Fake currency is among the “biggest threats” facing the country, said R.K. Singh, Union home secretary. That’s why “we are planning to include this in UAPA”.

Singh added: “FICN circulation is not done by local gangsters. The quality of (fake notes) suggest that state actors are behind it. These state actors are getting it executed through non-state actors.”

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RBI Operationalises Central Registry to prevent property loan frauds

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the operationalisation of a central registry that will have details of all properties against which loans have been taken.

Initially transactions relating to securitisation and reconstruction of financial assets and those relating to mortgage by deposit of title deeds to secure any loan or advances granted by banks and financial institutions, as defined under the SARFAESI Act, are to be registered in the Central Registry. The records maintained by the Central Registry will be available for search by any lender or any other person desirous of dealing with the property.

Availability of such records would prevent frauds involving multiple lending against the security of same property as well as fraudulent sale of property without disclosing the security interest over such property, the RBI said in a statement.

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How to get married foreigners in India

This Special Marriage Act permits marriages between persons who are not of the same community or who have different religions or nationalities. The scope of the Act includes the entire territory of India and extends to intending spouses who are both Indian nationals living abroad. The groom must be at least 21 years old, while the bride must be at least 18 years of age. Both parties should have full mental capacity and not be currently married. Parties to the marriage must provide notice of their intention to solemnize the marriage before a marriage officer in the district where at least one of the parties has resided for at least 30 days prior to the notice. Notice of the intended marriage is entered into the Marriages Notice Book, which is open for public inspection with an inspection fee. The public has the right to object to the marriage for the following 30 days. Any objections must be investigated and resolved within an additional 30 days.

Prior to the solemnization of the marriage, the parties and three witnesses must sign a declaration in front of a marriage officer, who will also sign the document. The marriage may be solemnized in any form that the parties wish to adopt as long as the solemnization occurs at the marriage officer’s office or any place that the marriage officer sanctions. The marriage must include the exchange of the following statement: “I (name of self) take you (name of partner) to be my lawful (wife or husband).” After the solemnization, the marriage officer will enter the certificate in the Marriage Certificate Book. The parties and the three witnesses must sign the certificate. The entry of the certificate in the book is deemed conclusive evidence of a lawful marriage.

Any marriage in India may be registered under this Act. The parties must jointly apply for the marriage registration. After 30 days of notice to the public, the marriage officer will enter the certificate into the Marriage Certificate Book. The spouses and three witnesses must sign the certificate.
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