TATAs a premier industrial house acquired VSNL after due competitive bidding. VSNL's board decided to invest 1,200 crores in Tata Tele Services resulting into a massive dispute as Communication and I.T. Minister alleged it as hasty, immoral and misuse of VSNL's liquid assets to strengthen a TATA group company. TTS is termed as newly born.
Government itself in past as a socialistic welfare measure invested billions in public utility ventures without proper planning and subsequent control and concern about productivity, resulting into huge liabilities and drain on public resources as against creation of useful assets.

In VSNL, government decided to disinvest as a national policy. Now it is a minority shareholder and hence allegation of "assets stripping" is mere opinion, the expression of which is its moral right but the management of business should be left to the decision of the board as an autonomous body.

The government's threat to approach CLB or using veto pressurizes honorable industrial group, which in the present crises has helped the government to liquidate its assets.
Government should publicly declare the kind of disinvestment model whether "Maruti" type or "VSNL" type it prefers and the acquirer should know whether its control is exclusive or partial. In VSNL's case NDA camp itself is divided. Arun Shourie the DM describes it as corporate war in political field.

In fact, post disinvestment, the government's roll should be constructive, convenient and complementary to the business plan of the acquirer. The process of disinvestment is not in its inception. It has been discussed and implemented for past more than 3 years. By this time, there should have been clear cut policy to avoid uncertainties and anxieties so that the process gets momentum and the time, resources and efforts of the whole country, ministry and parliament is not wasted. The lack of capabilities and conscience of the M.P.s to study, discuss and give constructive suggestions to formulate proper law and policies for progress of the nation, is now publicly known as witnessed in passing the recent Finance Act and other legislations.

Similar confusions prevailed while rejecting BPL's bid for VSNL and disinvestment in Modern Foods and BALCO. The centre should learn lesson from experiences. A clear policy will help the subsequent non-NDA government too.

Who will question the 'assets stripping' by centre itself while investing IOCL's funds in GAIL and ONGC and MTNL's funds in MKVNL ?.

Our daily experience has been with the forms of I.T. Returns. The objective of the I.T.Act has been to declare, assess and tax the correct income but the information required to be filled up in the forms keeps on changing every year. The Saral-2 and Saral-3 forms declared last year required voluminous information which the A.O. is empowered to ask a tax payer if selected for scrutiny. Then why all assesses are forced to fill such lengthy details ? Thanks God ! the CBDT realized the FM's past promise for tax payer friendly form of Return and relaxed to a great extent the requirement of furnishing voluminous data. But after how many avoidable hours and efforts of the professionals and business house associations' representations which are now their routine and annual agenda ?