Mediocrity in courts, civil services and universities have to be overcome and legal education must be encouraged in the country to keep pace with the changing norms of the society, former Solicitor General of India Harish Salve has said.
He also said India is facing a number of economic challenges and it is necessary for the legal and regulatory framework to respond to this challenge by developing a progressive tax regime.
"The current taxation regime that we have established was when business was national. Today, business is global and when business including Indian business and corporate sector has become global, there is a need for re-examining the tax regime.
"There is a need for understanding that for multinational corporations and global business enterprises, taxation at the heart of it is a cost of doing business in the country," Salve said while delivering a lecture on the theme of Rule of Law, International Taxation and Global Governance.
"There is mediocrity in courts, civil services and universities. We must focus on continuing legal education," he said, adding that universities and law schools have to play a role in promoting legal education for lawyers and judges.
At the conference organised by Jindal Global Law School, Salve, who has been recently appointed Queens counsel in England, said the regulatory bodies have to create an enabling environment for promoting legal education so that practising lawyers and judges are given exposure to the changing dimensions of globalisation and its implications for international taxation.
The noted jurist, who successfully fought the Income Tax case for Vodafone, discussed the implications of the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court which on January 20 last year held that the I-T Department did not have the jurisdiction to levy Rs 11,000 crore as tax on the overseas deal between Vodafone International Holdings (VIH) and Hutchison Group.
Salve said the verdict instilled a sense of faith and belief to the global community in the ability of Indian judicial process to respond effectively.
Several other eminent judges, academicians, lawyers, C Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor of O P Jindal Global University and law students were also present at the lecture.
