As per the Bar Council of India, we have 9,55,013 practicing lawyers as on 28th November, 2007. However, less than 2% lawyers practice in taxation, which is mainly because of outdated law syllabus in law colleges. It is very unfortunate that in law colleges, taxation is an optional subject, therefore, very few students opt for the same. Apart from Direct Tax, Service Tax, Customs and Central Excise, Foreign Exchange Management Act, Securitisation Act, Value Added Tax (VAT) are the emerging fields of law practices. However, these subjects are not found in the syllabus of law courses.

Today, India is the second fastest growing economy in the world and is advocating and implementing changes to the existing tax framework which will bring India on par with the rest of the world. India is also one of the most favoured destinations for doing the business. Huge investments are expected to flow into India, and Indian entrepreneurs are also acquiring businesses abroad. Inbound investments and outbound investments need the expert advice from various branches of law. Expertisation can be achieved by process of learning and continuous education. Nani Palkhivala National Tax Moot Court Competition is an attempt to motivate the young lawyers to develop the tax practice in the International Taxation, therefore, every year we select the case study on International Taxation issue. To encourage young students and to develop the art of writing article, we have also started with research papers on International Taxation issues. This year’s subject was “Transfer Pricing Regulation – Confluence and conflict between India, OECD and other Countries – A Comparative Study”. Best Paper and Second Best Paper is published in this journal.

In the year 2009, AIFTP (Northern Zone) started Rajaram Agrawal Memorial National Tax Moot Court Competition at Allahabad which was well appreciated by the judiciary and professionals.

To encourage the young lawyers to develop the practice on Indirect Taxation i.e. VAT and Service Tax, All India Federation of Tax Practitioners (Western Zone) in association with Sales Tax Tribunal Bar Association and The Sales Tax Practitioners Association of Maharashtra are also proposing to start a Moot Court Competition in local law colleges. We hope this will encourage the law students to develop the practice on Indirect Taxes.

Income-tax Act, 1961, refers 98 Central Acts and many State legislations. It is always desirable for young professionals to first get acquainted with the general law and thereafter develop on the specialisation. It is an admitted fact that all leading tax lawyers such as Shri R. J. Kolah, Shri N. A. Palkhivala, Shri S. P. Mehta and many others in the earlier years had practiced on General Laws and thereafter specialised in the field of Taxation and even today’s leading tax lawyers practice General Laws in their initial days of practice and thereafter specialised in the field of Taxation.

When Mrs. Parimal Rao was Principal of Government Law College, we have initiated a discussion and we have prepared the blue print of one year diploma course on direct taxes for young Lawyers and Chartered Accountants with practical training of drafting and art of representation, however, due to lack of support from the Government, we could not start the course.

One of the objective of Nani Palkhivala National Tax Moot Court Competition is to bring awareness amongst law students about the values and ethics practiced by Shri N. A. Palkhivala. We hope the students will follow the values and ethics practiced by Late Shri Nani Palkhivala. Our motto is to develop a strong tax bar to meet the challenges of International Taxation and International Law.

Tax Bar is making a sincere attempt to encourage young professionals to develop tax practice. Nani Palkhivala Memorial National Tax Moot Court Competition is an opportunity to young lawyers to develop the tax practice.

Dr. K. Shivaram
Editor-in-Chief