Know Your Rights!!

When I wrote the article about how a woman can outrage another woman's modesty (Link: Outraging Woman's Modesty - Equality in Gender  ) in December 2022, it highlighted how the law adapts to new social issues. A recent Bombay High Court judgment reinforces this by showing that outraging modesty can occur in both physical and digital spaces. In simple terms, an obscene or vulgar email can be seen as an insult to a woman’s modesty. Case Citation: Joseph Paul de Sousa v. The State & Ors. (CrWP 3480 of 2011, Bom) dated 21 st August 2024 Facts of the Case: Joseph Paul de Sousa (petitioner) and Ms Zinnia (respondent no. 2 – an 80-year-old widow), residents of a posh Mumbai cooperative society, had known each other since 1980. Tensions arose when de Sousa allegedly usurped the role of Chairman, previously held by Zinnia's elderly mother, without being elected. The dispute worsened when, on February 7, 2009, Zinnia received an email from de Sousa’s email ID which contained a...

If you're planning to sell a residential property that you've held for more than 24 months, you'll need to be aware of the recent changes introduced in the Union Budget 2024 regarding long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax. Here’s what you need to know, explained in simple terms. New Tax Rules on Property Sales 1. Reduced Tax Rate: The tax rate on long-term capital gains from selling a property has been reduced from 20% to 12.5%. This sounds like good news, right? But there’s a catch. 2. No More Indexation Benefit: Previously, we could adjust the purchase cost of the property for inflation, thanks to the indexation benefit. This adjustment helped reduce our taxable gains and, in turn, the tax we had to pay. But now, this benefit has been removed. 3. An Important Option: After hearing concerns from many, the government decided to offer some relief. Now, we can choose between two tax options: 12.5% tax rate without indexation 20% tax rate with indexation This choice is availab...