Declaration Of Assets And Liabilities: Fill & Download for Free

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently voluntarily declared his assets and liabilities along with his cabinet colleagues. PM Modi's wealth is worth nearly ₹2.85 crore as of June 30, 2020, up from ₹2.49 crore worth of assets declared by him in 2019. The increase in assets is largely due to increase in his bank balance and addition in the value of his bank fixed deposits.PM Narendra Modi richer than last year --4 money mantras you can learn from PMFixed DepositsNational Savings CertificatesLife insuranceTax-saving Infra bonds

Let us first look at the similarity and difference between Profit and Loss Account and Capital Reserve.Similarity - Both are shown under the head Reserves & Surplus on the liabilities side of the Balance Sheet.Difference - Profit and Loss Account can be utilized for declaration of dividend but Capital Reserve cannot be.Hence if the profit is available for declaration of dividend, then it has to be transferred to Profit and Loss Account.Which profit can be used for declaring dividends?Section 2(43) of the Companies Act defines - “Free Reserves” as“free reserves” means such reserves which, as per the latest audited balancesheet of a company, are available for distribution as dividend:Provided that—(i) any amount representing unrealised gains, notional gains or revaluationof assets, whether shown as a reserve or otherwise, or(ii) any change in carrying amount of an asset or of a liability recognisedin equity, including surplus in profit and loss account on measurement of theasset or the liability at fair value, shall not be treated as free reserves.Hence in simple terms, realized profit can be transferred to Profit and Loss Account.Lets say a machine [fixed asset] is shown in the balance sheet at Rs. 1,00,000 [book value].The market value of the same is Rs. 2,00,000.Case 1 - X ltd sells the machine for Rs. 2,00,000.Revised Balance SheetCase 2 - X ltd revalues the machine to Rs. 2,00,000.Revised Balance SheetIn case 1, X Ltd has actually realized the profit and hence the same is available for dividend.In case 2, it is unrealized profit and hence not available for dividend.Simple!

*Warning for long read *Seven years ago, the word bhrashtachar (corruption) rang out from the streets of Jantar Mantar in Delhi and rippled across the country. This all starting with its two protagonists, Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal, demanded the establishment of an ombudsman to deal with graft by public servants. The high-heated protests put a scare in the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and resulted in the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.The legislation came into force on January 16, 2014. But before the UPA could appoint a Lokpal, it was unseated by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the general election four months later. The NDA is now six months away from completing its own term, but there is still no Lokpal.The act defined public servant to include current and former prime ministers, Union ministers, members of Parliament, government employees and employees of public sector undertakings, and key employees of non-governmental organisations receiving more than Rs 10 lakh a year in foreign contributions, among others. Current public servants will also have to publicly declare their assets and liabilities and those of their spouses and dependent children.HOW LOKPAL WORKSThe Lokpal, under the law, works in accordance with the Central Vigilance Commission(CVC) , and can direct any central agency, including the Central Bureau of Investigation, to look into allegations of graft under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, (amended earlier this year) . The Lokpal can ask the concerned department or ministry to take action against a public servant or, in case of a graver offence, file a chargesheet or ask an investigating agency to do so and initiate prosecution in a special court. So now you can understand the power of Lokpal.India ranks a lowly 81 out of 180 countries and territories on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index.1.)According to the 2013 law, a selection committee comprises of the prime minister, the speaker of the Lok Sabha, the leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, the chief justice or a judge of the Supreme Court and an eminent jurist. The Modi government has been citing the absence of an LoP as the reason for the delay in appointing a Lokpal.Since the Congress, the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha, won less than the requisite tenth of the Lok Sabha seats in 2014, it could not stake a claim to be the LoP. The government has sought to amend the Lokpal Act to replace the LoP with the leader of the largest opposition party, but the amendment has not got Parliament’s nod.2.)The Supreme Court has asked the government to go ahead with the appointment despite the absence of the LoP, as provided for in the law. The selection panel in September set up an eight-member search committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. It also includes including former SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya and Ranjit Kumar. Questions sent to Jitendra Singh, minister of state for personnel, public grievances and pensions, remained unanswered. The ministry is headed by the PM himself. So one thing is clear Govt. itself don't want to pass it no matter what Supreme Court directs them to.3.)Effectiveness :Losing TeethIt also loses its effectiveness on coming far from 1972 to 2016. In 2016, an amendment to the Lokpal law was passed, which excluded public servants’ spouses and dependent children from disclosure of assets and liabilities, and said the form and manner of disclosure by public servants would be decided by the government.This amendment was regressive. It’s impossible to catch people red-handed taking bribes. Undoubtedly Government is scared of the Lokpal since it could investigate complaints of corruption.Why it is in NEWS recently?The Lokpal Act has lately been in the news in the context of the controversy in the CBI, with its former director Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana accusing each other of corruption. The government recently sent both on leave.The Congress has alleged that the action against Verma was illegal since the appointment and removal of the CBI director can only be done by a three-member committee consisting of the PM, the LoP or the leader of the single largest opposition party and the Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge nominated by him(Special Police Establishment Act).4.)Just as the Centre has dragged its feet on appointing a Lokpal, several states have done the same with the Lokayukta, with the apex court asking them to expedite the process. Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand have even questioned the need for a Lokayukta. Tamil Nadu passed its Lokayukta Bill only in July and is yet to appoint an officer. Even Odisha, Nagaland and Manipur are yet to appoint their first ombudsmen, a concept dating back to 1809 in Sweden.Some states have had Lokayukta even before the Lokpal Act. Maharashtra was the first state to enact a law for it in 1971. Rajasthan followed suit in 1973, Uttar Pradesh in 1975, Madhya Pradesh in 1981, Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh in 1983 and Karnataka in 1984. Perks of Lokayukta - The Karnataka Lokayukta is believed to be among the most effective Lokayuktas. A report by the then Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hedge in July 2011 in a mining and land scam forced the then chief minister BS Yeddyurappa to resign. It landed him in jail for 24 days. He was acquitted by a CBI court in October 2016. Lokayuktas in different states do not all enjoy the same powers.5.)Moreover, the efficacy of Lokayuktas in tackling corruption has been questioned in the context of very few complaints being filed in the first place. Venkatesh Nayak of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative says most complaints made to the Lokayukta are to do with maladministration and non-availability of government services rather than corruption.People’s aversion to filing corruption complaints is not limited to Lokayuktas alone. An analysis by Nayak of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data between 2001 and 2015 revealed that just 0.06% of the 91.1 million cases registered across the country had to do with corruption. The study noted that there was one corruption case for every six robbery cases, every 10 murder cases and every 11 kidnapping or abduction cases. And only a third of corruption cases that went to trial in the period resulted in a conviction.So the main reason for the delay in appointing Lokpal(Excuse by the then Govt.)One of the members on the selection committee for appointing the Lokpal is the leader of the opposition. Since the post is vacant (no opposition party won the requisite 10% of Lok Sabha seats in 2014), the government has said it cannot appoint a Lokpal till the law is amended to include the leader of the single largest opposition party.