SUPPLEMENTARY EDITION

(contains new Tributes, comprehensive Index & Errata of Main Edition,

Proceedings of the K.R.Ramamani Memorial Lecture)

K.R.Ramamaniremembrance of a tax legend

Edited by

Smt. Hemalata Ramamani (w/o Late Sri K.R. Ramamani)

Smt. Asha Vijayaraghavan (d/o Late Sri K.R. Ramamani)

Smt. Mridula Anand (Granddaughter of Late Sri K.R. Ramamani)

with inputs from

Mr. Vikram Vijayaraghavan, Advocate

(Grandson of Late Sri K.R. Ramamani)

Published by :

SUBBARAYA AIYAR, PADMANABHAN & RAMAMANI ADVOCATESNew No. 75A (Old No. 105A), Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai,

(Opposite to Hotel President) Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004.Phone : 2847 4446, Email : yourvakil@vsnl.net

1 A note on this Supplementary Edition 1

2 Index of Main Edition (Alphabetical Order) 3

3 Index of Main Edition (Category Wise) 13

4 Errata of Main Edition 25

5 A few more Important Tributes… 35

6 Proceedings of the K.R.Ramamani Memorial Lecture 91st

(1 December 2012, Chennai)

i. Photographs of K.R.Ramamani Memorial Lecture 93

ii. Transcript of Welcome Address by 113

Sri K.J.Chandran, Advocate & Chairman,

Organization Committee

iii. Transcript of Presidential Address by 115

Sri N.Devanathan Advocate & President,

Revenue Bar Association

iv. Transcript of speech by the Chief Guest, 121

Hon'ble Justice Mr. Jayasimha Babu

v. Transcript of speech by Guest of Honour, 123

Hon'ble Justice Mr. T.N.C.Rangarajan

vi. Transcript of speech by first recipient of 127

the book, Sri Venu Srinivasan

vii. Message from Dr.V.Vijayakumar, 129Vice-Chancellor, Tamil NaduAmbedkar Law University

viii. Keynote Address by Sri. S.E.Dastur, 133Senior Advocate, Mumbai

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page No.S. No. Topics

This Supplementary Edition has been compiled for multiple reasons - the chief

reason being it contains few important additional tributes which either

came too late, were omitted or were incorrectly printed in the Main Edition.

Furthermore, we felt that the proceedings of the K.R.Ramamani Memorial

Lecture, which turned out to be a grand and hugely successful event should be

documented. Towards this, the transcripts of the excellent speeches given

during the event as well as many photographs of the event are included in this

Supplementary Edition

Finally, two shortcomings of the Main Edition have been addressed in this

Supplementary Edition:

Firstly, the lack of an Index, whether it be alphabetical or category-

wise, which would have been extremely useful was a major shortcoming in the

Main Edition especially given the large number of tributes. We have tried to

make up for this by including both an Index organized alphabetically as

well as an Index organized by category

Secondly, and most importantly, due to extreme time pressure and

hard deadlines there were a few regrettable errors in the Main Edition; some

significant and some not so. We have therefore published in this

Supplementary Edition a detailed Errata of the Main Edition.

We hope you enjoy reading this Supplementary Edition.

Thanking you,

A NOTE ON THIS SUPPLEMENTARY EDITION

Vikram Vijayaraghavan, AdvocateGrandson of Sri K.R.Ramamani

1

2

3

INDEX OF MAIN EDITION(Alphabetical order)

4

INDEX OF MAIN EDITION(Alphabetical order)

S.No Names Page No.

1 Ahmed M.N., CA, Nisar & Kumar, Mumbai 217

2 Ajit Kumar Chordia, M.D, Khivraj Tech Park P. Ltd 455

3 Anand P. CA, M.R.Narain & CO 169

4 Anand R., Partner - Tax & Markets, Ernst & Young 147

5 Ananth M.S., Prof., Visting Prof., Dept. of Chemical Engg.,

IISC & Former Dirctor, IIT 409

6 Anathanarayan E.P., Retd. Addl. CIT & Tax Consultant,

PNR & Co. 549

7 Anirudha K.S.R. Kalaimamani, Advocate & Artiste 55

8 Arvind P Datar, Senior Advocate 1

9 Aravumudhan K., Retd. Addl Secretary (Defence) 367

10 Arjunaraj A., CA 563

11 Arumugam S.V., M.D, Bannari Amman Spg Mills Ltd 459

12 Badrinath S.S ., Dr., Chairman, Sankara Netralaya 571

13 Balagopal S., Vice President - Buying, Vivek Ltd 299

14 Balaji D., CA, Durga Balaji & Co. 207

15 Balaji T.K.,Chairman & M.D, Lucas - TVS Ltd 477

16 Balakrishnan G.,President and Company Secretary,

India Cements 267

17 Balakrishnan R., CA, Balu Associates 565

18 Balasubramanian K., G.M (Finance & Company Secretary),

Hydril Pressure Control Pvt Ltd 315

19 Balasubramanian, J. FCA, LLB, Partner JB&Co 101

20 Bapu S., Former CIT & Member of CAT 537

21 Bhaskara Rao M.,CA 243

22 Bhatt S.A., CA 149

23 Chandrapandian S.V., Partner,SVS Oil Mills 469

24 Chandrasekaran T.R., CA, Director, Karnataka Bank 193

25 Chandrika Rajagopal., Ph.D, Daughter in law of

Shri K.R.Ramamani 343

26 Chitale S.L., Architect, Partner, Chitale & Son 353

27 Dharmakrishnan A.V., CEO, Madras Cements 255

28 Easwar R.V. Justice, Judge of Delhi High Court 507

5

29 Gandhi R., Senior Advocate 63

30 Ganesh S. (Delhi), Senior Advocate 67

31 Ganeshkumar A., PA to Smt. Asha Vijayaraghavan 413

32 Gangadaran C.N., Dr., CA, Senior Partner CNGSN Associates 95

33 George Cheriyan, Retd Senior Vice President, ITAT 521

34 George Thomas, Retd. Asst Company Secretary & Consultant,

MRF 257

35 Gopal A., CA 83

36 Gopal V.D., Advocate 45

37 Gopaladesikan K., Senior Vice President (Finance),

Sundaram Clayton Ltd 317

38 Gopalakrishnan M., Former Chairman & M.D,

Indian Bank 319

39 Govindarajan V., Vice Presient (legal), IndusInd Bank 285

40 Gunasekaran G., P.A to Sri. Vikram Vijayaraghavan 415

41 Gurumurthy S., CA 245

42 Habibullah Badsha, Senior Advocate 51

43 Hanu Reddy, Director, Hanu Reddy Realty 451

44 Haresh Chand, Chairman, Gee Gee Holdings 437

45 Hari Eswaran, Chairman, Easun Group 465

46 Hariharan G., CA 135

47 Harikrishnan C., Senior Advocate 31

48 Jagadisan V., CA 231

49 Jagannathan R., Vice President - Taxation,

TVS Investments Ltd 321

50 Jagannathan S.V., Former Joint CIT 351

51 Jaganathan V.G., Executive Director & Secretary,

Sundaram Fasteners Ltd 283

52 Janaki Ramachandran, Advocate, Supreme Court 37

53 Janakiraman R.,CA 173

54 Janarthanan S.,; Vasudevan S., CA 181

55 Janarthana Raja P.P.S Justice, Judge of Madras High Court 505

56 Jayakumar V.S., Advocate 25

57 Jayaraman S., Retd Development Officer LIC, Chennai 311

58 Jayaraman V., CA 161

59 Kirthivasan.S., Realtor 493

60 Kothari B.H., Chairman & M.D, Kothari Group 433

61 Krishnamoorthy A., Chairman, Amalgamations Pvt Ltd 425

6

62 Krishnamurthy T.S., Former Chief Election

Commissioner of India 511

63 Krishnamurthy R., Dr., Editor, Dinamalar 551

64 Krishnaswamy .C.V., Dr., Diabetologist 405

65 Krishnaswamy Rao Sahib C.R., IAS Retd. 365

66 Kumar P.S., CA, Partner, M/s Brahmayya & Co 127

67 Kumar B., Senior Advocate 29

68 Lakshmanan A.R., Dr., Justice,

Former Judge of Supreme Court 503

69 Lakshmanan A.S., Chairman, Senapathy Whiteley Pvt Ltd 479

70 Lakshminarayanan M., Managing Partner -

Tax Deloitte Haskins & Sells 167

71 Lakshminarayanaswamy D., M.D, Sri Ramakrishna Mills 471

72 Madan Lal Gupta, Chairman, Sahuwala Group of Industries 441

73 Mahadevan V., Chief Accountant, TT Krishnamachari & Co 289

74 Mahalingam N. Dr., Chairman, Sakthi Group of Companies 429

75 Mahalingam S., CFO & Executive Director, TCS 401

76 Mala B., FCA, Associate, SAPR Advocates 93

77 Malini Seshadri, M.D, Estee Auto 383

78 Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman & CEO, TAFE Ltd 473

79 Manoharan T.N., CA, Past President-ICAI,

Partner Manohar Chowdhry & Associates 253

80 Meenakshisundaram N., CA, Partner, M/S T.Selvaraj & Co 117

81 Miskeen S.M., CA 151

82 Mohan V., CA, Partner, V.Shankar Aiyar & Co. 165

83 Moolchand L., Variety Group, Nilgiris 439

84 Murali N., Director, The Hindu 555

85 Murali R., CA 403

86 Murali V., CA, Victor Grace & Co 205

87 Muralidharan A., CA 561

88 Muralidharan V.C., Retd Joint General Manager (Insurance),

South India Shipping Ltd 363

89 Muthiah A.C ., Dr, Chairman - Emeritus, SPIC Ltd 427

90 Muthukumar A., Former Executive Director (Finance)

SPIC Ltd 297

91 Muthumalla Reddy K., Leading Agriculturist 417

92 Nalini Chidambaram, Senior Advocate 77

7

93 Narayanamoorthy M., Promoter, Premier Energy &

Infrastructure Ltd & Shriram EPC Ltd 491

94 Narayanan C.R., FCA, CV Ramaswamy & CO 131

95 Narayanan K., Dr, Consultant in Environment,

Health & Safety 371

96 Narayanan M., Advocate, Former Dept. Representative

ITAT, Chennai 545

97 Narayanan N., CA 119

98 Narayanaswamy G. & Sitharam G., CA, S.Venkataram & Co. 249

99 Narayanaswamy J., Senior Standing Counsel, Madras HC 9

100 Natarajan L., Dr., FCA 97

101 Natarajan S., Justice, Retd. Judge of the Supreme Court 501

102 Natarajan, FCA, Director, Shriram Group of Companies 153

103 Pandian P.H. Dr., Senior Advocate 35

104 Parthasarathi, S., Advocate 65

105 Parthasarathy K.V. Dr., Retd. Prof. of Mathematics,

Vivekananda College 337

106 Prabhu CSK., CA, CSK Prabhu & Co 133

107 Premkumar Menon, Executive Chairman,

East West Hotels Ltd 447

108 Prem Karra, CA, Karra & Co 223

109 Pushya Sitaraman, Senior Advocate 23

110 Quadir Hoseyn N., Advocate 57

111 Radha Parthasarathy., Director, Madras Engineering

Industries Pvt Ltd 443

112 Raghavan N.D., Ex-Vice Chairman, CAT,

Ex-Vice President, ITAT 531

113 Raghavan R.K., Former Director, CBI 393

114 Raghavendra Rao A., Retd. IRS 539

115 Raghu K., FCA, ACS, Partner, S.Krishnamoorthy & Co 107

116 Raghunathan N., CA 123

117 Raghupathi Rao V.V., CA, Malladi Drugs & Pharmaceuticals 203

118 Raghupathy R., Retd. Executive of Ponds India Ltd 303

119 Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy (Mrs.YGP).,

Founder & Dean of P.S.B.B Group of Institutitions 423

120 Rajamanickam V., Director, Khivraj Group 313

121 Rajan C.V., Former Senior Standing Counsel, Madras HC 5

8

122 Rajan K.V., Advocate 11

123 Rajaratnam S., Senior Tax Consultant, Former Member ITAT 517

124 Rama Mohan Rao M.S., FCA, Partner, Brahmayya& Co 225

125 Ramachandran,S.V., FCA, Coimbatore 157

126 Ramakrishna C., Senior Advocate 49

127 Ramakrishna Raja P.R., M.D, Astoria Group 485

128 Ramamurthy, A. , Industrialist and Businessman, Sivakasi 461

129 Raman G.V., Executive Chairman,

Shriram Group of Companies 301

130 Raman K., Former M.D, Best & Crompton 259

131 Ramana Prasad A.S., Managing Trustee, BVM Global 449

132 Ramanathan K.V., Retd. IAS 421

133 Ramanathan T.R., CA 195

134 Ramani R.L., Senior Advocate 39

135 Ramanujachari S., Vice-President & Secretary,

Amalgamations Pvt Ltd 307

136 Ramanujam S., Senior Advicer Tax and Regulatory Services

Pricewaterhouse Coopers Pvt Ltd 183

137 Ramanujam TCA., Retd. Chief Commissioner,

Member ITAT, Ex-Senior Standing Counsel 523

138 Ramasubrahmaneya Rajha P.R., Chairman & M.D,

Madras Cements Ltd 475

139 Ramaswami V Justice, Former Judge of Supreme Court 499

140 Ramaswamy M.A.M., Dr., Chairman, Chettinad Group 435

141 Ramesh Natarajan, FCA, VKS Aiyer & Co 141

142 Ramjee, S. Ramasubramaniam, CA 179

143 Rangachari A., Retd. IAAS, Former IMF Budget Advisor 341

144 Rangachary N., Former Chairman CBDT & IRDA 513

145 Rangan N. , CA, M/s Jagannathan & Sarbeswaran 221

146 Ranganathan S. Justice., Retd. Judge of Supreme Court 495

147 Ranganathan V., Partner, Tax and Regulatary Services,

E & Y Pvt Ltd 237

148 Ratnam R.N., Former Deputy M.D & Senior Vice President,

EID PARRY Group 347

149 Ravi N., Director, The Hindu 557

150 Ravishankar T., FCA, Joint G.M, HDFC 569

151 Rohini Mohan, Advocate 395

152 Sabitha Nandakumar, Sudha Ravi, Sujatha Venkatesan,

M.S.Murali, Nieces and Nephew of Sri Ramamani 355

9

153 Sadasiva A.V., FCA, Partner, M.Aanandam & Co 91

154 Sadasiva Sripada, CA, Sripada Associates 191

155 Sankar N., Chairman,The Sanmar Group 481

156 Santhanam G., Former Member, ITAT 515

157 Santhanam,S., Chairman, Sattva Group 453

158 Sarangan G., Senior Advocate 79

159 Sarangarajan S., Former Chairman,

Tiruppur Branch of SIRC of ICAI 187

160 Saravanan AVM., Producer, AVM Studios 553

161 Seetharaman R., Advocate 61

162 Seetharaman T.N., Advocate 43

163 Sekar K.R., Partner, Deloitte Haskins & Sells 211

164 Sekar K.R., Partner, Deloitte Haskins & Sells 105

165 Sekhar R., CA 227

166 Seshasayee.R., Executive Vice Chairman, Ashok Leyland Ltd 487

167 Shanker S., CA, Partner, Shanker Giri & Prabhakar 155

168 Shanta V., Dr., Chairman, Cancer Institute (WIA) 575

169 Sivaramakrishnan V.S., Senior Executive & Director,

Asvini Fisheries Pvt Ltd 293

170 Somasundaram G., CA, Madurai 137

171 Sreedharan K., Former PA to Shri K.R. Ramamani 373

172 Sreedharan K.N., FCA, Partner, S Krishnamoorthy & Co 103

173 Sridharan K., CFO, Ashok Leyland Ltd. 271

174 Sridharan K.N., CA, S Krishnamoorthy & Co 235

175 Srikanth M.C., CA 115

176 Srinivasan K., Senior Partner,

Sundaram & Srinivasan Chartered Accountants 109

177 Srinivasan K.Swamy, Chairman R.K. SWAMY HANSA Group 467

178 Srinivasan N., CA Retd. Senior Partner,

Deloitte Haskins & Sells 247

179 Srinivasan N., Vice Chairman & M.D, The India Cements Ltd 483

180 Srinivasan P., CA 145

181 Srinivasan R., Advocate 41

182 Srinivasan S., Former Essar Corporate Tax Division

(erstwhile South India Shippng Corporation Ltd.) 273

183 Srinivasan S.K., Advocate 69

184 Srinivasan V.S., FCA, VKS Aiyer & Co 201

Fraser & Ross,

10

185 Srinivasan, P., CA 129

186 Srinivasan, V.R., CEO, Brics Securities Ltd. 291

187 Staffs of SAPR Advocates 397

188 Subramanian K., Former Chief Commissioner,

Former Standing Counsel Madras HC 541

189 Subramanian P.S., Financial Consultant 143

190 Subramanian R., FCA 177

191 Subramanian S., RGN Price & Co 189

192 Sudharani Raghupathy, Prof.,

Founder- Trustee Shree Bharatalaya 559

193 Sugalchand Jain, Managing Trustee, Singhvi Charitable Trust 445

194 Sundarrajan M.S., Advocate 407

195 Suresh Rao U., CA, Brahmayya & CO 159

196 Tamilmani T.R., Head of Taxation, SPIC Ltd 279

197 Thiyagarajan. R., Chairman-Founder; Jayaraman .T., Director,

Shriram Chits & Investments & other Group Companies 463

198 Tripathy N.P., Former D.G of Income Tax 573

199 Vaidyanathan N.& Kannan N., CA, Rajan & Nathan 125

200 Vaidyanathan P., Founder of Integrated Enterprises India Ltd 457

201 Vairaprakasam, A., Industrialist & Businessman, Sivakasi 431

202 Vaitheeswaran K., Advocate 53

203 Varadachari N.S., Advocate 59

204 Varadarajan V.S, Ramadurai V.S, Ashok Kumar V S., CAs,

Partners of VV Sounderrajan & Co, Salem 199

205 Vasudevan T., Advocate 75

206 Vedagiri P., Former CFO, Tamil Nadu Petro Products 263

207 Vellayan A., Executive Chairman, Murugappa Group 489

208 Venkatanathan V.N., Executive Vice-President (Finance),

Sundaram Clayton Ltd 323

209 Venkataramani. P., Advocate & Former Manager, SAPR Advocates 19

210 Venkatasubramaniam K., Advocate 15

211 Venkatesan S.V., Resident Director, Essar Group 333

212 Venkataraman K.S., Ex-EID Parry India Ltd. 269

213 Vijay P.Srinivasan., Director, India Co. Pvt Ltd 391

214 Vijayan P.,Dr., First Vice- Chancellor

Indian Maritime Universtiy & Director IMU, Chennai Campus 411

215 Vijayaraghavan R., Advocate, Son in law of Sri K.R.Ramamani. 385

216 Vittel, P.R., CA, Senior Partner, PN Raghavendra Rao & Co. 567

11

12

INDEX OF MAIN EDITION(Category Wise)

13

14

INDEX OF MAIN EDITION(Category Wise)

15

ADVOCATES

1 Arvind P Datar Senior Advocate 1

2 Rajan C.V. Former Senior Standing

Counsel 5

3 Narayanaswamy J. Senior Standing Counsel,

Madras High Court 9

4 Rajan K.V Advocate 11

5 Venkatasubramaniam K. Advocate 15

6 Venkataramani. P Advocate 19

7 Pushya Sitaraman Senior Advocate 23

8 Jayakumar V.S Advocate 25

9 Kumar B Senior Advocate 29

10 Harikrishnan C Senior Advocate 31

11 Pandian P.H. Dr. Senior Advocate 35

12 Janaki Ramachandran Advocate, Supreme Court 37

13 Ramani R.L Senior Advocate 39

14 Srinivasan R. Advocate 41

15 Seetharaman T.N. Advocate 43

16 Gopal V.D. Advocate 45

17 Ramakrishna C. Senior Advocate 49

18 Habibullah Badsha Senior Advocate 51

19 Vaitheeswaran K. Advocate 53

20 Anirudha K.S.R. Advocate 55

21 Quadir Hoseyn N. Advocate 57

22 Varadachari N.S. Advocate 59

23 Seetharaman R. Advocate 61

24 Gandhi R. Senior Advocate 63

25 Parthasarathi S. Advocate 65

26 Ganesh S. Senior Advocate 67

27 Srinivasan S.K. Advocate 69

28 Vasudevan T. Advocate 75

29 Nalini Chidambaram Senior Advocate 77

30 Sarangan G. Senior Advocate 79

S.NO Names Designation Pg. No

16

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

1 Gopal A. Chartered Accountant 83

2 Sadasiva A.V., (Anandam) Chartered Accountant 91

3 Mala B. Chartered Accountant 93

4 Gangadaran C.N. Dr. Chartered Accountant 95

5 Natarajan L. Dr. Chartered Accountant 97

6 Balasubramanian J. Chartered Accountant 101

7 Sreedharan K.N , (SK & Co) Chartered Accountant 103

8 Sekar K.R. (Deloitte) Chartered Accountant 105

9 Raghu K.(SK& Co) Chartered Accountant 107

10 Srinivasan K. Chartered Accountant 109

11 Srikanth M.C. Chartered Accountant 115

12 Meenakshisundaram N.

(T.Selvaraj & CO) Chartered Accountant 117

13 Narayanan N. Chartered Accountant 119

14 Raghunathan N. Chartered Accountant 123

15 Vaidyanathan & Kannan N.

(Rajan & Nathan) Chartered Accountant 125

16 Kumar P.S

(Brahmayya & CO.) Chartered Accountant 127

17 Srinivasan, P. Chartered Accountant 129

18 Narayanan C.R.,

(CVR & CO) Chartered Accountant 131

19 Prabhu CSK Chartered Accountant 133

20 Hariharan G. Chartered Accountant 135

21 Somasundaram G. Chartered Accountant 137

22 Ramesh Natarajan N.,

VKS Aiyer & Co Chartered Accountant 141

23 Subramanian P.S.

(Elnet Technologies) Chartered Accountant 143

24 Srinivasan P. Chartered Accountant 145

25 Anand R.(E & Y) Chartered Accountant 147

26 Bhatt S.A. Chartered Accountant 149

27 Miskeen S.M. Chartered Accountant 151

28 Natarajan S.,

(Shriram Group) Chartered Accountant 153

S.NO Names Designation Pg. No

17

29 Shanker S. Chartered Accountant 155

30 Ramachandran S.V. Chartered Accountant 157

31 Suresh Rao U.

(Brahmayya & Co.) Chartered Accountant 159

32 Jayaraman V. Chartered Accountant 161

33 Mohan V.

(V.Shankar Aiyar & Co.) Chartered Accountant 165

34 Lakshminarayanan M.

(Deloitte) Chartered Accountant 167

35 Anand P.

(M.R.Narain & Co) Chartered Accountant 169

36 Janakiraman R.

( R Janakiraman & Co.) Chartered Accountant 173

37 Subramanian R. Chartered Accountant 177

38 Ramjee(S. Ramasubramanium,

Nilgirs) Chartered Accountant 179

39 Janardhanan S.;Vasudevan S. Chartered Accountant 181

40 Ramanujam S.

(Pricewaterhouse) Chartered Accountant 183

41 Sarangarajan S. Chartered Accountant 187

42 Subramanian S.

(RGN Price) Chartered Accountant 189

43 Sadasiva, Sripada Associates Chartered Accountant 191

44 Chandrasekaran T.R Chartered Accountant 193

45 Ramanathan T.R. Chartered Accountant 195

46 Varadarajan V.S,Ramadurai V.S.,

Ashok Kumar V S Chartered Accountant 199

47 Srinivasan V.S.,

VKS Aiyer & Co. Chartered Accountant 201

48 Raghupathi Rao V.V.,

(Malladi Drugs) Chartered Accountant 203

49 Murali V. (Victor Grace) Chartered Accountant 205

50 Balaji D., Durga Balaji & Co Chartered Accountant 207

51 Sekar K.R. (Deloitte) Chartered Accountant 211

52 Ahmed M.N.

(Nisar & Kumar) Chartered Accountant 217

18

53 Rangan N. (Jagannathan

& Sarabeswaran) Chartered Accountant 221

54 Prem Karra (Karra & Co) Chartered Accountant 223

55 Rama Mohan Rao M.S.

(Brahamayya & Co) Chartered Accountant 225

56 Sekhar R. Chartered Accountant 227

57 Jagadisan V. Chartered Accountant 231

58 Sreedharan K.N., (SK & Co) Chartered Accountant 235

59 Ranganathan V. ( E & Y) Chartered Accountant 237

60 Bhaskara Rao M. Chartered Accountant 243

61 Gurumurthy S. Chartered Accountant 245

62 Srinivasan N.

(Fraser & Ross) Chartered Accountant 247

63 Narayanaswamy G. & Sitharam G.

(S Venkataram & Co) Chartered Accountant 249

64 Manoharan T.N. Chartered Accountant 253

EXECUTIVES

1 Dharmakrishnan A.V. CEO, Madras Cement 255

2 George Thomas Retd Asst. Company Secretary

& Consultatant, MRF 257

3 Raman K. Former M.D, Best & Crompton 259

4 Vedagiri P. Former CFO, Tamil Nadu

Petro Products 263

5 Balakrishnan G. President, Company

Secretary, India Cements 267

6 Venkataraman K.S. Ex-EID Parry India Ltd 269

7 Sreedharan K. CFO, Ashok Leyland Ltd 271

8 Srinivasan S. Former Essar Corporate Tax

Division, (erstwhile South

India Shippng Corporation Ltd.) 273|

9 Tamilmani T.R. Head of Taxation, SPIC Ltd 279

10 Jaganathan V.G. Executive Director & Secretary,

Sundaram Fasteners Ltd 283

11 Govindarajan V. V.P (Legal), Indusind Bank 285

12 Mahadevan V. Chief Accountant,

TT Krishnamachari & Co 289

19

13 Srinivasan V.R. CEO, Brics Securities Ltd 291

14 Sivaramakrishnan V.S. Senior Executive & Director,

Ashwini Fisheries Pvt Ltd 293

15 Muthukumar A. Former Executive Director

(Finance), SPIC Ltd 297

16 Balagopal S. Vice-President, Buying,

Vivek Ltd 299

17 Raman G.V. Executive Chairman,

Shriram Group of Companies 301

18 Raghupathy R. Retd. Executive of

Ponds India Ltd 303

19 Ramanujachari S.` V.P & Secretary,

Amalgamations Pvt Ltd 307

20 Jayaraman S. Retd. Development officer, LIC 311

21 Rajamanickam V. Director, Khivraj Group 313

22 Balasubramanian K. G.M (Finance), Hydralic

Pressure Control Pvt Ltd 315

23 Gopaladesikan K. Senior Vice Presient (finance),

Sundaram - Clayton 317

24 Gopalakrishnan M. Former Chairman & M.D,

Indian Bank 319

25 Jagannathan R. V.P Taxation,

TVS Investments Ltd 321

26 Venkatanathan V.N. Executive Vice-President,

Sundaram Clayton Ltd 323

27 Venkatesan S.V. Resident Director, Essar Group 333

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

1 Parthasarathy K.V. Dr Retd. Prof. of Maths,

Vivekananda College 337

2 Rangachari A. Retd. IAAS, Former

IMF Budget Advicer 341

3 Chandrika Rajagopal Daughter in law of

Sri. Ramamani 343

4 Ratnam R.N Former Deputy M.D /

Senior Vice President,

EID PARRY Group 347

20

5 Jagannathan S.V. Former Joint CIT 351

6 Chitale S.L. Architect, Parner,

Chitale & Son 353

7 Sudha and others Nieces and Nephew of

(MS Murali) Sri Ramamani 355

8 Muralidharan V.C. Retd. Joint General Manager

(Insurance), South India

Shipping Ltd 363

9 Krishnaswamy Rao Sahib C.R. IAS Retd. 365

10 Aravumudhan K. Retd Addl Secretary

(Defence) 367

11 Narayanan K. Dr Consultant in Environment,

Health & Safety 371

12 Sreedharan K. Former PA to Sri Ramamani 373

13 Malini Seshadri M.D, Estee Auto 383

14 Vijayaraghavan R. Advocate, Son in law of

Sri Ramamni. 385

15 Vijay P.Srinivasan Director, India Co. Pvt Ltd 391

16 Raghavan R.K. Former Director, CBI 393

17 Rohini Mohan Advocate 395

18 Staff of SAPR Staff of SAPR Advocates 397

19 Mahalingam S. CFO & Executive Director, TCS 401

20 Murali R. Chartered Accountant 403

21 Krishnaswamy .C.V. Dr Diabetologist 405

22 Sundarrajan M.S. Advocate 407

23 Ananth M.S., Prof. Visting Prof.,

Dept. of Chemical Engg.,

IISC & Former Dirctor, IIT 409

24 Vijayan P. Dr First Vice- Chancellor

Indian Maritime Universtiy &

Director IMU, Chennai Campus 411

25 Ganeshkumar A. PA to Smt. Asha Vijayaraghavan 413

26 Gunasekaran G. P.A to Sri. Vikram Vijayaraghavan 415

27 Muthumalla Reddy K. Leading Agriculturalist 417

28 Ramanathan K.V. Retd IAS 421

29 Mrs. Rajalakshmi Founder & Dean of

Parthasarathy (Mrs.YGP) P.S.B.B Group of Institutitions 423

21

INDUSTRIALISTS, BUSINESSMEN AND CEO's

1 Krishnamoorthy A. Chairman,

Amalgamations Pvt Ltd 425

2 Muthiah A.C Dr Chairman - Emeritus, SPIC Ltd 427

3 Mahalingam N.Dr Chairman, Sakthi Group of

Companies 429

4 Vairaprakasam A. Industrialist & Businessman,

Sivakasi 431

5 Kothari B.H Chairman & M.D, Kothari

Group 433

6 Ramaswamy M.A.M. Dr. Chairman, Chettinad Group 435

7 Hareshchand Chairman, Gee Gee Holdings 437

8 Moolchand, L Variety Group, Nilgiris 439

9 Madan Lal Gupta Chairman, Sahuwala Group of

Industries 441

10 Radha Parthasarathy Director, Madras Engineering

Industries Pvt Ltd 443

11 Sugalchand Jain Managing Trustee,

Singhvi Charitable Trust 445

12 Premkumar Menon Executive Chairman,

East West Hotels Ltd 447

13 Ramana Prasad A.S Managing Trustee,

BVM Global 449

14 Hanu Reddy Director, Hanu Reddy Realty 451

15 Santhanam,S. Chairman, Sattva Group 453

16 Ajit Kumar Chordia M.D, Khivraj Tech Park P. Ltd 455

17 Vaidyanathan P. Founder of Integrated

Enterprises India Ltd 457

18 Arumugam S.V. M.D, Bannari Amman Spg Mills

Ltd 459

19 Ramamurthy A. Industrialist & Businessman,

Sivakasi 461

20 Thiyagarajan R.; Jayaraman T. Chairman-Founder,

Director Shriram Chits and

Investments & other Group

Companies 463

22

21 Hari Eswaran Chairman, Easun Group 465

22 Srinivasan K Swamy Chairman,

R K SWAMY HANSA Group 467

23 Chandrapandian S.V. Partner, SVS Oil Mills 469

24 Lakshminarayanaswamy D M.D, Sri Ramakrishna Mills 471

25 Mallika Srinivasan Chairman & CEO, TAFE Ltd 473

26 Ramasubrahmaneya Rajha P.R Chairman & M.D, Madras Cements Ltd 475

27 Balaji T.K Chairman & M.D, Lucas - TVS Ltd 477

28 Lakshmanan A.S. Chairman,

Senapathy Whiteley Pvt Ltd 479

29 Sankar N. Chairman, The Sanmar Group 481

30 Srinivasan N. Vice Chairman, M.D,

The India Cements Ltd 483

31 Ramakrishna Raja P.R. M.D, Astoria Group 485

32 Seshasayee.R. Executive Vice Chairman,

Ashok Leyland Ltd 487

33 Vellayan A. Executive Chairman,

Murugappa Group 489

34 Narayanamoorthy.M Promoter Premier Energy &

Infrastructure Ltd &

Shriram EPC Ltd 491

35 Kirthivasan.S. Realtor 493

JUDICIARY & GOVT OFFICIALS

1 Ranganathan S., Justice Retd. Judge of Supreme Court 495

2 Ramaswami V., Justice Former Judge of Supreme 499

3 Natarajan S., Justice Retd. Judge of Supreme Court 501

4 Lakshmananan A.R.,Dr.,Justice FormerJudge Supreme Court 503

5 Janardhana Raja P.P.S.,Justice Judge, Madras High Court 505

6 Easwar R.V.,Justice Judge, Delhi High Court 507

7 Krishnamurthy T.S. Former Chief Election

Commissioner of India 511

8 Rangachary N. Former Chairman, CBDT& IRDA 513

9 Santhanam G. Former Member, ITAT 515

10 Rajaratnam S. Senior Tax Consultant,

Former Member, ITAT 517

11 George Cheriyan Senior Vice President Retd ITAT 521

12 Ramanujam TCA Retd. Chief CIT, Member ITAT,

Ex-Senior Standing Counsel 523

13 Raghavan N.D. Ex-Vice Chairman, CAT,

Ex-Vice Presidnet, ITAT 531

14 Bapu S. Former CIT & Member of CAT 537

15 Rao A.Raghavendra Retd. IRS 539

16 Subramanian K. Former Chief CIT, Former

Standing Counsel, Madras HC 541

17 Narayanan M. Advocate, Former Dept.

Representative ITAT, Chennai 545

18 Ananthanarayan E.P. Retd. Addl CIT & Tax Consultant,

P.N.Raghavendra Rao & Co. 549

MEDIA AND CELEBRITIES

1 Krishnamurthy R Dr Editor, Dinamalar 551

2 Saravanan M. Producer, AVM Studio 553

3 Murali N. Director, The Hindu 555

4 Ravi N. Director, The Hindu 557

5 Sudharani Raghupathy Prof Founder-Trustee

Shree Bharatalaya 559

MISCELLANEOUS

1 Muralidharan A. Chartered Accountant 561

2 Arjunaraj A. Chartered Accountant 563

3 Balakrishnan R. Balu Associates 565

4 Vittel, P.R. Senior Partner,

P.N Raghavendra Rao & Co. 567

5 Ravishankar T. Joint G.M, HDFC 569

6 Badrinath S.S Dr. Chairman, Sankara Netralaya 571

7 Tripathy N.P Former D.G of Income Tax 573

8 Shanta V Dr Chariman, Cancer Institute (WIA) 575

23

24

ERRATA OF MAIN EDITION

25

26

Due to severe time constraints with the hard deadline of the Memorial Lecture

stevent 1 December, 2012) on the one side and many of the Tributes arriving

very late up until the last minute on the other side, the print of the Main

Edition started extremely late giving us absolutely no chance for a complete

proof-reading before the final print. Thus a few errors, some significant and

others minor, crept into the Main Edition of the Book. These errors are deeply

regretted; we sincerely apologize and we take entire responsibility for the

same.

Towards this, we publish below the Errata of the Main Edition of the book.

This Errata does NOT address every typographical or grammatical error but

deals with significant errors only. The Errata appear in the order of the error's

occurrence section-wise in the Main Edition; furthermore, please note that the

actual error phrases and their correct replacements have been italicized for

effect only and that we have highlighted (i.e., made bold) in the below list the

errors according to us which are most significant.

1. “TABLE OF CONTENT” should read “TABLE OF CONTENTS”

2. The Table of Contents should start with the following items (before

'Special Tributes')

K.R.RAMAMANI – A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

A NOTE ON THE TRIBUTES

PHOTOGRAPHS

OFFICIAL TRIBUTES

ERRATA OF MAIN EDITION

27

3. K.R.RAMAMANI – A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

nd rd nd2 page, 3 para, 3 line: 'and graduated with flying colours in 1946' should

read as 'and graduated with flying colours in 1948’

nd rd th2 page, 3 para, 8 line: 'Despite his passion for Physics, destiny led to pursue an

alternative career' should read 'Despite his passion for Physics, destiny led him to pursue

an alternative career'

rd nd st st3 page, 2 para, 1 line: 'On June 21 , 1950, Sri Ramamani joined Sri

stM.Subbaraya Aiyar's office' should read 'On June 21 , 1951, Sri Ramamani joined Sri

M.Subbaraya Aiyar's office'

th st4 page, 1 para: the title of the para 'Hemalatha Ramamani' should read

'Hemalata Ramamani’

th st4 page, 1 line: the name 'Rammani' should read 'Ramamani’

th nd4 page, 2 line: 'Hemalata, whom he married in.' should read 'Hemalata, whom

he married in 1949’

th th5 page, last para, 4 line : 'Padmnabhan' should read as 'Padmanabhan’

th rd nd8 page, 3 para, 2 line: 'weigh him on our same scale is a grossly incorrect'

should read 'weigh him on our same scale is grossly incorrect’

th th th8 page, 4 para, 5 line: 'extraordinary feet' should read 'extraordinary feat’

28

4. Special Tributes

rd stIn the Tribute of Sri P.H.Arvindh Pandian, page I, 3 para, 1 line:

'reflective though process' should read 'reflective thought process’

In the Tribute of Sri N.Devanathan, page V: designation 'Editor,

Dinamalar' should be 'Advocate'

th st thIn the Tribute of Sri N.Devanathan, page V, 7 para, 1 line and 10 para,

nd th2 line: 'Nyasya Vimsathi' should read 'Nyasa Vimsathi' and in page V, 8 para, first

line 'Anyathkara' should read as 'Anthakara'

In the Tribute of Sri N.Devanathan, page X, the second Thirukkural

couplet is wrongly numbered as 236, it should read as 26. Furthermore,

the aforesaid kural #26 is incomplete

5. Tributes by Chartered Accountants

The section title 'Chartered Accounts' should read as 'Chartered

Accountants’

st stIn the Tribute of Sri A.Gopal, page 83, 1 para, 1 line: 'Swami Vivekanada'

should read as 'Swami Vivekananda'

In the Tribute of Sri N.Narayanan, page 119: the name 'Sri Sri

N.Narayanan' should read as 'Sri N.Narayanan’

In the Tribute of Sri P.S.Subramanian, page 143: the designation should

read 'Sri P.S.Subramanian, Chartered Accountant’

29

st thIn the Tribute of Sri S.M.Miskeen, page 151, 1 para, 4 line : 'celebrate 50

years service of her noble father Mr.K.R.Ramamani' should read as 'celebrate 50 years of

Revenue Bar Association of which her noble father Mr.K.R.Ramamani was Past President’

In the Tribute of Sri P.Anand, page 169: designation 'Managing Partner

– Tax, Deloitte Haskins and Sells' should read as 'Chartered Accountant, M.R.Narain

& Co.’

6. Tributes by Executives

In the Tribute of Sri K Gopaladesikan,page 317: designation of Sri K

Gopaladesikan is missing and should read as 'Senior Vice-President, Finance,

Sundaram Clayton Ltd.’

In the Tribute of Sri V.N.Venkatanathan, page 323: designation of Sri V

N Venkatanathan is missing and should read as 'Executive Vice-President

,Finance, Sundaram Clayton Ltd.’

7. Tributes by Family and Friends

In the Tribute of Smt.Malini Seshadri page 383: designation of

Smt.Malini Seshadri is missing and should read as Managing Director

nd thIn the Tribute of Dr.C.V.Krishnaswamy, Page 405, 2 para, 4 line:

'There' should be 'they’

In the Tribute of Dr.P.Vijayan, Page 411: title should read 'A Tribute

to K.R.Ramamani' instead of 'Indian Maritime University'

In the Tribute of Sri A.Ganeshkumar, Page 413: designation of 'Sri

30

A.Ganeshkumar' is missing and should read as 'PA to Smt.Asha Vijayaraghavan’

In the Tribute of Sri G.Gunasekaran, Page 415: designation of

'Sri.G.Gunasekaran' should read as 'PA to Sri Vikram Vijayaraghavan'

8. Tributes by Industrialists, Businessmen & CEO’s

The section title 'Industrailist, Business Man's & CEO's' should read

as 'Industrialists, Businessmen & CEO’s.

In the Tribute of Sri B.H Kothari,Page 433: designation of Sri B.H

Kothari is incomplete and read ‘Chairman,Kothari Group’

In the Tribute of Sri M.A.M Ramaswamy, Page 435: designation of Sri

M.A.M Ramaswamy is incomplete and read ‘Chairman, Chettinad Group’

In the Tribute of Sri Harish Chand, Page 437: designation of Sri Harish

Chand should read ‘Chairman, Gee Gee Holdings’

In the Tribute of Sri Moolchand, Page 439: designation of Sri Mool

Chand is incomplete and read as ‘Chairman, Variety Group’

In the Tribute of Sri. Madan Lal Gupta, Page 441: designation of Sri.

Madan Lal Gupta is missing and should read as ‘Chairman’

In the Tribute of Sri N.Sugalchand Jain, Page 445: the name should read

only as 'Sri N.Sugalchand Jain' instead of 'Sri.N.Sugalchand Jain Managing

Trustee'

In the Tribute of Sri S.V.Arumugam, Page 459 first paragraph last line

'Sri R.Vijayaraghavan, Senior Advocate' should read 'Sri R.Vijayaraghavan,

Advocate’

31

In the Tribute of Sri.A.Ramamurthy, Page 461: designation of

Sri.A.Ramamurthy is incomplete and should read ' Industrialist & Businessman,

Sivakasi’

In the Tribute of Sri. Hari Eswaran page 465: designation of Sri. Hari

Eswaran is missing and should read as Chairman

In the Tribute of Sri S.Kirtivasan, Page 493: designation of

Sri. S.Kirtivasan is missing and should read 'Realtor ‘

9. Tributes by Judiciary & Government Officials

The section title 'Judiciary' should read as 'Judiciary & Government

Officials’

In the Tribute of Hon'ble Justice Mr.S.Natarajan, Page 501: The name

and designation should read 'Hon'ble Justice Mr.S.Natarajan Former

Judge, Supreme Court of India' instead of 'Justice S.Natarajan Former Chief

Election Commissioner of India'.

rdIn the Tribute of Hon'ble Justice Mr.S.Natarajan, Page 501, 3 line:

'Subbaroya Iyer' should read as of 'Subbaraya Aiyar’

The Tribute of Sri T.S.Krishna Murthy is incorrectly printed in the

earlier edition and hence reproduced in this Supplementary Edition.

Furthermore his correct name and designation should be 'Sri T.S.Krishna

Murthy Former Chief Election Commissioner of India' instead of 'Sri

T.S.Krishna Murthy Former Judge, Supreme Court of India’

32

thIn the Tribute of Sri.N.Rangachary, Page 514: last line contains “75 year”

thinstead of “50 year”

rdIn the Tribute of G.Santhanam, page 515, para 3, 3 line: “those are the days”

thshould read as “those were the days”. Again in same para 6 line “convincing manner

one can dream of” should read as “one could dream of”.

In the Tribute of G.Santhanam, page 516, first para, line 4 and 8: the name

“Sreenivasa Setty” should read “Srinivasa Setty”

In the Tribute of G.Santhanam, page 516, second para, last line “towering

example and beacon light to legal fraternity” should read “towering example and a beacon

light to the legal fraternity.”

10. Miscellaneous Tributes

In the Tribute of Sri A.Arjunaraj, Page 563-564: the tribute incorrectly

continues in Page 566. The entire Tribute of Sri A.Arjunaraj, Chartered

Accountant is reproduced in this Supplementary Edition

33

34

A FEW MORE IMPORTANT TRIBUTES…

35

36

A TRIBUTE TO LATE SHRI K R RAMAMANI

Former Sheriff of MadrasFormer Member of the Rajya Sabha

Director in several well reputed public companies

Sri. R Ramakrishnan

" The heights that greatmen reached and kept

Were not attained by sudden flight

But they while their companions slept

Were toiling upward in the night "

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I have been asked to write a few words about the late Shri KR Ramamani

the legend of a lawyer particularly in Income Tax Circles

Since Mr Ramamani was married to my mothers younger sister

Hemalatha (who herself made a name for her spiritualism and philanthropy

later) I had the privilege of knowing him from my childhood days. My

grandfather late V S Sundaram was a great man recognized for his outstanding

knowledge of Income Tax Laws and its complexities He was the first Indian to

be the Secretary of the Central Board of Revenue (those days version of the

CBDT) and his book LAW OF INCOME TAX IN INDIA which was much

before Palkhivals well known treatise on the subject was regarded as an

authority by one and all and found itself a place in every IT practitioner or

officers bookshelf ! Later after the passing away of Mr Sundaram it was MR

Ramamani who brought out the later editions and it was no easy job!

Actually my grandfather not only took a liking for his younger son in

law but found him a extremely diligent hard working and intelligent

person to whom he could pass on his intellectual skills and some of

his brilliance Also the fact that Ramamani was enrolled in the law firm

of the legendary Subbaraya Aiyar of Pelathope gave him a firm grounding

in fundamentals.

By the dint of his hard work and his innate ability ~ here it should be said that

his father was also a great Lawyer from Kumbakonam K S Rajagopala Iyengar

37

who was sought after by many VIPs of his time He was a close friend and

adviser to M Ct M Chidambaram Chettiyar who was the founder of great

institutions like the United India Fire and General Insurance, Indian Overseas

Bank, Travancore Rayons etc all of which helped Ramaman's rise up the

ladder quickly Focusing devotedly on Income Tax matters he made a

name for himself in the Department and courts as well and soon his

name spread throughout the length and breadth of India He had numerous

clients from all walks of life and all over India I still remember when

I was a young MP in the early 1980s Justice Shankar Prasad Mitra

(former CJ of Kolkotta High Court) came upto me after I spoke on one

of the Bills before the house and said "You speak very cogently and

very well just like your uncle Ramamani " needless to say I was flattered

I was a steward and committee member of the Bangalore Turf club for many

years and for all Tax matters the committee used to look

to me for getting Ramamani’s FREE advice which sometimes benefited

them in lakhs ! Such was his intelligence reputation and fame !

I remember having barged into his house one night at 10 pm with an

urgent problem I thought he would either gone to bed and I would have

had to wake him up or he will be busy dictating as was his wont some opinions

on the numerous matters that were before him but to my utter surprise I found

him in his Drawing room playing the VIOLIN I did not know that he had a

leisure interest as I knew he was always hard pressed for time and that such

busy people had the time for such artistic pursuits~ but then it is only the

busiest of persons who find the time for everything ! Surprised at

seeing me at such a time he told me I know it must be something very

important Still if you will have the patience to hear me "braying" I

will attend to your matter as best as I can Actually he was modest in

saying so He was an extremely good violinist and I am told that at one

time he wanted to give up his legal profession for taking up as a

Professional musician I have no doubt talented as he was he would have

done equally well!

R Ramakrishnan

38

I must also confess that his good name was so well spread allover once or

twice I dropped his name without his permission in the Income Tax

department and believe me it opened several gates and solved several problems

Just imagine what a good name could do Yes Those were the days and these

were the men !

I am very happy that his daughter Asha and son in law Vijayaraghavan

are into his footsteps and doing extremely well in whatever they are doing

Asha is an outstanding Tribunal member and Vijay a reputed tax consultant

for inter alia famous multi nationals and now his grandson Vikram a smart

youngster is a budding lawyer who is taking pains to put the memorial

celebration act together to get so many people in the highest of positions like

Shri S.E.Dastur, Senior Advocate, Judges and other luminaries to Chennai is

no mean task and as Thomas Hardy said in Woodlanders it could be

said about Uncle Ramamani. ....the elements were so mixed in him that Nature could

stand up and say Here was a gentle and noble soul...... Whence come such another ?!!

R Ramakrishnan

39

40

41

WE ARE WHAT WE ARE BECAUSE OF

STALWARTS SUCH AS MR. RAMAMANI…

*Sri Shashi RuiaChairman, Essar Group

Essar and myself came in contact with Sri Ramamani in the mid 70's. Essar was

a budding enterprise then. In order to grow and to grow meaningfully and

profitably, one needs, apart from blessings from elders, sound advice, both

professionally and morally.

In Sri Ramamani, we found a perfect gentleman, to provide not only both these

but a fondness and personal rapport of the highest order.

A professional to the core. A gentleman always. A friend and mentor. Always

had time and patience. Not to forget, his acumen, knowledge and

understanding of the law, complex as it was, which was always changing.

Above all, valued advice that the tax Department also respected.

We, at Essar, are what we are because of stalwarts such as Mr. Ramamani.

42

43

Ever since I was posted in Madras in 1965, I came into contact with

Mr. K.R.Ramamani, tax advocate in Chennai. He impressed me with his

qualities of head and heart.

Even though I was a young probationer, he used to be quite considerate, in

spite of his vast knowledge and experience. He used to come and brief me

about the case well in advance, even before the hearing. In fact, As

Commissioner of Appeals, as Commissioner of Income Tax Appeals, he had

appeared before me in a number of cases. If there was any deficiency in the case,

he will tell me well in advance that this is the problem in this particular case

and he used to tell me at the end, you can take a fair decision, without giving me

an impression that, you know, he is particularly biased in favour of a particular

case. This is what impressed me most.

He used to be very prompt in appearance , even if he was not able to come on

time, he used to come and tell me in advance that I will take some time, I will

come back by a particular time and talk to me about the case.

His qualities of humility, understanding, humaneness and his punctuality at

least in briefing me about the case well in advance was something which

impressed me most. It is a pity that the tax advocacy lost him fairly when he

was young and perhaps, had he continued for some more years, I'm sure he

would have realized or contributed substantially much more than what he has

done.

I consider that it was a privilege and an honour to know him and my contact

with him has always been rewarding to me. I deem it an honour to have been

associated with him when I was in the tax service.

Even otherwise, apart from tax official work, he was a very good human being.

He used to come and discuss some of the social matters with which he was

IT WAS A PRIVILEGE AND AN

HONOUR TO KNOW HIM….

*Sri T.S.Krishna MurthyFormer Chief Election Commissioner of India

44

45

A TRIBUTE TO LATE SRI K.R.RAMAMANI

Hon'ble Justice Mr. Doraiswamy RajuFormer Judge, Supreme Court of India

I have known very personally Shri K.R.Ramamani for long, even when I was

junior in the Government Pleader Chambers. So far as Revenue Bar & Revenue

matters are concerned, Hon'ble Justice S. Ranganathan, could be said to be not

only the living legend in Taxation Laws but the Bhishma Pithamah of Revenue

Bar. His contribution to development of Revenue Laws cannot be belittled.

Equally so, my one time colleague in Govt. Pleader chambers, Shri Hon'ble

T.N.C. Rangarajan, former Judge, my esteemed brother Hon'ble Justice

Jayasimha Babu is equally well versed in corporate laws, in addition to his

proficiency in other laws.

The participation of such people who had really their mite to contribute for the

development of Taxation Law jurisprudence, is a fitting honour for the Late

Shri K.R. Ramamani, who himself had made and carved out an immemorable

place in the Revenue Bar of Chennai.

I earnestly pray the Almighty Lord to bestow His blessings for the glorious

success of this function. May the glory and legacy left behind by him “KRR” be

ever with the younger members of this Revenue Bar to guide them to success.

46

47

I am indeed grateful to you for your kind invitation for the Golden Jubilee st

function on 1 December '12 and honouring late Mr K.R. Ramamani. I also join

with you all in honoring a very noble and lovely person.

I was his student in the post graduate course in Tax Laws (after studying

B.Com (Hons) & BL). His brilliant lectures made the difficult subject

(particularly the Income Tax law) so lucid and clear that I was even able to

teach the subject subsequently, continuously for about 16 years as part-time

lecturer in the Law College (all, no doubt, by God's grace).

stI am indeed eager to listen to Mr Dastur's key note speech on 1 Dec. '12.

A VERY NOBLE AND LOVELY PERSON…

Hon'ble Justice Mr. A. Abdul HadiFormer Judge, High Court of Madras

48

A SARASWATHI ON INCOME TAX LAW…

*Sri K.Parasaran , MPFormer Attorney General of India

Mr. Ramamani's father, K.S.Rajagopala Iyengar, had a lucrative practice, both

on the Original side and the Appellate side - on the civil side. However in the

case of Mr. Ramamani, his instinct correctly guided him and he took to the

branch of taxation law.

He joined the office of Mr. M. Subbaraya Aiyar who was then the leading

lawyer and a doyen on the income tax side. He worked along with Subbaraya

Aiyar, along with V.Sethuraman and with son, Padmanabhan. He acquired a

sound and profound knowledge in the income tax law that he matured into

one of the lawyers with great expertise in income tax law.

He was considered to be a Saraswathi on Income Tax law. Naturally, the allied

subjects which are necessary to practice on income tax side, namely the

corporate laws and other subjects. He carried his knowledge with utmost

humility. He never used to be gossiping in the corridors of the court but will be

arguing in court, sitting in the court waiting for his case or following the

arguments in the other cases.

Almost every decision reported in the ITR were in his fingertips, it was not

necessary for him to go to the digest. He became such an expert in Income Tax

law that his views were sought for and opinions were sought for by those

clients in the Income Tax field from all over the country. His views were also

sought for after the budget every year by the media for publication in the

papers.

His memory will be everlasting in the field of Income Tax.

49

50

51

A TRIBUTE TO LATE SRI K.R. RAMAMANI

I am so happy to know that the Income Tax Bar, of which he was once its

President, is honouring Shri Ramamani.

Sri Ramamani was the doyen of the Income tax Bar and was known for his

integrity and for maintaining the highest standards of professional ethics.

We at the Bar had the greatest respect for Shri Ramamani so too, the judges

looked up to him for guidance on the intricacies of Income Tax law.

I had lost touch with Sri Ramamani, after going over to Delhi in 1979, but it is a

fitting tribute to this eminent lawyer to honour his memory on the occasion of th

the 50 year celebrations of the Income Tax Bar.

Sri K.K.VenugopalSenior Advocate, Supreme Court

52

53

A GEM OF A PROFESSIONAL

Sri N. VenkataramanChartered Accountant

For the first time I happened to meet Mr. K.R. Ramamani in his office in the

year 1981 as the taxation executive of an automobile giant to discuss an Income

– tax appeal which was soon to be heard by the Tribunal. It was late evening

and the entire setting was informal. I was a novice then and had not had much

exposure to taxation before but I could readily grasp the subject easily in view

of the lucid presentation made by him that evening. I felt confident in due

course and looked forward to meeting him as often as I could to discuss tax

issues relating to corporate taxation, employee taxation, International

taxation etc., As a result I started appearing before the Commissioners on my

own, and with the confidence so gained, before the Tribunal also in a short

time thereafter.

I would never forget the encouragement he used to give youngsters like me to

write articles in tax magazines and presenting papers in seminars and

conferences. I made it a point not to miss his lectures on annual budget and

Finance Act every year. Occasionally we used to bother him for urgent

consultation during out of office hours, of course a little reluctantly, but he

always appreciated our helplessness in the matter and cooperated with us

without any reservation what so ever.

Yet another important aspect of his personality was his simplicity and non –

ostentatious looks all the time. For a person occupying number one position in

his profession for decades and an undisputed leader for all times, he had always

been soft spoken, gentle, and brave; indeed a rare phenomenon of not only his

times but for all time to come. I had never seen him getting angry with his

subordinates or for that reason with any one he had to deal with in his daily

routine. Perhaps, it is this quality in him that ensured his success in his

profession.

Mr.Ramamani was associated with a number of charitable institutions

particularly those in the field of education and medicine. He never charged

fees in those cases. I had an occasion to consult him regarding a tax issue

concerning a reputed socio – religious charitable institution in Chennai. He

took enormous efforts to see that justice was done and at the earliest. He

promptly turned down the offer of fees by the institution. I have heard of

several such gestures on his part. I used to wonder if only he had promptly

been billing all his clients the way professionals in other metropolis's in India

did, he should by then have been owning the whole of Mylapore! It looked

though he was carrying on profession as a social service and not for posterity.

He was well known for his sharp memory of not only case laws/ ITR references

but also of events which took place in the course of his profession. When a

particular tax case came up before the High court, we went to his office for

discussion. It was almost 20 years since the issue cropped up and when a copy

of an important document on which the entire case hinged, was not traceable

in the paper book submitted to him we were wondering what to do. All the

employees who dealt with the case also retired long back. At this print of time

Mr.Ramamani asked us to trace the document in a box file titled “Royalty

Papers” maintained by our predecessor manager who used to bring the same

to his office for discussion. The very next day we went to our office Record

room to locate the said file. To the surprise of one and all we found the

document intact though torn and cello – taped containing a note “please

handle with care”. Such was the memory of the great person

Mr.K.R.Ramamani.

Not many outside his family would have known about his devotion to God and

Guru bhakthi. Once we were in a discussion in his office along two directors of

our company. The meeting was arranged at a very short notice in view of the

urgency of the subject. All of a sudden a gentle man peeped in and whispered

something in his ears. Mr.Ramamani asked us to excuse him as he had to go

Sri N. Venkataraman

54

out urgently and would be back in 15 minutes. He asked someone to fetch him

some clothes from home and in 10 minutes time he was dressed up in the

traditional attire and left the office. Exactly after 15 minutes he returned to his

office where we were waiting for him, after having Darshan of Kanchi

Sankaracharya Swami and resumed his discussions. His piety, devotion to

duty and Guru bhakthi indeed were the hall mark of his success in his

profession.

Undoubtedly, we were really fortunate to have the benefit of exposure to

dealing with such a stalwart even during the early phases of our career. My

successors in office have also expressed the same sentiments about their

association with Mr.K.R.Ramamani.

His daughter Mrs.Asha Vijayaraghavan received training from him and she

was assisting him in tax practice for quite some time maintaining excellent

rapport with the tax authorities and the clients as well. It is really gratifying to

note that today his successors Mr.Vijayaraghavan, his son in law and his

grandson Mr.Vikram who has just joined the Firm are there to uphold his lofty

ideals and guide their Firm.

Sri N. Venkataraman

55

56

57

A FEW OF THE MANY EVERGREEN MEMORIES

WITH THE GREAT LEGAL LUMINARY, LOVING

LEGEND AND VERY RESPECTFUL LATE SHRI K.R.RAMAMANI

Sri N.Vasudevan, FCA

Coimbatore

My first meeting:

When I was just 28, the first meeting was at KRR's Pelathope office – a walk in

to his cabin with another wonderful personality Shri M.K.Rajan of MSK 's

Office . The beaming smile and very warm question 'who is our young friend?'

made me totally at home . What a high degree of humility and simplicity!

Depth:

My God! The depth of wisdom and memory of reference on citation on a very

complicated restructuring of a wide family enterprise approved in less than

half hour with lots of value addition and minute process guidance! Wonder if

anyone else I came across in the last over 30 years have had a such a great laser-

precise acumen!

Command:

I have accompanied KRR before the CITs, Tribunals and High Court. The

Judicial Officers have had a visible respect to his wisdom and integrity – they

either welcome him with respectful greetings / or used to move to the front and

give full ears to listen to him (making me to wonder whether they are also as

eager as me to learn from him!)

Simplicity:

He offered to help me out on a personal matter by volunteering to break his

journey at short notice, walked into a very senior official's cabin and

introduced me as his family friend. The result: a vacuum threat got vaporised

and I commanded great respect with them since then!

A great host:

Have had occasions to meet KRR @ his residence – learnt a lot to conduct one

as a host – receiving at the gate with same warmth, smile and hearty – “vaapa –

eppadi irruke?” and introducing to his family and while leaving coming upto the

gate – for such a senior person – I can never forget!

Late Shri KRR was an embodiment of love, tower of knowledge and wisdom,

the light house for intricate issues and I have always gained in every single

meeting with him to develop application of my limited knowledge for a larger

benefit!!

My loving pranams and respectful regards to KRR on this happy occasion!

Sri N.Vasudevan

58

59

HOMAGE TO MR. RAMAMANI

Sri Simon MathewsAdvocate and Corporate Counsel,

Secunderabad

I am really glad to know that a large number of people participated in the st

Centenary Celebrations held on 1 December 2012.

I was delighted to hear about the celebrations to pay homage to Mr. Ramamani

who deserves this and much more.

HE WAS A GREAT PROFESSIONAL AND TREATED HIS CLIENTS AS

WORTHY HUMAN BEINGS AND MRS. RAMAMANI WAS A GREAT

SUPPORT TO HIM.

Old age and short notice prevented me from attending the memorial

celebrations and I fully associate myself with the spirit shown by those who

could participate.

May Mrs. Ramamani and other members of the family be blessed with a long

and healthy life.

60

61

MY RECOLLECTIONS OF GREAT

SHRI. K.R. RAMAMANI

Sri R. RamaswamyChairman & Managing Director,

Servall Group of Companies, Coimbatore

Basically, technocrats find it inconvenient to move with legal and tax

professionals. More so, in the case of a first generation entrepreneur like me. I

was no exception to this initially but I could come out of my shell because of

my fortunate association with Late Shri. K.R. Ramamani very early.

The great genius made me come out of my inhibitions by his simple and honest

approach. In fact, he made me comfortable by highlighting that my high-tech

knowledge was more difficult a subject than taxation laws.

It was a misfortunate incident that gave me a fortunate association with late

Shri. K.R.R. The misfortune was that the Assessing Officer would not allow

depreciation on a completed project, based on some regular telex messages

and other communications to the project supplier that were seized from our

office. Shri. K.R.R encouraged me to raise all the points which I considered

relevant and in fact, trained me to face boldly; as the tax authorities will

normally not harass, when honesty is in our defense. In fact, he encouraged me

to make direct representations to the Assessing Officer and the Appellate

Authorities and finally come out with a clear chit.

In another instance, where Shri. K.R.R. represented our company, against the

disallowance of “provision for warranty claims”, he could convince the highest

Court that the provision can be taken as receipt only in the year of actual

receipt. He made it a precedent for such claims to the benefit of all such

entrepreneurs which continues till this date. This was possible for Shri. K.R.R.

because he took interest even on minute matters with a lot of patience. Even

when irrelevant questions were raised, he would not react negatively. Instead,

he will approach it positively and appreciate the client for raising such

important questions. Even though we have lost a very great personality, still

we have stored his approach to legal issues based on facts.

It is heartening to note that, if necessary, and if it is reasonable, he will not

hesitate to criticize the law if it is not to the benefit of the citizens.

Finally, I will not be honest if I do not admit that he was one of the very few

who shaped me in my efforts to build an industrial conglomerate.

62

Sri R. Ramaswamy

63

AN IMPORTANT PERSON FOR

WHAT I AM TODAY…

*Dr. Balamurali KrishnaRenowned Artiste,

Padma Vibhushan Awardee

Sri K.R.Ramamani - a legal expert and advisor. He helped me a lot when I had

a problem about taxation.

He loves music and he loves me.

I always remember him and I treat him as an important person for what I

am today.

64

65

PRODIGIOUS MIND….

VERY CLEAN INTELLECT….

*Smt. Anitha RathnamArtistic Director, Arangham Trust

I am deeply honoured to be asked to speak on this very important occasion.

Today, there is so much information available in our handheld, there are

personal investors, we get so much of information through technology, but in

the early days of Indian industries, a lot of companies were being founded and

growing. There was a lot of confusion and very little knowledge about tax law,

especially for corporates.

I remember that my father, his cousins and elders would always mention only

one name whenever there were some issues to be handled, some delicate

matters regarding company policy and it was always Sri. K.R.Ramamani.

Always his name.

Although I am an artist, I've grown up with the osmosis of hearing his

prodigious mind, his very very clean intellect and his ability to negotiate the

most complex of Indian tax laws which in the early stages was quite a maze

and very difficult for many businessmen to understand.

I have a personal association with the Ramamani Family. In 1993 when I

wanted to start my Arts Trust Arangham, it was his wife Hema and his

daughter Asha who encouraged me along with dancer Sudharani Raghupathy

and it was Asha's keen mind and very, very precise acumen, Ramamani 's

daughter who helped me create the umbrella, the arts umbrella for Arangham

Trust.

I am very grateful to their entire family for their contribution to Indian society

and to the growth of Indian Business.

66

67

A TRIBUTE TO LATE SRI K.R.RAMAMANI

Sri K.J. ChandranAdvocate

Mr. K.R.Ramamani, Senior Advocate, was a leading tax lawyer under whom

the undersigned worked as Junior. He was related to me, but I came to know of

it only when I joined the office of M/s. Subbaraya Aiyar, Padmanabhan and

Ramamani, Advocates. He used to be very friendly and cordial in his

relationship with the juniors. He encouraged the juniors to make statements

even though it may be against the views that he was holding in the matter. He

never stood in the way of the juniors having their say. It was always a pleasure

to argue matters in which he was interested.

Mr. V.Ramachandran, Senior Advocate, was a junior in the office of

Mr.Ramamani. When he left that office and set up his own practice, in the year

1963, I was permitted to occupy his place in the office. He was essentially

dealing with sales tax and connected matters like agricultural income tax etc.

Once I was made to occupy the position of dealing with sales tax problems, a

time arose in which he asked me to sign and verify the opinion without

reference to him. He had so much of confidence in me. In fact, there was a time

when he did not know who the clients of sales tax department were being

attended to. Thus, he saw to it that a department of sales tax specialization

with juniors like Sri P.V.Rajan, Sri L.S. Lakshmanan, Sri R L Ramani, Sri R

Srinivasaraghavan etc. worked in the office assisting me.

I would like to recall one incident which he narrated to me. A client having

income tax problems in outstation was directed to bring all the account books

and other records. When Mr Ramamani was proceeding to the place where

the hearing was to take place, the books and other records of the client were

not there. The client was looking for the same and Mr Ramamani got rattled.

However the inimitable senior told the client that he asked him to make the

account books and other records to be available so that he will not produce the

same at the time of hearing. This is how the situation was tackled without

getting out of control.

When the Revenue Bar Association held a Seminar on Direct & Indirect Tax

Laws, he was the Chairman and I was the Secretary. Due to his close

relationship with his clients, he was able to net a big sum for the Association.

That is how he worked for the good of the said Association.

Mr.Ramamani can be called the Senior Advocate of Income Tax Laws of South

India comparable to Mr Nani Palkhiwala, the giant of income tax law. He had

all the case laws thoroughly in his fingertips and could draw easily from that.

He was not only an expert in income tax law and allied subjects but also a great

authority on General Law having an impact on everyone. He was, thus, a true

Senior Advocate who fielded in the law of income tax and practice.

Sri K.J. Chandran

68

69

A TRIBUTE TO LATE SRI K.R.RAMAMANI

Sri N.B. PalaniappanBusinessman

My brother Dr. M.N. Krishnan purchased the land from Mr. Ramamani during

1965 which was next to his house at Chandra Baugh Avenue, Mylapore. He left

for U.S.A. in 1970, and we constructed the house in the plot and moved in 1973.

From then onwards I had privilege of knowing Mr Ramamani, and his family.

One has to be very lucky in life to have such wonderful people as your neighbor

and live peacefully for a long years. We have seen their children growing, and

getting married and the grand children playing in the same house. Mr.

Ramamani was very religious, and a quiet person. In spite of the respect he had

in the society he was always kind towards his servants and neighbours.

Those days during the month of filing income tax returns I could see many rich

industrialists cars are parked in front of his house. I felt happy some were

parked in front of my house also.

I had many occasions to talk to him about the various charitable institutions he

was running. He was very happy that he could run a School for poor, and

improving them. His consideration for welfare of the poor was amazing.

We come across very rarely such good people during our life time, and I am glad

that God gave me an opportunity to meet one and live as his neighbor for more

than three decades. Only after he passed away I realized how much I missed

him and blessed I was to have his friendship.

I am happy to say few words about this great man after so many years, and I am

sure that everyone who had the opportunity to know him will also remember

the good deeds of Mr. Ramamani.

70

71

A TRIBUTE TO LATE SRI K.R.RAMAMANI

Sri K.N. KrishnaswamyTNK Govindaraju Chetty & Co Pvt Ltd

We have great pleasure in receiving your Invitation on the occasion of Golden

Jubilee Celebrations of Revenue Bar Association, Chennai and for stK.R.Ramamani Memorial Lecture to be held on 1 December, 2012.

It gives us great pleasure to remember Sri K.R.Ramamani, who was a giant of

Legal world and a good guide to our TNK Group of companies. His deeds and

thoughts are always lingering in our minds.

We, TNK GROUP OF COMPANIES, take this opportunity in wishing the

function a very grand success and for the continuous guidance to the Business

circle from your team of Advocates.

72

73

K.R.RAMAMANI – WILL REMAIN THE VOICE

WITHIN OURSELVES

Sri A.Arjunaraj, B.Sc, FCA

Chartered Accountant,Past Chairman of Southern India

Regional Institute of Chartered Accountants Of India, Madras

On one Wednesday morning in May 1976, I was before the Income

Tax Appellate Tribunal;, Madras Bench at Nungambakkam High Road, for my

first appearance. My case was listed at serial number 21. Before my case was

taken up, an advocate tall in stature, wearing black stripped pants & black

coats with bow tie argued his case in a simple and lucid style, explaining the

facts of the case in-depth, countering the arguments of the opposite side,

differentiating the case laws put forth against him and supporting his own

with suitable citations and illustrations; he had also not hesitated to submit to

the court where he had no case, without wasting the precious time of the

bench. I was told he was Shri. K.R. Ramamani, one of the stalwarts of the legal

profession.

Our Chartered Accountants Institute had time and again requested

him to lead discussions on tax Subjects in seminars and conferences. On one

such occasssion, in the residential course conducted at Ooty, in the year 1977,

he addressed on 'Recent amendments on Direct Taxes'. He paid rich encomiums to

the Chartered Accountant's Institute for organizing general budget meetings

at Madras, addressed by the legal luminary Shri NA Palhiwala every year for

the good of general public, immediately after the same was presented in the

parliament. He also praised liberally the CA fraternity for arranging weekly

study circle meetings, Seminars and conferences for updating the knowledge

of members on the topics of current importance which was not prevalent in

other sister bodies including that of his own bar council. During the course of

his speech, which still lingers in my mind, he said that in USA attorney

general's office the words 'Every time justice is rendered to the citizen, the

government of united states of America wins the case' are inscribed,

whereas in India after prolonged litigation for decades together, if any

judgment is given in favour of the assessee, the Government feels as if it is hurt

badly and promptly in the next budget there would be amendments with

retrospective effect to nullify the effect of the court ruling. He further stated

the Government in India was interested in collection of more revenue without

minding the cost or hardship caused to its citizens.

He quoted a tamil saying which meant 'Among all the nations, our

Bharath is the best one, Bharath is the Thilak in the face of nations; you should

not forget that you are all its citizens and erase not those thoughts from your

minds'. His address was excellent and was applauded by every one present.

In my earlier days of representation before the ITAT Shri Ramamani

came to my rescue many a time in presenting the case in proper perspective.

I had the opportunity of working together with him in the case of the

firm 'Sakthi coffee estates-Valparai' which was to be converted into a limited

company. His knowledge and experience helped in saving of lakhs and lakhs of

rupees to the Company from paying Agricultural Income Tax, Capital gains

tax and stamp duty. I could notice during my association with him that he

loved every one around. Even when there were errors in the drafts and

calculations presented to him, he never scolded the staff but pinpointed to

them the mistakes, with fatherly affection without hurting them. He used to

say, 'a work done making mistakes is not only more honourable and useful than doing

nothing'. He instilled confidence in the minds of those who worked with him.

He also used to tell 'to be ignorant is not the prerogative of man but to know that he is

ignorant is'. He advocated to take extraordinary care even for ordinary cases. He

was able to strike a chord with every one whom he came across.

Shri Ramamani lived the life which was useful and helpful not only to

his family members and his clients but also to professionals like me. His words

of wisdom shaped many ordinary professionals into extraordinary

professionals. Number of advocates trained under him are in lime light would

vouchsafe the above fact.

Sri A.Arjunaraj

74

When an individual becomes very important to the society, he no

longer belongs only to his family but to the whole society. His actions always

speak louder than his words. Shri K.R.Ramamani belongs to all of us.

Though he is without form now, he always will remain to be voice

within ourselves so long as we are there.

Sri A.Arjunaraj

75

76

*Sri V.K. Natarajan

77

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78

79

A TRIBUTE TO LATE SRI K.R.RAMAMANI

Retd. Judge of the Madras High Court

Hon'ble Justice Mr.N.V.Balasubramanian

I consider it a great privilege to speak few words about Shri K.R.Ramamani. I

had the unique distinction to come to know shri K.R.Ramamani even during

my younger days when I started practice as a Junior Advocate. I happened to

know Shri K.R. Ramamani through his father-in-law, Shri V.S. Sundaram,

who himself was a great man by any standard. I assisted Shri V.S. Sundaram his

treatise as law of Income Tax and when I used to go to his house of Shri K.R.

Ramamani almost daily. I had the opportunity to meet Shri K.R.Ramamani

almost daily after his return from his office, at about 8.30 pm after a day's hard

work. Though he would be tired, on seeing us he would pick up all his

enthusiasm and discuss with us. His contribution in this regard was valuable

and original.

I also happened to assist Shri K R Ramamani as a Junior Advocate when I

engaged him in my private briefs or when he was engaged by the Department

as a Senior Counsel in many important cases. Though he used to appear for the

assessees, the fact that the Income Tax Dept. engaged him as a Senior Counsel

for department cases would show how much respect and regard he had from

Department officials whom he used to oppose almost daily. I also had the

opportunity to listen to his many tax seminars and monthly Revenue Bar

meetings used to be held during those days. I also had the opportunity to argue

in many cases in the High Court when I was a Counsel for the Income Tax

Department. I also had the opportunity to hear his arguments as a Judge from

whatever angle I looked at Shri K R Ramamani, I found that Shri K R

Ramamani was a great man. He had original ideas. The strong point was his

great ability in statutory interpretation and his phenomenal memory of cases

and of facts of the case.

I still remember the important cases Shri KR Ramamani argued and his

contribution to the development of law not only in Income Tax or other Tax

Laws but also in Constitutional Law and other laws. His approach was purely

80

original. His high intellectual ability would be reflected in his answers. He

never rubbed the Judges on the wrong side. In some cases he would stress on

the facts. In some case stress on the interpretation of Law. He was a successful

lawyer of great repute throughout the country.

Shri KR Ramamani above all was a nice gentleman to move with and he was a

fine human being. He was of the firm view that the rule of law should be

maintained so that peace and prosperity should prevail in the country. Besides

law, he had a love for carnatic music and he had a passion for doing service to

the society. He had done many charitable acts. Above all, he established a

school in a rural area and the school is continued to be maintained by his family

members.

I am fortunate in the sense that I practiced as an Advocate when Shri K R

Ramamani practiced law. I am very fortunate in the sense that I had the good

fortune to move with Shri K R Ramamani. I am very, very fortunate in the sense

that I had his affection, love and aasirvatham not only from him but also from his

father in law Shri V S Sundaram, which shaped my carrier.

I pray to God that the good name left by Shri KR Ramamani should live long

and his Juniors who are numerous in number and his family members whether

in the profession in law or not should carry on the good work of

Shri K R Ramamani so that the name of Shri K R Ramamani remains forever.

Thank you

Hon'ble Justice Mr.N.V.Balasubramanian

81

I was thrilled when Mrs.Hemalata Ramamani, wife of Mr.K.R.Ramamani

asked me to write an article about her husband

Mr.K.R.Ramamani, as everybody knows made a great name as a very

successful Income Tax lawyer. In fact his wife Mrs.Hemalata used to mention

about him with justified pride that he was known as the “Palkhivala of South

India”. He had a large clientele who looked upon him with great confidence for

his advice on legal matters relating to Income Tax. He was known for his

outstanding depth of study of law, his uncanny skill in taking up the correct

points in highlighting the stand taken up by him for arguing the case of his

client in the Court of law and his remarkable clarity of arguments. No doubt

everybody in the legal field, lawyers, the Judges of the Courts including the

Supreme Court and the clients, expressed their admiration and regard for his

success and reputation as a legal luminary of the highest caliber. Throughout

his career he had success after success for his unparalleled advocacy in the

Courts and written documents. His passing away was considered as an

irreparable loss in the legal world and among the public at large.

Mr.Ramamani had a brilliant academic career both in school and college. As

was the practice in those days all parents in Mylapore and nearby put their

sons only in P.S.High School which had a very high reputation as one of the

best schools in Chennai (then Madras). He was very studious and hard

working and all the teachers were all praise for his wonderful performance in

examination both in school and public. The only exception to this was the

sports teacher who was upset that he was not showing much interest in

sports. This can be understood as not in the least a defect as education needs

substantial time to be devoted to reading and writing to get good marks in all

subjects of study. As his classmate I am a witness to his brilliant academic

career.

MR.K.R.RAMAMANI – A TRIBUTE

Additional General Manager (Retd.), Southern RailwaysSecretary, National Boys and Girls Education Society

Secretary, Madras Sanskrit College

Sri B. Madhavan

He was my classmate in Presidency College as both of us joined the B.Sc.

Physics (Hons.). Here again he made a notable mark and all the professors and

the Head of the Department of Physics had a high opinion about him as a really

hard working and studious student.

As a person Mr.Ramamani, was a pleasant and friendly person who was

always helpful and obliging. I have never heard any harsh words from him and

never seen him getting angry and argumentative.

In those days even parents who can afford did not indulge in giving the

opportunity to their children to get spoilt and haughty. Mr.Ramamani, myself

and others used to go to school walking as our parents did not allow us to use

the motor vehicle. Even to college we used to by the State bus. Most of the days,

we used to walk along the Marina Beach to reach home, spending our time

with light conversation without feeling the strain of walking. Some of us used

to go to Ramamani's residence where we were received with warmth and

kindness by his father Mr.Rajagopal Iyengar who was himself an advocate

with lucrative practice. Unlike these days most of us went to college in dhotis

and shirts as our parents did not fancy their children going in pants, shirts and

jeans.

After completing the graduate course and getting the degree I chose to write

the Publication Examination of the Union Public Service Commission

recruiting class I Officer for the Indian Administrative Service, Railway

Service, Revenue Service etc. of the Government of India. Ramamani and I

studied for the examination together, but Ramamani had to leave midway as

his father wanted him to qualify for the legal profession. After qualifying with

a law degree he joined Mr.M.Subbaraya Iyer's office as his junior.

Mr.Subbaraya Iyer was during his time, a successful lawyer and earned a lot of

money. He was a philanthropist who gave away his money for charities. The

Vivekananda College and Vidya Mandir stand testimony to his munificence.

Ramamani greatly benefited by his training under him and remained grateful

to him till his last breath.

82

Sri B. Madhavan

I always cherish my friendship with Ramamani as the best opportunity gained

by me to become a useful and service minded citizen. It is my good fortune that

even after the passing away of Ramamani, I have a close association with his

wife and children. Mrs.Hemalata Ramamani and myself are in the Executive

Committee of the National Boys and Girls Education Society which manages

three important schools in Mylapore viz., the Lady Sivaswami Iyer Girls

Higher Secondary School, Sir Sivaswami Kalalaya Senior Secondary School

(CBSE) and Sri Sivaswami Kalalaya Higher Secondary School

(Matriculation).

Mrs.Hemalata Ramamani with her deep commitment to education of school

children and social welfare has been of great help to these educational

institutions for more than quarter of a century and she continues her public

oriented activities till date.

83

Sri B. Madhavan

84

85

RAMAMANI AS I HAVE KNOWN HIM SINCE 1939

Sri M.Ramji, IAS Retd.

Former Member, Railway BoardSecretary, P.S.Educational Society

I have known Ramamani since April 1939. Rather I was acquainted with him

since April 1939 when we moved into Chandra Bagh Avenue from

Madhavapuram on M.K.Amman Koil Street, Mylapore. That was my mother

finished building this new house. I had said “acquainted” because I was still in

IInd Form in P.S.Elementary School, which I would finish only in March 1940

and move over to P.S.High School on R.K.Mutt Road for the IVth Form.

I became a close friend of Ramamani from June 1940 onwards till March 1943

when we used to go by bus or cycle together to school and back.

He was a very studious student and I gradually learnt how to become studious

through his friendship. Thanks to his association, I moved over from the

'average' to 'very good' category in class from the IV Form to VI Form (SSLC). I

stood First in Mathematics in the SSLC Exam of March 1943, sharing the prize

with Nagamani, who had come as a refugee from Burma in 1942 and who later

became an IAS Officer belonging to the Bihar cadre of 1951.

Ramamani and I continued to be closed friends in Loyola College for 2 years of

Intermediate course between 1943 & 1945 and again college mates in

Presidency College between 1945 and 1948 where he did Physics Honours (3

year course) while I was doing my Geology Honours course during the same

period.

While at this distant point of time, the individual events have faded out from

clean memory, a few general characteristics stand out prominently.

First is that during college days in Loyola between 1943 & 1956 we invariably

used to go to college together in the college bus which would pick us up from

near the tram shed at the junction of Edward Eliiots Road and Royapetta High

Road near the then famous Ratnam Kadai. The bus would come every day at

8:45AM. We would catch it almost everyday as it was about to leave. This is

because when I reached his house at 8:15AM his mother would invariably tell

me that “Ramu” had just got up from bed and would be ready in about 20

minutes! I used to wait patiently in their beautiful verandah till he was ready to

leave. Occasionally we missed the college bus and traveled by City bus upto

T.Nagar, caught a suburban train from T.Nagar to Nungambakkam and then

walk across Nungambakkam station to college through the dry lake area to

reach there in time for the classes

This habit turned into a more pleasant experience between June 1945 and

April 1948, when we used to travel together almost everyday in the 'Baby

Austin' car which his father had presented him. The college would start at

10AM and used to be in the college at 9:45AM itself because of the car ride.

Ramamani knew car driving and used to drive the 'Baby Austin'. Occasionally

we had the luxury of being dropped in college in the elegant 'Hanza' – his

father's car. The beauty about the 'Baby Austin' was that it was light that the

breeze would push it along the 'Marin' without any petrol consumption.

The other good friends I made through Ramamani were T.R.Balu and A.Nagoji

Rao who were his batchmates in Physics Honours and course, Ranga Rao, who

was one year senior to Ramamani along with my own cousin

K.S.Ramachandran in Physics Honours in Presidency College.

We also had the pleasure of appearing for IAS exam together in 1949. He

missed passing the IAS interviews by a small margin. He felt disappointed but

I used to tell him that he has not lost much by not passing the IAS interview; he

would have been a Central Government officer no doubt but he would not

have turned out to be a brilliant Income Tax lawyer of ALL INDIA fame which

he turned to be a few years later.

I joined Indian Railway Accounts Service in 1951 and worked in Delhi for many

years. During this period, Ramamani used to visit Delhi and invariably used to

stay with me, which I considered a great honour.

I was in touch with him whenever I was in Madras till his very end. I was very

proud of being known as the closest friend of Ramamani and I still value such a

reputation.

I miss him a lot even today at 84 years of age. There was one other friend,

R.Sarangarajan, my batchmate in Railway Accounts Service, whom also I miss

very much; he was also a good friend of Ramamani.

Sri M.Ramji

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I am happy to note that a memorial lecture in honour of Mr. K.R,

Ramamani, eminent advocate, has been arranged on 1st December, 2012 on the

occasion of Golden Jubilee Celebrations - Revenue Bar Association, Chennai.

I fondly recall my association with Mr.K.R.Ramamani while on the

Board of The India Cements Limited and outside. He has always been a

champion of management nay, all stakeholders of Corporates, He was an

ardent advocate of good governance and management practices and above all,

ethics in business. His presence on the Boards of Companies like India

Cements ensured compliance of these virtues. In fact, his presence on the

Boards gave a big comfort to fellow directors that governance was and would

continue to be on the right lines. More important, he was a great human being

helping a variety of charitable causes. It is very rare for one to come across these

days persons like Mr.K.R.Ramamani.

It is highly appropriate that a lecture in memory of Mr.K.R.Ramamani

has been organised by the Revenue Bar Association to coincide with the

Golden Jubilee celebrations.

As I am unable to attend the function due to circumstances beyond my

contra!, I send my greetings for the success of the function

Dr. B. Sivanthi AdityanDIRECTORTHE DAILY THANTHI

Revenue Bar AssociationChennai

th30 November 2012

MESSAGE

(Dr. B. SIVANTHI ADITYAN)

86, E.VK. Sampath Road, Chennai - 600 007. Tel : 0091-44-26618733, 26618661

Fax : 0091-44-26618877 E-maihodityan@dt,co.in

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R. VEERAMANICHAIRMANGEM GROUP OF COMPANIES

President : World Natural Stone Association (WONASA)Chairman : Granite, Natural Stones & Products Panel-CAPEXIL, Kolkata

(Ministry of Commerce, Govt. Of India)Past Chairman : Export Promotion Council for EOUs & SEZ Units. Delhi. (Founder Chairman)Past President : Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, MumbaiPast President : Indo-Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, ChennaiPast Chairman : CAPEXIL, Kolkata

th26 November 2012

MESSAGE

Late Mr. K.R. Ramamani, the Senior Advocate was very well known to me with my personal interactions and discussions and listening to his arguments when I was practising as an Advocate in the High Court. Infact after I suspected my practice ande came to business. I became his client. I have also had many occasions to listen to his speeches in many seminars concerning the tax laws of the country. He was a rare person of legal acumen, natural talent and a great scholar.

In the early part of the license days before the liberalisation era, the income tax law and the wealth tax law were so complex and very stringent with high taxation levels. In those days the late Mr. Ramamani, like the later Mr. Palkiwala, was one of the strong personality who argued and raised issues that the income tax should be reduced and the laws itself should be simplified for everyone to comply.

He has helped not only the common man, the business man, many of the industrial houses, he has helped the judiciary by presenting the facts and the law before the High Court to make some of the historical judgements as appeared in many of the Law journals. They are standing testimony for his able advocacy and brilliance.

It is very unique that he developed very strong affinity and relationship with Chartered Accountants who always looked to him for the final say on any matter connected with the Company Law and the Tax Laws of the country. In every activity of the society or ina country as a whole the individual leaders make society exist and grow by giving clarity and direction in a transparent manner.

For all of us he was a great Leader who illuminated the legal profession and helped the country itself in making proper laws and helping the companies to comply with the laws properly and the judiciary to give the appropriate judgements.

It was always a synonyms of the tax laws and Mr. Ramamani as his opinion was like a verdict. Personally he was simple, humble, pious, helpful and friendly to everyone, soft spoken and an amiable personality. People may born, live and die, but the history and the legacies never disappear and the late Mr. Ramamani has created such a wonderful history and has built and contributed a wonderful legacy to continue for ever.

I am happy to note that the Income Tax and the Revenue Bar Associations are celebrating their 50th year and also honouring the Late Mr. K.R. Ramamani, its past President on the 1st of December 2012. I wish the function all success as many eminent Judges and senior Advocates and Jourists will be participating in the function and pay their glowing tributes.

78, CATHEDRAL ROAD, CHENNAI - 600 086. INDIA

TEL : 044-28115190, 28110025 FAX : 044-28111159, 28117338

E-mail : veeramani@gemgranites.com

R. Veeramani

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Proceedings of the K.R.Ramamani Memorial Lecturest(1 December 2012, Chennai)

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SPEECHES ON THE OCCASION OF THEK.R. RAMAMANI MEMORAL LECTURE

ST(1 DECEMBER 2012, CHENNAI)

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Transcript of Welcome Address by Sri K.J.Chandran,

Advocate & Chairman of Organizing Committee

It is my proud privilege to welcome you all to this function. Supreme Court

judges past and present, High Court Judges past and present, Senior

Advocates, Tribunal Members, Income Tax, Sales Tax and other Tax

practitioners, Chartered Accountants, Advocates, friends, members of the

family of Mr.K.R. Ramamani and well-wishers of Mr. K.R.Ramamani.

I welcome you all to this day's function. Late Mr.K.R. Ramamani was a senior

of mine. I was one of the long standing juniors of his for nearly 31 years. He

always exchanged notes with his juniors; he never objected a junior who was

taking a contrary view to that of his. He encouraged the juniors to take a view

on their own. He encouraged juniors to take their chosen path.

If a cross examination is required in his matter; he would brief the matter to a

civil advocate to do the cross examination for him as he never took up civil

cases. In one instance, he let me do the cross examination in an Income Tax

matter and he was very much pleased with the way I conducted the

examination.

The office was working during the holidays also and I used to be only junior to

come to the office during holidays; when an Income Tax matter is posted

before the AAC he had advised me to take adjournment as I was not familiar

with the tax matters. In one instance, the AAC instead of adjourning the

matter allowed the appeal to which Ramamani did not object.

In another instance, Mr KRR had taken me to arbitration because it was a

matter relating to Sales Tax. It was the time when a particular entry in Sales

Tax Law was contended to be the multipoint levy whereas the Department

view was that it was liable for single point levy and a higher rate of tax was

demanded. Ultimately the party won but then the last laugh of the matter was

with the legislature as it amended the law retrospectively and that was

challenged but it was once again upheld by the Supreme Court and therefore it

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become evident. Then what happened was that there was Arbitration in a

matter where the party refused to pay and the Arbitrator took the view that as

per Sec 64A of Sales of Goods Act that even a subsequent liability fastened by

the law will become enforceable notwithstanding the plea of past satisfaction

and accordingly of Arbitrator awarded the matter. Later, the matter was taken

to the High Court and it came before Justice Ramasamy, he also agreed with

the arbitrator that Sec 64A of the Act enables the parties to claim and

ultimately the case resulted in favour of the assessee.

He had no inclination to deal with the Sales tax cases and luckily for me he had

let me to deal with the same. I wrote opinions and submissions which raised

my confidence level to a great extent.

His passing away truly created a vacuum in the field. He was rightly called as

the Palkhiwala of South India as he had number of cases decided in favour of

the assessee.

A book containing the articles about the Late Mr. KRR is going to be released

shortly in which some of the contributors have shared their personal episodes

with late Mr.KRR. I am sure all of you will be entertained and can look forward

to the interesting and informative session.

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Presidential Address by Sri N. Devanathan, President, Revenue Bar Association, Chennai

Respected Dignitaries on the Dias and off the Dais.

We have got eminent speakers to address the gathering today.

The poem of US Poet Robert Frost taught in school also comes to mind,

namely 'the woods are lovely dark and deep but I have promises to keep and miles to go

before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep…' and hence a judicious approach has to be

adopted on account of time factor in regard to my address.

Sri KRR had a special affection towards me. Juniors at that time were

impressed with meticulous knowledge, insight and analysis of complex issue

of taxation solely based on his original thinking. The letters “Rama” was

inbuilt in his name and he possessed all the nice qualities of Lord Rama. He

was brave, courageous and carried on miracles of winning all the cases as a

regular feature. He always tried for the continuous upliftment of his juniors

He was perfect human being, after finishing the case in the ITAT , he used to

drop the juniors to their houses and then only go to his house for lunch

though on some days the time may cross 1.30 p.m..

A great soul , pious & religious , great bhakthi towards his Guru, a gentle

person, a genius, and wonderful brilliant Advocate adorned as an ornament

in the Revenue Bar particularly his utter simplicity; “vidya dadhathi vinayam”

meaning erudition gives humility. He was easy and pleasant, courageous,

brave and frank and outspoken, coupled with felicity of expression loaded

with artillery fire of arguments and thus made the Court room ever attentive.

He contributed several landmark judgments, and the list is endless. The B.C.

Srinivasa Shetty case for one - the principle is still exploited in case of mere

development agreement sans land portion as no cost for the purpose of capital

gains, Double Taxation cases, Co-operative Sugar mills cases regarding

capital receipt, Estate Duty cases, Sakthi Trading Co case etc., the list is an

endless legion.

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I was reminded of an observation of Cockburn C.J. ,the learned Chief justice

who observed in regard to the qualities required by an advocate which I quote

“The arms which an Advocate wields, he ought to use as a warrior not an assassin. He ought

to know how to reconcile the interests of his client with the eternal values of truth and justice”

This observation amply applies to my senior.

Pursuit of knowledge with love for subject was his passion. He would scan the

brief in seconds but take much time in thinking. He was workalcholic,

worked like a horse and lived like a hermit.

Contribution to Revenue Bar Association:

He adorned as a jewel and “Everest” of the Revenue Bar as regards his legal

acumen

The Revenue Bar Association owes its gratitude to Sri K.R. Ramamani. When

RBA was in a lull, it was decided to activate it by the juniors of all offices and in

that connection a seminar was organized by the RBA. Contributions of his

scholarly, astounding mastery answers over the questions posed by the

delegate during the Brain Trust session mesmerised the delegates wh

oparticipated in the seminar and they wondered whether God of Learning

was present as Lord Krishna in Bhagavat Geeta said 'whenever there is intellectual

debate, He is present'.

My Senior played a pivotal role in fund raising and garnering surplus of more

than couple of lakhs by way of advertisement received which made the

financial foundation of the RBA.

His arguments were keenly watched by all the juniors irrespective of office

affiliation and the Bench. Whenever the Bench makes a mistake he tried to

correct them with correct proposition of law. His exposition of correct

position of law prevented sentencing “fiscal jurisprudence”. To day Revenue

Bar Association is stronger, robust and healthy and we enjoy the fruits even to

day. He made the clients comfortable, always visited with success, thereby

sustained the economic arteries of the assessee and set fire to the mountain of

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misery of arbitrary demands raised by the Department and lead to the

dropping of prosecution proceedings in a casual way.

He was not in favour of “docket explosion” and settled many search cases in those

days; the CIT used to settle search case, in that process the assessee too

instantly obtained waiver of penalty, interest, non-initiation of prosecution

proceedings and the CIT also permitted to take credit of the additional

amount admitted by the assessee in the course of settlement

Another interesting case worth sharing was that of a consignment of ever-silver

items which were received and lying in Railway station as it was unclaimed.

The Sales Tax Authorities informed the Department and the IT Department

found the address was bogus and made an assessment on the basis of address

given in the consignment and auctioned goods and adjusted that tax interest

etc. After sometime, the Sales Tax authorities issued notice to the

jurisdictional Commissioner in his personal name asking him to pay sales tax

on sale of said goods. The CIT consulted the Counsel for the Department and

he advised him to file a Writ petition. Not satisfied having regard to long

drawn process of agony he consulted my senior who advised him to make a

representation to the sales tax authorities to the effect that IT Department is

not a “dealer”. Fortunately, the Secretary of the government who was also a

speaker in another seminar was briefed about the problem who instantly

instructed the sales tax officer to drop the proceedings.

What He taught to us is of paramount importance:

He created a passion, zeal, love for the subject and to have positive thoughts on

the case never give up a case as weak even though it was inherently weak. One

may find points on jurisdiction or at least scrutiny norms not satisfied, notices

are time-barred, wrong assumption of jurisdictional fact, wrong status, non-

recording of satisfaction, violation of natural justice etc.,

He created a habit of reading judgments, wanted to maintain log book on case

law (which seldom was obeyed by juniors not on account of disobedience but

because of heavy load of cases on every day!) For example in the year 1996

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there was a decision R vs. Inland Revenue Commissioner ex p Unilever [1996 STC 681],

the Court pointed out the abrupt withdrawal of long standing tax concession

was quashed by the Court of Appeal for unfairness amounting to abuse of

power . The rule of law enforces minimum standards of fairness. After that

judgment we used to add the words principles of legitimate expectation with the

ground to the effect that the order of AO is contrary to law, facts and

circumstances of the case and against principles of legitimate expectation.

In the year 1989 when a new assessment procedure was introduced, the slogan

of the department was “file, smile and go”. If the return was incorrect, an

additional tax of 20% was sought to be levied as per the mandate of the Act. In

one case, the audit assistant made a mistake thereby loss is enhanced to the

extent of more than one Crore, whereas the correct figures were shown in the

Statement of Accounts filed before the Officer. The principles of fairness/fair

procedure were canvassed in a revision petition filed before the

Commissioner. The Commissioner upheld the argument and principles of fair

procedure which led to the passing of an assessment order u/s 143 (3) and not

under section 143 (1) which is also legally permissible. It is pertinent to note

that the issue was solved at the CIT level u/s 264 and not taken as Appellate

remedy.

He was a great thinker and made everybody to think; juniors were given work

to draft opinions and juniors enjoyed the intellectual feast everyday by way of

discussion on the cases posted on the next day. One example comes to mind –

the SIPCOT subsidy case.

He followed the most ancient verse ever written by humanity was the first

verse of “Rig Veda”

“Aano bhadra krtavo yantu vishwatah”

Let noble thoughts come from every side and my senior invited the comments,

criticism from every tax professional so as to arrive correct position of law. He

never exhibited that he was great and number one in South India and his

humility was simply awesome.

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Before I conclude, I would like to say that in our earlier memorial Lecture

addressed by Shri S. Rajaratnam, he acknowledged the role played by lawyers

and acclaimed from the bottom of his heart that they can do “miracles”. The

use of the term “miracles” disturbed me lot. What made him to say and what

was the basis, since my senior carried out miracles every day in the profession.

I found the answer from the legal journey of my senior. The answer lies to

sincere devotion, hard work and deep thinking. My view is supported by

Swami Vivekananda who said that If you deeply concentrate and focus on the

issue, the nature will give you an answer

Shri Sankara Bhagavath pada writes in Shivananda Lahari to the effect that “If

deep devotion is present (another form of Bhakthi), it would take the man to great height”

Last but not the least, the speech would not be complete without mention

the glorious sacrifice and supportive role played by Mrs.Hemalatha

Ramamani in ever increasing achievements made by my Master in the

profession and if I can confess the juniors are more patriotic to Mrs. KRR

because of her overwhelming hospitality and ever increasing concern for the

juniors.

To summarise, the juniors had enjoyed the period during the period in his

office as most valuable time spent in one's life and as a result cherished the

feeling as stated by the great yogi and Acharya Srimad Nadhamuni to the

effect “Nanilathil namakkar nigar everum illai.” meaning “That nobody in the world is

equal to us”

This statement is not born out of ego but acknowledges the patronage and

legal spectrum we received from legendry cosmic Guru. “How I wonder what

you are”.

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Mr. Justice Ranganathan and all the other distinguished persons on the dias,

the very distinguished audience before me, all the friends and admirers of Late.

Shri. Ramamani gathered here. It has been a conferment of aggregate honour

on me to have been invited to unveil the portrait of such a great lawyer, who

was a living legend of taxation law in his own life time. Legends sometimes are

created after the man leaves this world not so in this case. He was very much

recognized but his very rare qualities as a professional and as a fine human

being and it was my privilege to have witnessed it to some extent when I came

on the bench to the high court here. Of course, his reputation has proceeded

and I had known about his great reputation as a greatest tax lawyer in this part

of the country. But it was only when I came to the bench here that I had the

privilege of hearing him as a counsel appearing before me in some company

matters and later in taxation matters and his presence was such that even now,

after so many years, I can still vividly recall his physical presence in my court.

The grace and dignity which he brought to the court by his mere presence was

something remarkable. His presence and his address were such that it

commanded instant attention. Attention, rapt attention because you

recognized immediately that there was wisdom that was the result of hard

work full review and a careful choice of words in which to present the essence

of what he had already seen and what he thought ought to be communicated in

order to find that which is really relevant to the case before him. His greatness

as a lawyer always stood out no matter what the reach of the case was. The

individual dominated and as a counsel he certainly made his presence very

much felt. The art of persuasion is what advocacy is all about and he excelled in

it. He communicated in a manner is pleasant and he communicated in a manner

that is effective and to communicate in a manner which would answer the

doubts and the questions that would arise in the court of discussion in a

particular given case. All this without the least amount of drama or about

raising or creating any kind of fiction of any kind with the opponent or the

client or the court.

Transcript of Speech by Chief Guest Hon'ble Justice Mr. Jayasimha Babu,

Retd. Judge of High Courts of Karnataka & Madras

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These are all rare qualities which I am sure that many of the lawyer's

who practice in the Madras High Court imbide from him by mere witnessing

the manner in which he conducted his cases. It was for me also in education

when I heard all those tributes being paid to him by people from all walks of

life, a video which all of us thoroughly enjoyed seeing and coming to know

more about Mr. Ramamani, the man, his extraordinary contribution to rural

development. He had Corley private initiative wholly unaided by any tax

incentive from the government which any corporation will normally seek. He

is something really extraordinary. It speaks about the greatness of the man and

Mr. Balamuralikrishna's tribute to him really is of something of interest to

note because I recall when I was sitting in the tax bench, one of my colleagues

who sat with me said: “Brother, I find this branch of law very uninteresting. It

is too dry”. Hardly. This is a branch of law which exercises the mind and the

intellectual discipline that it demands is something which is a great aid to any

other branch of study. It certainly requires discipline and this can be easily

combined with the finer senses which he aptly displayed .To know that after a

hard day's thinking and arguing on tax law he went on to play the violin is

something extraordinary that was said of Einstein he too was a physicist, a

great one. Mr.Ramamani missed being an equally great physicist because he

took the law. It has been a great privilege for me to be amongst you today and I

thank the family of Shri. Ramamani Primarily of Mrs. Ramamani, Mrs. Asha,

Mr. Vijayaghavan and his son for having brought me. Thank you very much.

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Transcript of Speech by Guest of Honour, Hon'ble Justice Mr.T.N.C Rangarajan,

Retd. Judge of High Courts of Madras & Andhra Pradesh

My dear friends, I am sure you would have seen that I am an odd man out in

this dais. Everyone is wearing a coat except my friend Chandran. This

morning I had told Mr. Vijayaraghavan that I had not brought my coat, is it

all right? He said it is OK as Ramamani would have liked it that way. So that

is called the Ramamani effect. What is the effect he had on me – I just wanted

to share with you the Ramamani effect, so to say.

Instead of saying that I know him I would say that he knew me from the days I

was in college because he was a family friend of ours. He had given a tax

planning advice to my father to convert his house into a joint family property

but I know that it had further lead to complications. Mr.Rajaratnam knows

how recent legislation has impacted this tax planning move.

Anyway, all I can say is that he was a very good family friend of ours and all of

you also know that when I joined the Income Tax Tribunal, I did not know

anything about the Income Tax . I had argued only one case, that also in the

Bench consisting of both my seniors i.e., Justice Veerasamy and Justice

Alagirisamy and I lost the case. I wanted to believe that I lost it because they

did not want the people to think that they are favoring their junior because

that case was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court.

Now, I wanted to remember what that case was and of course, except for

remembering that I had appeared before my own seniors, it took me about 2

hours to hunt it down in the internet but if Ramamani had been here he would

have immediately told that it was a case of Nonesuch Tea Estate, where it was

published, the date of its judgment, everything he would have given just in a

moment. So that was his wide knowledge of Income Tax law. In a sense he was

considered to be a tax guru.

There are so many other things that I have learnt from him and I will tell you

one another episode. One day he came and told me that Justice Rathnavel

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Pandiyan had a problem about capital gains. He wanted to know whether a

particular deduction is allowable or not. Ramamani told him that it is

allowable but unfortunately a case in which Mr. Rangarajan has allowed such

a deduction, Justice Sethuraman had reversed it in the High Court. For which

Justice Rathnavel Pandiyan told to Ramamani that he should ask Justice

Sethuraman about it. So he went and asked Justice Sethuraman, “how is it that

such a deduction is not allowable?”. Then Justice Sethurman said “Is it so?” Then he

looked at the judgment and said ”Oh, it has been done like that… it must be a mistake. So

if a similar case comes before me again I will refer to a Full Bench”. And a similar case

came up and Justice Sethuraman referred it to a Full Bench. But unfortunately

in the Full Bench, Justice Sethuraman was not sitting, three other judges were

sitting and they said “If Justice Sethuraman had written it, it must be correct and they had

affirmed it”. So Ramamani told me that this is what happens that unless you are

at the receiving end you will not really know the impact of tax law or any other

law for that matter. It had a great impact on me and it gave me an idea that you

must have an empathy for the person who is coming with a grievance. Unless

you have that empathy and you know what is going to happen to him in that

particular case, you will not be able to appreciate what exactly is the meaning

of the Act and why it was there and what should be done to solve the problem

in hand.

So that way I think Ramamani was sort of guru to me also. Whatever I have

learnt about the Income Tax it was in the Bench only not in the Bar. I should say

that I am sort of a shishya in the sidelines.

So one day, two shishyas were discussing about their seniors. One shishya was

saying that 'my senior is very great because he is so popular and he has no room for new

comers' for which another shishya replied that his senior is even greater. The

first Shishya asked 'how?' To which the second Shishya replied that 'he has so

many people with him and that he is sending his senior most Shishya to be on his own'. That

way, Ramamani was great because he allowed juniors like Chandran to set up

their own office and encouraged his juniors to become independent. That is

really a mark of Guru who can not only train his students but also make them

independent of themselves. So that is something to be appreciated.

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And coming from Hyderabad I think I should tell you a small Sufi story to end

up the talk. One man was wanting to find a bride for his son, so he took his son

to the marketplace and in front of everybody he slapped him and he said 'this is

what you get for doing exactly what I told you to do'. So one girl got up and said 'what

injustice is this. This is not correct'. The boy said 'that is an intelligent girl and I want to

marry her'. His father said 'No, no; let us try again'. He went to another place and

repeated the same performance i.e., he slapped him again and said the same

thing 'This is what you get for doing exactly what I told you to do'. This time, another

girl got up and said, 'What is this? He is a fool to be so blindly obedient. You beat him

again'. Then the father said 'that is the correct wife for you. A superior girl, she knows

what is the right thing for you'. I don't know how Ramamani selected his bride but I

am sure that Hemalatha was a right, ideal companion for him, who had

supported him in his all his endeavors and who made him really shine in both

his career and also his character.

I am really glad that the Revenue Bar Association has thought it fit to honor

such a great man who had great impact on everybody and I really cherish his

memories. I thank you for the opportunity to be with you today. Thank you

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Transcript of Speech by Sri Venu Srinivasan,Chairman TVS Motors Ltd. & Sundaram Clayton Ltd.

The Chief Guest Hon'ble Justice Jayashima Babu, other Hon'ble justices,

Advocates, members of Ramamani's Family, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great

moment to be here today to cherish the memory of such a good man.

I think what stood out Mr. Ramamani with all his eruditions, his prodigious

memory, etc. beyond all that was he was a great human being. I think it is

always said that while it is good to be great but it is much greater to be good.

And he touched the lives of the people who came in contact with. He was a

wise counsel to them. He was a friend, philosopher and guide.

One will always cherish the memories because you could go to him in any crisis

and see a very calm, a very equanimous person who would give you counsel and

who would lift the burden that you came to him with of your shoulders. It is

indeed like what everybody has said; he carried his greatness so lightly because

of his humility and his very, very loving nature.

I think it is a privilege to be here today and I am thankful to my aunt

Mrs. Ramamani and Asha and Mr. Vijayaraghavan for having given me the

opportunity.

Thank you very much.

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mªVé\ ¼Äâ¦D

THE TAMIL NADU Dr. AMBEDKAR LAW UNIVERSITYTHE TAMIL NADU Dr. AMBEDKAR LAW UNIVERSITY“Poompozhil”,#5, Dr. D.G.S. Dinakaran Salai, Chennai - 600 026

Dr. V. VijayakumarVice-Chancellor th30 November 2012

MESSAGE

I deem it a privilege to address all the Justices, Senior Advocates,

Advocates, Chartered Accountants, Industrialists, Businessmen and

distinguished people gathered here on the occasion of the K.R. Ramamani

Memorial Lecture being organized as part ot the Revenue Bar Association’s

Golden Jubilee Celebrations in honour of its Past President,

Late Sri. K. R. Ramamani

Sri K.R. Ramamani was a legal legend in the field of taxation. When

Income Tax is mentioned, Sri. K.R.Ramamani is the first name that springs to

our mind. He will forever be associated with being a trailblazer in tax laws

while being a man of great humility, simplicity, fairness and ethics.

We at the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University hold a special

place in our hearts for Late Sri. K.R. Ramamani. Even when he was at the

pinnacle of his profession, amidst his incredibly busy schedule and his

nurneous Directorships of leading public companies, his tremendous

workload and his various stellar activities in the field of law and outside it, he

found time to teach at the Madras Law College special courses on taxation for

a number of years. These lectures by Sri. Ramamani were very popular and

were widely attended by many judicial officers, law students, chartered

accountants and academics - these lectures are remembered even today fondly

as masterpieces by the attendees many of whom have gone onto great heights

in the field of law.

It therefore gives me great pleasure to inform all those gathered here

about two important events which the TNDALU in collaboration with the

family of K.R. Ramamani, M/s Subbaraya Aiyar, Padmabhan & Ramamani

Advocates, instituted in honour and memory of Late Sri. K.R.Ramamani.

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Firstly, the School of Excellence in Law, TNDALU has been

organizing, since 2010, a hugely successful annual event, the K.R. Ramamani

Memorial National Taxation Moot Court Competition. This Moot Court

competition in honour of Sri. Ramamani has attracted students from All the

top law colleges across India including the National Law Schools and is now a

well-recognized event in the law schools’ moot calendars. It is indeed fitting

that the Government Law College, Mumbai, holds the Nani Palkhivala

Taxation Moot Court competition and the TNDALU, Chennai holds the K.R.

Ramamani Taxation Moot Court competition.

The K.R. Ramamani Memorial National Taxation Moot Court

Competition will go down in history as the first distinguished competition in

which the semi-finals and final are webcast live to enable everyone to observe

the proceedings live from any part of the world. These webcast semi-finals and

final every year would then be shifted to the archives on the website of the

University, be www.tndalu.ac.in. This is expected to assist the young mooters

from various law colleges and law schools to improve their skills in the years to

come.

Furthermore, I am very happy to announce today that from this year

onwards we intend to make the K.R. Ramamani Memorial Taxation Moot

Court competition an international competition and we have invited teams

from abroad to participate in this year’s event which is to take place on March

2nd and 3rd 2013 at our campus.

Secondly, I am very happy to announce today that the Tamil Nadu

Ambedkar Law University has instituted a K.R. Ramamani Gold Medal for

Taxation Law given to the student with the highest marks obtained across all

the colleges under the TNDALU in the taxation law paper. This medal covers

the 3-year, 5-year and Honours programs of the TNDALU

We are very happy to partner with M/s. Subbaraya Aiyar,

Padmanabhan & Ramamani Advocates in the conduct of the Moot Court as

well as the awarding of the Gold Medal. These events, the Moot Court and the

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Taxation Gold Medal, are fitting tributes to Late Sri. K.R. Ramamani’s stature

as a tax lawyer.

Thus the relationship between the TNDALU and M/s. Subbaraya

Aiyar, Padmanabhan & Ramamani Advocates, the sponsors of these two

events, will be a model to highlight the importance and relevance linkages

between the academia and the Bar.

In conclusion, I would like to convey our appreciation to the family of

K.R. Ramamani, M/s. Subbaraya Aiyar, Padmabhan & Ramamani Advocates

and the Revenue Bar Association for conducting this fitting event in honour of

the tax legend Sri. K.R. Ramamani.

Thank you. Jai Hind.

(Dr. V. VIJAYAKUMAR)

Vice-Chancellor

Phone : 044-2461 1364 Fax : 044-2495 7414 E-mail : vc@tndalu.ac.in

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132

Transcript of K.R.Ramamani Memorial Lecture KEYNOTE ADDRESS

by Sri. S.E Dastur, Senior Advocate, Mumbai

Distinguished Full Bench of most eminent Judges, ladies and

gentlemen. I thank Mr.Vijayraghavan for his kind words and I hope he

doesn't think me to be totally disloyal if at the end of the lecture you feel

he was not speaking the truth. When I was asked to deliver this lecture

on 'Income tax : Past and Future' I omitted to ask Mr. Vijayraghavan

what he meant by past, how much past. And so I thought I would start

with when the Income Tax was first introduced because you cannot go

possibly, if I may coin a word, go 'paster' than that!

Income tax was first introduced in England in 1799 by William

Pitt. That was the time of Napoleonic wars and to raise funds for

carrying on the conflict. It was an Income Tax where people had to file a

return, obviously, but there was a great protest because they felt this

was an intrusion in their privacy because their income would become

known to other people. I suppose this is where you say an English man's

home is his castle. So, therefore it was dropped in 1802 after 3 years and

then Lord Adington reintroduced the Income Tax Act with these

amendments: there were five Schedules in the Act and each Schedule

dealt with different type of income and a person would have to file, fill

up the five Schedules showing his income under the various heads and

these returns would go to five different officers so that no person would

know exactly what the income of a particular assessee is. That is how

the privacy was maintained. So Lord Adington's Act came in 1803 and

this continued till 1816 when it was at the end of the Napoleonic wars.

They were true to their word that it was introduced for the Napoleonic

wars and therefore at the end of it the Act was repealed.

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Unfortunately today we find an Income Tax introduced for a

particular purpose but long after the purpose is achieved the Act

continues or the tax continues! It was then again introduced in 1842 by

Robert Peel the Prime Minister then and Income Tax has continued in

England since then.

In so far as India is concerned, the first Income Tax as we know it

was in 1860 and if you will recollect about one year or 2 years ago there

used to be banners all over the tax building '150 years of Income Tax' and

this tax, between 1860 and 1886, there were 23 different Income Tax

Acts in India within a period of 26 years and each of them had a limited

operation: geographically, some would apply in the Bombay state some

would apply in south India etc. And therefore different objects and

different limitations of geography. Thereafter in this period also

between 1865 - 1867 and 1874 -1880 there was no income tax. Ultimately

as we know it, in 1886, came the first Income Tax which has some

resemblance and I am saying only some resemblance to what the income

tax today is. It was introduced ironically by the Hon'ble Mr. Hope and I

say ironically because I daresay those who pay income tax don't have

much hope! And this Income Tax which was introduced in 1886

continued.

The interesting part was that it was administered by the Land

Revenue Officers and only in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta as they

were then known did we have a separate Income Tax Administration to

administer the Act. The 1886 Act continued till 1918 and then we had the

modern Income Tax Act of 1922 which continued till 1960 when it was

replaced by the present enactment. There were major amendments in

between but 1922 Act was, if one may say so, the mother of Income tax

Acts as far as India is concerned.

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A few things about the past and let us see what they were. The

first series of tax reports were called Income Tax Cases – 10 volumes, only

10 volumes covering the period from 1886 to 1937. So ten volumes

covering 51 or 52 years. The first volume was the period from 1886 to

1924. In contrast, the ITR (Income Tax Reports) which started in 1933

today in 2012 about 80 years later has already covered, if I am correct,

348 volumes which is the one which is one going on today. This shows

the increase in the number of cases and if I may just give you a few

statistics on this when the Income Tax Report started in 1933 there was

one volume per year. It is increased to two volumes in 1950. Today in

2011, if my counting is right, there were 10 volumes in 2011 and these 10

volumes covered 5932 pages of reports. Contrast this with when we

had the first Income Tax for 38 years it reported 103 cases in just 700

pages. So therefore this is the exponential explosion of tax cases. I am

only now referring to Income Tax Reports (ITRs), as you are aware

there are so many other magazines which bring out Income Tax

Reports, Tribunal reports etc. and I don't know whether in the future

we will have Assessment Orders which will be brought out. When it

started the Income Tax in India we had the Officer of course, and there

was the Appellate Assistant Commissioner and a second appeal to the

Commissioner that was done away in 1941 when the Income Tax

Appellate Tribunal was founded with headquarters in Bombay near

Church Gate.

The jurisdiction of the Tribunal continued as a Second

Appellate Authority, has continued. After this in 1998 the Reference

jurisdiction in the High Court was changed to that of the Appellate

jurisdiction and this again meant that several cases started filling up in

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the High Court. Because the High Court now became an Appellate

court, it had to admit an appeal and then the appeal had to be decided.

Previously the Tribunal would refer a statement of the case on which

the High Court would pronounce its judgment.

There is a move now to substitute the Tribunal by a National

Tax Tribunal and to take away the High Court's jurisdiction. Left to

myself, I think it is a retrograde step because the matters argued in the

High Court where a Judge is open to all laws, where there are proper

hearings, I think is certainly more productive than having a National

Tax Tribunal but that is my view.

In so far as the rates of tax are concerned it makes interesting

reading. When we first had the Income Tax Act the rate was 2% with

the basic exemption up to 200 rupees and thereafter 4% the maximum

rate above 500 rupees. This was the rate at that point of time. Under the

1930 and 1918 Act the maximum marginal rate was 6.25% so those of

whom you recollect old coinage it was one Anna in the rupee and it

operated as when an income crossed Rs.25,000 the maximum marginal

rate came into being. In contrast, between1972-1974 the income tax rate

was 97.5% at the maximum level which was on income over 1.32 lakhs.

So if you had a wealth of about 19 lakhs you attracted the maximum

wealth tax at 8% and income tax at the rate of 97.5% and if your income

was Rs 3 lakhs your total tax outgo was Rs.3,07,500 and therefore, to

pay that extra Rs.7,000 you either would have to borrow money or sell

some asset which in turn would have given rise to a capital gain. So there

would have been as it were a geometric progression in which you would

have to work out when you would break even. Initially therefore, one

could say that there was a partnership between the Revenue and the

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assessee and the assessee was a junior Partner. Then came a time when

he was a person who did not draw any salary or any income because if he

was in the maximum marginal rate he would take home nothing. Now

of course that has been resolved to some extent and I think this was the

consequence of our flirtation with socialism. Forgetting that nobody,

nobody at all wants to pay more tax than what he can earn or to part

with to the government even more than 50% of what he earns and there

was a very interesting cartoon at that time. You saw a tax officer and you

saw the assessee opposite to him. Assessee gets up at the end and says

“sir you keep the money I will keep the tax”. So that was the position and this

had a very deleterious effect. In the sense that, avoiding tax people

almost felt was socially justifiable if this was the rates which you had to

face I am not justifying it and I think it is wrong if you don't obey the law

but then you must remember that human beings are human beings and

you cannot possibly foist on them this type of liability. It was Justice

Holmes who said that “tax is what we pay for civilization of our society. I like to st

pay taxes when with them I buy civilization.” Mr. C.K Dafthari, 1 Solicitor-

General, in a speech once said 'Yes, this is what Justice Holmes said but when I

looked around I feel I really don't want to buy today's civilization'. Sri Leo Mane

in giving evidence before the Royal Commission in the UK stated that

taxation was the best expenditure he made and he got more satisfaction

from it than from any other expenditure made by him. Let's go back to

India where in CWT Vs Arvind Naroothum 173 ITR 479 and 487, Justice

Sabyasachi Mukherjee observed that 'the question which many ordinary

taxpayers very often in a country of shortage with ostentatious consumptions had

deprivation for the large masses ask is does he with taxes by civilization or does he

facilitate the waste and ostentation of the few unless waste and ostentation in

Governments spending are avoided or is eschewed, no amount of moral sermons

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would change people's attitude to tax avoidance'. Mr.Palkivala in the

introduction to his book wryly observes 'a widespread taste for tax promises

to be a thing of slow growth'. Therefore, one has to realize that you cannot

impose tax beyond a limit because then it becomes regressive and as I

say on a social level, it is the worst thing if your child openly knows that

you are avoiding tax because you are thereby breeding a group of people

who will not respect the law and I feel respect for the law is has to be the

basis of all living. I do not know the position in Chennai but in Bombay

simple observance of simple say a traffic regulation “No Entry” it means

you don't enter but nobody ever listens to it and it is the small things I

think which leaves an impression on our young so that when they

become old they think even the bigger offences are no problem at all.

However let me now summarize, let me go back to what we are

supposed to deal with.

Now one small way in which you will see how tax rates

multiply. You are aware today, there is the Section 115JB with regard to

Book Profit. It was introduced in Assessment Year 2006-07, the rate was

7.5%. Today, 6 years later, the Book Profit tax rate is 18%. This is I

suppose a classic instance of the thin end of the wedge, you introduce

something at 7.5 and before you know anything it has climbed up to 18.5.

In 1994, Service Tax was introduced. Three services and the rate of tax

was 5%. Today it has climbed. In 2011, it covered not three services but

some 194 services. So this is the position, this is how the tax multiplied.

We have had other direct taxes. As you are aware, there was an

Expenditure Tax from 1957 to 1966. The Gift Tax Act from 1958 to 1998.

The Wealth Tax Act was introduced in 1957 and is still with us, though

from 1993 in a much diluted form. These three taxes were introduced at

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the suggestion of Prof. Nicholas Caldor. Estate Duty was introduced in

1953 and repealed in 1985. In 1987 a tax applicable to expenditure

incurred in certain hotels or restaurants was introduced. Interest tax

Act was introduced in 1974 and ultimately repealed in 2000. Super

Profit Tax was introduced in 1963, substituted by the Sales Tax Act in

1964 and ultimately again repealed in 1988. So these have been the other

minor taxes in looking at our past income tax position.

An interesting phenomenon has been certain taxes introduced

certain provisions introduced in the Income Tax Act to combat certain

malpractices. In 1972, Chapter 20A was introduced providing for

purchase of immovable properties. It was compulsory acquisition, not

really purchase, but acquisition of immovable properties. If there was a

difference of 15% between the sale price and what was considered to be

the market price. This Chapter 20A was substituted later by Chapter

20C which was compulsory purchase of immovable properties. The

purpose was to curb black money. Now we have gone through various

phases for unearthing black money. There has been Voluntary

Disclosure Schemes starting from 1951 which was called the “Thyagi

Scheme”. Thereafter, for 14 years, there was no scheme but in 1965 there

were 3 schemes; there was one first of all by the Finance Act 1965 what

was known as 60/40 scheme – you gave up 60 and kept 40. Thereafter,

by the Finance (No. 2) Act 1965 another scheme was introduced and

then by the Tax laws (Amendment) Act of 1965 voluntary disclosures

were again provided for. So in 1965 there were three schemes. Then

there was a Voluntary Disclosure of Income and Wealth Ordinance in

1975 and in 1981, a special Bearer Bonds Act was passed wherein you

subscribed for special bearer bonds, got no interest but then got the face

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value back after 20 years. So the interest loss was the tax which you

were supposed to have paid. And then there was the Voluntary

Disclosure of Income Scheme in 1997, followed by the Kar Vivad scheme

so there have been three schemes and then seven schemes and the total

amount which the schemes have yielded was reported in the decision in

the case of All India Federation of Tax Practitioners V.Union of India reported

in 228 ITR 68& 231 ITR 24, that the total amount of black money at that

point of time which was estimated was 5 lakh crores. But the seven

schemes yielded all told Rs.35,000 crores. So therefore the Voluntary

Disclosure Schemes achieved nothing monetarily and are a great

damper to the person who has paid the tax honestly because he finds

that the person who hasn't paid his tax is ultimately out of pocket to a

lesser extent than the person who has paid the tax. So if it did achieve

monetarily something then one may say 'Ok, it at least does something' but if

it doesn't do anything monetarily introducing Voluntary Disclosure

schemes doesn't seem to achieve much purpose and from 1997 we don't

have any such scheme though there always rumors going around the

such a scheme is likely to come in.

What is necessary to curb black money? What should be done?

I'm now going a little into the future because the topic is past & future. I

think whenever there is something detected, complete assessment

must be made, scrutiny done and prosecutions launched and not just

launched but pursued effectively. Today we have prosecutions

launched which are there for 15 years and what has it achieved?

Ultimately, as you must have noticed also, very often your assessee asks

you 'What is the penalty? If the penalty is Rs.10000/-, let's do it. It doesn't matter if

we have to pay the penalty'. So you don't judge the fact that by being charged

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penalty, you are labeled as someone who hasn't obeyed the law. If you

have only Rs.10000/- outgo, well let's do it monetarily. So it is judged

monetarily and not morally.

So prosecution, strict prosecution, and a provision that if in a

prosecution of any type you have been found guilty you should not be

able to contest an election unless the Appellate Court gives you

permission to do so. Because today we find that prosecutions launched

in1992-93, still pending, and when you say 'Why are you contesting for public

office?, the answer is 'I have not been found guilty as yet'. So therefore the

incentive to delay proceedings will not be there if there is something

which is visited on you adversely if the case is not decided within a

reasonable time. So therefore prosecution I think is the only alternative

and pursued rigorously because very often after 15 years you don't find

the witnesses, you don't find evidence, the papers are lost. So I would

think this is the only alternative which has to be pursued and pursued

diligently.

There has been today, when you look at the history of income

tax, today there is a development which is quite different from local

income tax. This is the various Double Tax Avoidance Agreements

(DTAA's) which we have concluded. Today India has concluded about

105 DTAA's out of which 20 are limited in sense of air traffic or shipping

or some such particular purpose. We have got therefore about 80 to 85

Double Tax Avoidance Agreements in operation and Supreme Court in

263 ITR 706 UOI Vs. Azadi bachao Andolan says that DTAA has primacy

and if under the DTAA tax liability is not there it cannot be under the

Income Tax Act. What is more significant is they said that even if certain

income is not assessable in other country, the DTAA will apply. In short

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the argument was that the DTAA means you avoid double tax but if

there is no tax in that other country and still India doesn't charge tax

that means that there is an avoidance of tax completely. The Supreme

Court said that this is the very purpose; the purpose of the Double Tax

Avoidance Agreement is to vest tax jurisdiction in different countries.

So A& B have a Double Tax Avoidance Agreement and if it is said that A

will tax this income, it means B will not tax it. That is the only way in

which you have avoidance and even though A may not tax it the

Supreme Court said still the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement will be

fulfilled. This case arose primarily on account of the Mauritius Double

Taxation Avoidance Agreement under which people resident in several

countries would come into India and invest in India through Mauritius

because in Mauritius there was no capital gains tax. The Delhi High

Court struck down that this was not permissible; the Supreme Court

upheld the DTAA and the interesting part there is that it is the Union of

India which came up in appeal to the Supreme Court. The UOI said 'Yes,

yes. Mauritius treaty is there and it has to be enforced' and the Union of India

said that 'If you prove that you are a resident of Mauritius by producing a certificate

that is sufficient. Even though you may be an American citizen, if you come into India

through a company floated in Mauritius that is alright'. So this has been stand of

the Union of India and nowadays we hear voices about Union of India

saying 'This is not correct' but then Union of India should put an end to the

Treaty. You cannot have the treaty in force and still hesitate to

implement it. Which brings me to another aspect of what is called

'treaty override'. Can you have a local Act which overrides the treaty?

India enters in to an agreement with Country A which it provides for

certain relief. Can India unilaterally pass legislation to say 'No, no. This will

be taxable'. Let me tell you, today it seems to be permissible but to me it

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seems wholly inappropriate because what is a Double taxation

Avoidance Agreement? It is an agreement between two Parties, two

high Parties - the Governments. Can one Party to the contract say 'Yes, I

have entered in to this contract but from tomorrow I say this will be the position'? So

you cannot have, I think, a DTAA overridden by local taxation but it

seems to be accepted internationally. Let me tell you, that one can have

legislation which overrules what the Treaty provides but it must say so

specifically.

There is a constant debate going on about the legitimacy of

avoidance of tax. The view today, definitely seems to be, that it is not the

law that you must pay the maximum possible tax. If you take advantage

of a provision in the law, that is completely permissible and the classic

case on this which has been quoted often, you would have all heard

about it, the Duke of West Minister's case. Very interesting. In England if

you paid salary to a private employee you obviously did not get

deduction but if give an annuity to a private employee, you would get a

deduction. So the Duke of West Minister told his gardener 'I will not give

you a salary now. You will get a fixed annuity every year and because your salary

would normally have gone up. You will not be getting an increase in your salary. So I

will introduce another annuity after five years to compensate you for the salary

which you lost'. And the Court upheld it and said that he is getting an

annuity and therefore he must get a deduction. Obviously this did not

quite appeal to Justice Chinnappa Reddy and therefore in the famous

McDowell case, he delivered the judgment wherein he said tax avoidance

is not proper. Tax avoidance means liability shifted to other people and

it is to be frowned upon. With utmost respect, utmost respect, the

Judgment reads almost like an essay rather than a judgment because it

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picks up passages from English decisions to say this is the harmful effect

of tax avoidance. The Supreme Court Azadi Bachao Andolan held that

what Justice Chinnappa Reddy said is not the view of the Supreme

Court and it is the other 4 judges' views which must be accepted as the

right decision of McDowell's. So the high spirit which McDowell's had

created to some extent was reduced to some degree of sobriety but of

course the ticklish point is that if there was a judgment of 5 Judges as in

McDowell's was it open to a judgment of 2 Judges to water it down. But it

has been accepted McDowell's is watered down. It is no longer the high

spirit and therefore, now, tax avoidance has been accepted as the norm -

not the norm, sorry, tax avoidance is accepted as permissible and that

was brought out very cogently in the decision in the case of Walfort.

What happened there? In that case because dividend is not taxable the

assessee purchased units of mutual funds just a day before or on the day

of declaration of dividend. Collected the dividend which was tax free

and on that next day sold the unit. So when he purchased the unit, his

price would be Rs. 105, which will include dividend of Rs. 5 and he

collected the dividend of Rs 5 and then because dividend was declared,

the price would go down to Rs 100. So he sold units for Rs 100 and

claimed a loss of Rs. 5 because he purchased at Rs 105 and sold at Rs 100,

the Rs 5 dividend being not taxable. The Supreme Court said that it is

perfectly permissible: you are taking advantage of a provision under the

law and therefore you cannot be faulted. So therefore now tax avoidance

is not considered immoral and not considered bad and certainly I would

subscribe to that view because I am entitled to adjust my affairs so as to

pay the least possible tax.

In the past, what would we say are the landmark Court

decisions. Very difficult to enumerate. Everybody would have their own

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view but I myself view would put these judgments as landmarks. One is

the decision in the case of Srinivasa Chetty 128 ITR 294, where the Supreme

Court held that there would be no capital gain if you cannot determine

the cost of an asset. This is of course not the brainchild of the Supreme

Court. The Madras High Court had, way back in 71 ITR 433 in the case

C.I.T. Vs. Rathnam Nadar , taken the same view and then the Supreme

Court followed it up in Sunil Siddharthbhai 156 ITR 509 by saying that , 'if

you cannot determine the full value of consideration (ie) the sale price then there

cannot be a capital gain'. So therefore when a person enters into a

partnership, there is no question of determining what is the sale price?

So in effect the Supreme Court, in these two decisions, held that you

cannot have a capital gain liability if the cost of that asset cannot be

determined or what you are to receive on transfer of the asset cannot be

determined. In Empire Jute 124 ITR 1, the Supreme Court said that an

expenditure is not capital expenditure even though it results in benefit

of an enduring nature. Till that point of time, one of the tests was 'Does it

result in the benefit of an enduring nature? If so, it is capital expenditure' but the

Supreme Court said no. The Bombay High Court in Hindustan Lever's case

268 ITR 332 put the position regarding Section 148 notices in

perspective. It said you have to look only at the reasons recorded by the

officer, because he is bound to record reasons, for determining whether

reopening an assessment under 148 is valid. An assessment is concluded

it can be reopened by a notice u/s 148 but the Bombay High Court said

only look at the reasons recorded and nothing else. Further the Bombay

High Court said that the reasons must disclose exactly why he has

reopened and only on that footing the sustainability of the notice has to

be judged. The decision of Supreme Court in Tuticorin Alkali Chemical and

Fertilizers 227 ITR 172 wherein the Supreme Court said that whatever be

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the Accounting treatment even though the Institute of Chartered

Accountants may say 'you must disclose this in a particular manner', whether

an amount is taxable or an expenditure is deductible has to be judged on

the wording of the statute and not the entries that you passed. Finally in

E.D.Sassoon case, this was way back in 26 ITR 27, the Supreme Court

said that what is accrual of income? They said an income accrues only if

a debt is created in your favour. So unless a debt is created which you

can enforce, there can be no accrual of income, and as you are aware,

income can be taxed on Accrual or Actual receipt. What is receipt, there

is no problem, you have received income. What is accrued was the

problem and unless there is a debt in your favour there is no accrual. So

this is very landmark judgment and finally the Supreme Court's

judgment in Radhaswamy Satsang 193 ITR 321 wherein the Supreme

Court said that even though there is nothing like Res Judicata, which

means that if something has been decided in the past the Officer can

take a different view in the next year, but it is said that there are certain

basic things on which you cannot interfere year to year. Example:

'What is your status?' Are you a charitable trust? You are a charitable thtrust for 10 years, in the 11 year the Officer cannot suddenly say “No no,

you are not a charitable Trust” because that goes to the basic thing. Most

unfortunately, and I don't know why, at the end of the last paragraph of

the judgment the Supreme Court says that we are not laying down

generally the law but on the facts of this case. Now it beats me how the

Supreme Court cannot lay down the law. The Supreme Court is the

authority for laying down the law. How can you say 'We are deciding this.

We are expressing this legal opinion but it does not lay down the law'. So therefore

it is a landmark judgment and one would say it is also a judgment the

last paragraph of which is a forgettable thing because that is not how

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the Supreme Court must give its verdict. You often find other Courts say

'we are only deciding on the facts of this case' but the Supreme Court, obviously

it has to decide on the facts of the case but it cannot be any two doubts

about it, you can't decide on any other facts, but you cannot say that it

applies only to these particular facts because you lay down the law for

the country. The Supreme Court under Article 141 lays down the law

enforceable in the country. And one more judgment, Marshall Sons. 195

ITR 417. Now, why is that important? Because today as you know a large

number of amalgamations take place and the question arises 'when is the stamalgamation operative?' Because you may decide on 1 January to

amalgamate but ultimately by the time the Court's order comes it may stbe the succeeding 1 January or may be even beyond that. So the Supreme

Court said 'whatever you lay down as the operative date in the Scheme will be the

date of the Scheme'. So again, overriding the view which was normally it is

only on the Court's order that the amalgamation is effective, the

Supreme Court said no. So these I think are really memorable cases

where the Supreme Court has laid down the law. Only two more I will

refer to Mahendra Mills 243 ITR 56 where Supreme Court said, and please

hold your breath now, that it is the duty of an Officer to tell an assessee if

he has not made a claim or if he is entitled to a relief it the duty of the

Officer to bring that to the notice of the assessee. Now this is the type of

law which has to be enforced and when do you come across such a case

and I don't refer to the much touted Vodafone case because the

legislature has at the moment rendered it almost non-operative by the

amendments which it has made but otherwise again the judgment

which is of laying down law to great extent. Now also what are the

judgments which are forgettable, I said which are memorable, some

which are forgettable. One is of the Supreme Court in the case of Goetze

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(India) 284 ITR 323 and what did the Supreme Court laid down there?

That if you file the Return and thereafter you want to make a further

claim you must file a revised Return. You cannot do it by letter. So

therefore you file the Return and thereafter notice that you have omitted

to return an item of Rs. 1000. You write to the Officer 'please this is a

mistake I have made, please add this 1000 Rupees', you cannot do that. You have

to file a revised Return including this Rs.1000. Revised Return today

means filling up a document of about 30 pages because revised Return

means you have to fill up everything. Now, why not file a revised return

because once you file a revised return he gets further time to make the

assessment. So for that 1000 rupees he will get one more year to make the

assessment. So if you don't obviously so want that sword to hang over

you. And what is the surprising part is that the Supreme Court

thereafter says that this will not prevent you from raising the claim

before the Commissioner in appeal. So you can't raise it before the

Assessing Officer by writing a letter but you can raise the same claim

before the Commissioner in your grounds of appeal. To me, it doesn't

make sense but this is what the Supreme Court has held. The Supreme

Court held in GKN Driveshaft(India) Ltd that if a notice is served under

Section 148 for reopening an assessment, you must first write to the

Officer for the reasons which is perfectly correct, which was always the

law. After you filed the Return, again the law was always that you can

get the reason after you filed the return but under the law then after you

got the reasons you can go straight to the Court to challenge it. Supreme

Court says no, after you get the reasons you must file objections before

the Officer and the Officer will dispose off those objections and then you

can come to the Court. Now I wonder whether there is a single case

where a person has objected to notice for reopening an assessment and

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the Officer has held 'Yes, yes. You are right and I am withdrawing the notice'. I

have not come across a single case and I don't know whether you have.

Therefore it is a meaningless exercise and about time we put an end to it.

Then the Supreme Court in Reliance Jute took this view that in Reliance

Jute Industries the position was that the assessee had incurred a loss and

at that point of time the assessee was permitted to carry forward that

loss for set-off in the future without any limitation of time.

Subsequently, they introduced the limitation that you cannot carry

forward beyond 6 years. The loss was incurred in 1950, the assessee

claimed set-off in 1958. They said 'Too bad, 6 years have gone by and the law is

now changed'. I would think however that once I incurred the loss in 1950

and there was no time limit for set-off I have got this vested right to carry

it forward. How can you now interfere with my vested right? But the

Supreme Court said “no, we will apply the law at the time of set-off”. To me it

doesn't seem to be correct because to me it would seem that if I have got

a right, you cannot take it away it unless specifically some legislation is

passed to that effect and there was no such legislation that this will also

apply to carry forward from the past and consider this. Loss incurred in

1950 of One Crore of rupees, I set off 10 lakh in 1954, 10 lakhs in 1955 and

10 lakh in 1956. I come to 1957 when I have got 70 lakhs income which I

now want to set-off and they say 'No, no, 70 lakhs you cannot set-off but the

three 10 lakhs you set-off was within six years and at that time there was no bar but

this you cannot set-off!'. To me it does not seem to make sense and it is a

matter which certainly requires reconsideration. Fortunately in the

Code which is proposed they have done away with this limitation of

period of carry forward. Today only a business loss can be carried

forward. In the Code it is provided that even a loss under the head 'Other

Sources' can be carried forward. So therefore that is certainly the two

redeeming features of the Code, I can't see many more in it.

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Now what of the future, because I have been asked to speak on

the past and the future. The first is that delay in proceedings should be

avoided. Now today you will find in the High Court's fifty percent of the

writ petition deal with items which can be disposed of without having

to go to the High Court. Stay of recovery - why should not the Tribunal

be empowered to grant Stay of recovery in all matters? Whether the

matter is before the Tribunal or not before the Tribunal, or if an

assessment is not to take place – stay of making of an assessment - why

can you not appeal to the tribunal against the refusal? So vest

jurisdiction in the Tribunal to do that. Section 148 notice, no remedy

under the Act, you have to go to the High Court by way of a Writ. So,

today the pendency in the High Court is tremendous. If this work is

taken away and the tribunal is entrusted with that power I would think

50% of the Writ petitions will go away because whether a notice is

valid, whether Stay should be there are not some great judicial

momentous matters which are to be decided. The Tribunal would

decide the issue and obviously if one wants to go to the High Court from

there one can but basic power should be vested in the Tribunal.

Question may arise, will the Tribunal be able to take the extra load.

Obviously yes, because we find that today the sanctioned strength of

the Tribunal is 126 Members but as I understand, unless my

mathematics is wrong and which it probably is, there are only 86

members functioning so there are 40 vacancies. Obviously, therefore,

there is hope for loading more work on the Tribunal if these vacancies

are filled up and I don't see why it should not be. After all for an appeal to

the Tribunal if your income exceeds a certain amount, which is not very

much, you have to pay a fee of Rupees 10000. So charge a fee, whatever

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you want. On the charging of fee again I have some peculiar views. The

State is collecting tax. Is it not the duty of the State to provide a

machinery to determine whether it is properly collected without

imposing a fee? It is a right of an assessee to have it properly determined.

The State is collecting the tax and the State is also levying a fee for the

determining the correct amount to be collected. To me it doesn't seem to

be correct but if it has to be a fee, have a fee but please fill up the number

of posts and vest further jurisdiction in the Tribunal so that delay in the

High Court level is avoided and today it is almost impossible for an

individual to take up a tax matter in the High Court because it will be

probably 15 years before the High Court decides and another 6 years

before the Supreme Court decides and obviously no litigant, a private

litigant, can wait for 20 years for a matter to be decided. I mean you

don't want to leave the tax litigation as a legacy. So therefore, quicker

disposal and this is one method where the clogging is at the High Court.

In so far as the Tribunals are concerned a little research showed me that

in 1998 - 99 there were 3 lakh cases pending. 3 lakh in 1998-99 which has

been reduced 68,000 in 15 years. So obviously the Tribunal is disposing

off far more than the appeals which are filed before the Tribunal.

Another suggestion. Today as I said the jurisdiction of the

Tribunal from appeal, you don't have a reference to the High Court; you

have an appeal, which means High Court has to first admit the appeal,

thereafter decide the appeal. So there are two hearings. Why not let the

Tribunal determine whether leave should be granted to go to the High

Court, then the hearing in the High Court about granting of leave will go

away. So you will reduce this one tier of hearing and always you can

apply for leave to a lower court to go to a higher court and therefore I

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would think this is something which can be implemented without

much difficulty. Then in so far as Stay is concerned it is most essential

that there should be a proper mechanism in place because it may do to

an ordinary individual if premature recovery is made, and thereafter you

win the appeal, it is no consolation to get back the money afterwards

even with interest because you are out of pocket for that 10 years. For

company it's ok but for an individual it is disastrous. Now you have got

the Authority for Advance Rulings but only a non-resident can go to

that authority to determine what would be his tax liability in a certain

set of circumstances. A resident can go only for determining his liability

qua a non-resident, not his liability as such. Why should not a resident

be able to get an advance ruling so that he knows this is the law - I will

do this or I will not do this depending upon what the position is. Why

should he be faced with doing something and then finding a tax liability

on it. I do not see any reason why a resident should not have facility to go

to the Authority for Advance Rulings. I think this is a change which in

the future is most called for. Then one thing which must have rankled all

of you is about credit for tax deducted at source. Government tells a

person who pays you money 'deduct tax at source', so he is an agent of the

Government. I am not telling him to deduct tax at source; he is an agent

of the Government. He deducts tax, pays me the balance amount but

does not give me the Certificate. He is supposed to get me a Tax

Deduction Certificate but he does not. I cannot file that Certificate so I

do not get the credit because the Government says, actually it is the

view which the Officers take, that unless you file the Certificates we

will not give you credit. But then it is not in my hands to get the credit

Certificate and the law says that if tax has been deducted at source and

the assessee will not be called upon to pay the tax himself. Now how

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they interpret it is this; that if I have got a refund due to me, let us say of

Rs.1000, and I have not filed a Tax Deduction Certificate of Rs 300, they

will give me a refund only of Rs.700 because they say I am not giving you

credit for this Rs 300, I am reducing your refund and I am not recovering

tax from you but surely if you give me lesser refund than due you are

recovering tax from me. So I think this is matter in the future one must

have a specific provision that once the tax is deducted at source and it is

proved that it is deducted at source credit must be given. Now how do

you prove it? By the simple fact that when you file a Return of Income

you will say my total income is Rs.100, tax deducted at source is Rs.15

and therefore Rs.85 is what I have received and 100 includes 15. He will

tax Rs.100 as my income, therefore he accepts that Rs.15 is tax deducted

at source but doesn't give me credit for Rs.15 because I have not filed the

tax certificate. Now this is where I think in the future something has to

be laid down in the law that you must give credit if tax has been

deducted at source and this is an aspect of tax compliance because if you

feel that I have been short-cheated - Short-cheated how? Not getting a

credit which I am entitled to. I have some animosity there. “What is this

income tax? If this basic thing I cannot get, basic that tax is deducted by

me from my income by your agent and the Department can recover the

amount from the agent.” Full powers are given to charge penalty if the

agent has not paid the amount. So therefore this is one aspect where a

change in the law is called for. Then there are a few unjust provisions

which I think again require something to be done in the future. There is

a provision in Section 56 that if a person receives from a non-relative in

the year more than Rs.50000 without consideration it is his income. So

today if you want to help someone who is a non-relative and who has

incurred hospital expenses or whose child is being educated and you

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give him Rs. 50000 or Rs.60000 he will have to pay tax on it. Now I see

no justification for that. When the provision was introduced it was

stated that people are sending money outside India and getting it back

as gifts and therefore making black money white. If that is the purpose,

confine it to that. Why lay down a general law that any person who

receives more than 50000 without consideration must pay tax on it. It

is an indirect gift tax which you are bringing in. Therefore I think it is

one thing which has to be seriously considered. For the last 15 years I

think there was something about international taxation which I don't

think I will trouble you.

Now for the last 15 years an effort has been going on to have a

new IT legislation. In 1996 - let me give you some history - an expert

group was constituted to examine existing Income Tax structure and to th

suggest changes. This was in 1996. The report was submitted on 14

February 1997. In August 1997 a working draft of the Income Tax Bill

was prepared in 1997. It is not been introduced in parliament, it is just

languishing. Thereafter in 2002 they set up what is called the Kelkar

Committee; it submitted its report in December 2002. Nothing has been

done on that. Then in 2009 we suddenly have the Direct Tax Code and

in 2010 an Amendment to the Direct Tax Code which is now supposed

to be taken up by Parliament. My only grievance with the Direct Tax

Code is this, that things have been interpreted in the Act in our Income

Tax Act right from 1922. Now in the Direct Tax Code, in the guise of

simplicity, they have changed the wording. End is the same but the

wording has been changed. Now you will appreciate that if you change

the wording of a statute, legal ingenuity will always find some loop hole

to have another round of argument on it. So when things have settled

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down why change the language in the guise that now we are

introducing something simple.

And Mr. Chidambaram when this was introduced said 'Don't

discuss the wordings, discuss the policy' but the Income Tax Act is enforced on

its wordings. One doesn't go to the policy to enforce the Act. So

therefore it is the wording which has to be seen and if you change the

wording you are upsetting what has already been laid down and

therefore if I might now speculate issues on which I said there were

memorable decisions, forgettable decisions in the past. Issues on which

we would hope to get decisions in the future. One issue is, if you will

pardon me for few minutes, that there is now what is introduced

'Transfer pricing' and the Section says the price, the income, arising

from for a particular transaction will be determined in the following

manner Now the issue is if the section says 'income arising from a

transaction'. Does it mean that income must arise and then you determine

its quantum. In other words, if you don't charge anything there is no

question of Transfer Pricing because the Section enables you to

substitute one price with another price. It does not empower you to

insert a price when there is no price. So this is one aspect where one

hopefully looks to the Supreme Court to lay down this law. Then

whether you are aware today in dividends the company pays tax and

you get the dividend after the tax has been paid by the company. A

decision from the Supreme Court that actually the dividend has been

subjected to tax because just now the view is taken that dividend is not

subjected to tax because you don't pay tax on that and you may say what

is the consequence? The consequence is this; that you have if you have

borrowed money to buy a share and pay interest and you get dividend

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form the company you cannot claim interest as a deduction because

Section 14A says you will not get expenditure as a deduction if the

income is not taxable. So if you take the view that the dividend is not

taxable then I then I don't get the deduction but the dividend is taxed

only the tax is paid by the company instead of the shareholder. So this is

one aspect where one hopes perhaps the Supreme Court can look into

the matter and the last what I have already submitted, that credit must

be given for tax which has been deducted irrespective of whether

Certificate is filed or Certificate is not filed as long as you prove that the

tax has, in fact, been deducted.

In conclusion, if I may just add a few sentences. I was not privileged to

have intimate contact with Mr. Ramamani but I still recollect two

occasions. One was in I think in Ooty, particularly, where there was a

conference Mr. Ramamani was there, Mr. Sarangan was there, where I

was there. Where I, who was the late riser, was persuaded by Mr.

Ramamani that we will go out for a walk at 6:00am in the morning. So I

went and I am really glad that I did because it was on those two days, on

those two walks, I had the most stimulating conversation and learned

so much which I did not know about law and life. And therefore I would

pay my humble tribute to Mr. Ramamani. Thank you very much ladies

and Gentlemen.

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