Mumbai, March 19: The Maharashtra government has tabled the bill to amend the Maharashtra Stamps Act, 1958. This was necessitated after the Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar in his budget for 2025-26 proposed to mobilise additional revenue by revising stamp duty charged on certain documents.

The bill was presented late Tuesday evening by the Minister of State Yogesh Kadam in the state Assembly.

“Section 4 of the Stamp Act is proposed to be amended with a view to increase the rate of stamp duty, which is fixed long ago at the nominal amount of Rs 100 to Rs 500 in case of supplementary document if more than one document is used to complete the transaction,” reads the bill.

“Sections 10 and 10D of the Stamp Act are proposed to be amended with a view to facilitating online mode for payment (e-payment) and “certificate of stamp duty” in State Government Treasury a new provision for ‘e-stamp certificate’, so that people can pay stamp duty online at any time from anywhere,” reads the bill.

Further, the bill says, “Subsection (1) of section 31 of the Stamp Act is proposed to be amended with a view to increasing the adjudication fee from Rs 100 to Rs 1,000 for changeability of the instrument, applying to have the opinion of the Collector and to provide for depositing the certain amount of stamp duty specified therein while filing an application for adjudication of the executed instrument.”

Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has presented the Rs 7 lakh crore budget for 2025-26 projecting a revenue deficit of Rs 45,891 crore, fiscal deficit of Rs 1.36 lakh crore and debt stock of Rs 9.32 lakh crore.

He had projected the state’s own tax revenue worth Rs 3.87 lakh crore for 2025-26 against the revised estimate of Ra 3.67 lakh crore in 2024-25.

Pawar had said in his budget speech that amid the constraints to propose new taxes or increase the prevailing taxes in the GST regime, he hoped to mobilise additional revenue of around Rs 1,200 crore by proposing revised stamp duty and Motor Vehicle Tax.

New Delhi, March 18: Indian Railways is providing more subsidy to passengers as the cost of travel per km by train is Rs 1.38 but passengers are charged only 73 paise — meaning 47 per cent subsidy, Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw has informed.

The Indian Railways is not only providing safe and quality services to passengers at affordable fares but is also making a distinct identity at the global level, the minister said during the discussion on the working of the Ministry of Railways in the Rajya Sabha.

He mentioned that in India, railway fares are lower compared to neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, whereas in Western countries, they are 10 to 20 times higher than in India.

In the financial year 2022-23, passengers were given a subsidy of Rs 57,000 crore, which increased to approximately Rs 60,000 crore in 2023-24 (provisional figure).

“Our goal is to provide safe and better services at minimal fares,” said the minister.

Highlighting the benefits of railway electrification, the Union Minister said that despite the increasing number of passengers and freight transport, energy costs have remained stable.

The Indian Railways is working on the target of achieving ‘Scope 1 Net Zero’ by 2025 and ‘Scope 2 Net Zero’ by 2030.

He informed that the export of locomotives manufactured at the Madhepura factory in Bihar will begin soon.

Currently, Indian Railways’ passenger coaches are being exported to Mozambique, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, while locomotives are being sent to Mozambique, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Bangladesh.

Apart from this, bogie underframes are being exported to the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, France, and Australia, while propulsion parts are being sent to France, Mexico, Germany, Spain, Romania, and Italy.

This year, 1,400 locomotives have been produced in India, which is more than the combined production of America and Europe.

Along with this, 2 lakh new wagons have been added to the fleet. The Minister stated that in the financial year ending March 31, Indian Railways will transport 1.6 billion tons of cargo, making India one of the top three countries in the world, including China and America.

This reflects the increasing capacity of the railway and its significant role in the logistics sector.

Vaishnaw assured that the railway would emerge as a more modern, safe, and environmentally friendly transportation system in the future.

Mumbai: In a relief for Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and managing director Rajesh Adani, the Bombay High Court on Monday discharged them in a case of alleged violations of market regulations amounting to nearly Rs 388 crore observing that no case of cheating or criminal conspiracy was made out.

In 2012, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) initiated a case against Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) and its promoters, Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani. It filed a chargesheet accusing them of criminal conspiracy and cheating.

Later, in 2019, Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani approached the High Court, seeking to quash a sessions court order from the same year that refused to discharge them from the case. In December 2019, the High Court granted an interim stay until January 13, 2020, which was subsequently extended from time to time.

Justice RN Laddha discharged the two industrialists saying that after evaluating the submissions and the records it is “evident that the complaint fails to satisfy the essential ingredients of the offence of cheating”. The judge said that when the offence of cheating itself is not made out then even the charge of criminal conspiracy becomes unsustainable.

In a detailed order, the HC said: “A fundamental requirement for an offence under section 420 of the IPC (cheating) is the presence of an element of deception, which leads to the victim suffering from loss while the accused gains wrongfully.” It added that in the present case, there is a “conspicuous absence” of any such allegations from an affected party, it added.

“Merely by asserting that the accused has made a wrong gain without demonstrating the corresponding wrongful loss or deception suffered by a specific victim does not suffice to attract the offence of cheating,” the court underlined.

The court turned down SFIO’s request to stay the order to allow them the approach the Supreme Court.

The SFIO had filed a chargesheet in 2012 against 12 accused, including the Adani’s, for allegedly providing funds and shares to Ketan Parekh to facilitate illegal activities in the capital market. They were accused of cheating and criminal conspiracy. However, a local magistrate discharged them from the case in May 2014.

Following an appeal by the SFIO, the sessions court, on November 27, 2019, set aside the magistrate’s order. The sessions court observed that the SFIO had prima facie established a case of “unlawful gain” by the Adani Group promoters and Parekh, amounting to approximately Rs388 crore and Rs151 crore, respectively.

The Adani’s approached the High Court against this order, claiming that the sessions court’s decision was “arbitrary and illegal.” Their plea contended that “except for bald and general allegations of criminal conspiracy, no offence of cheating is disclosed against the petitioners, and the allegations are groundless.”

The case involved allegations of market regulation violations amounting to nearly Rs 388 crore. It stemmed from concerns over regulatory compliance and financial transactions flagged during an investigation.