UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 2 : Questions on India-Mauritius relations and Abortion law (Week 48)

QUESTION 2

What is the law on abortions in India? Discuss the recent changes made with reference to the abortions so far.

General points on the structure of the answers

Introduction

QUESTION 1: The amendment to the India-Mauritius treaty signals the keenness to plug the well-known loophole. Discuss.

Introduction:

— India and Mauritius signed a protocol at Port Louis, amending the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between the two nations.

— The amended pact includes the Principal Purpose Test (PPT), which is in line with the global efforts against treaty abuse, particularly under the BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) framework.

— The PPT implies that the tax benefits under the treaty will not be applicable if it is established that obtaining that duty benefit was the principal purpose of any transaction or arrangement.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer:

— Tax treaties are essential to cross-border investment connections because they govern how revenue earned in one nation is treated by residents of another.

— The Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project aimed to stop the exploitation of low-tax jurisdictions for tax avoidance. Since then, the OECD, which was tasked with redesigning international tax laws to advance such reform, has established a list of best practices organised into 15 action points. One of these was the multilateral instrument (MLI), which gave governments the choice of selecting tax treaties and clauses that could be altered appropriately and quickly.

— One of the significant improvements it implemented was the insertion of a provision for preventing treaty misuse as a minimum standard, as well as a revision to the treaties’ preamble. The latter aims to prevent non-taxation or reduced taxation through tax evasion, which includes treaty-shopping arrangements that benefit residents of foreign jurisdictions and anti-abuse regulations that allow tax administrations to withhold treaty benefits in specific instances.

— Treaty benefits, such as lower withholding rates, may not be awarded when it can be reasonably assumed that getting the benefit is one of the main aims of the transaction or arrangement.

— The amendment makes sure the tax administration can look into people’s intentions. In terms of the financial flows from Mauritius, this has proven to be an especially difficult problem. It is frequently advised that taxpayers from different jurisdictions use Mauritius as a conduit for their investments.

Conclusion:

— It is expected that the amendments to the treaty allow the authorities to move beyond the residency certificate and assess the principal purpose of an arrangement or transaction.

— Indian tax law too includes a general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) that was introduced in 2017 to ensure that the spirit of the law is respected.

— STTR (subject to tax rule) is a treaty-based rule that ensures a top-up tax on low-taxed intra-group transactions that are subject to corporate tax rates below the minimum of 9 per cent.

(Source: What India-Mauritius treaty amendments mean for foreign investors by Suranjali Tandon, Why text of amended tax treaty with Mauritius triggered stock sell-offs by Aanchal Magazine)

Points to Ponder

What is STTR?

What is GAAR?

Places in news in Mauritius

What are base erosion and profit shifting?

Related Previous Year Questions

‘India is an age-old friend of Sri Lanka.’ Discuss India’s role in the recent crisis in Sri Lanka in the light of the preceding statement. (2022)

What is the significance of Indo-US defence deals over Indo-Russian defence deals? Discuss with reference to stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (2020)

QUESTION 2: What is the law on abortions in India? Discuss the recent changes made with reference to the abortions so far.

Introduction:

India’s law on abortion

— The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP Act) allows termination of pregnancy in three stages.

— Termination of pregnancy up to 20 weeks is allowed on the advice of one doctor.

— If a pregnancy is 20-24 weeks, the right to seek abortion is determined by two registered medical practitioners as an exception, but only under certain categories. Section 3B of the Rules under the MTP Act lists seven categories of forced pregnancies, including statutory rape in case of minors or sexual assault; women with disabilities; or when there is a change in marital status of women during pregnancy.

— After 24 weeks, the MTP Act requires a medical board to be set up in “approved facilities”, which may “allow or deny termination of pregnancy” only if there is substantial foetal abnormality.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer:

Recent changes

— The Supreme Court has allowed a 14-year-old victim of sexual assault to terminate her almost 30-week pregnancy. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud said it was a “very very exceptional case where we have to protect her (the girl)”.

— The court allowed termination beyond 26 weeks in several cases. A Bench headed by Justice Nagarathna held a special sitting to allow termination of pregnancy of a rape survivor whose pregnancy was at 27 weeks and three days.

— In September 2022, a Bench led by Justice Chandrachud allowed abortion for an unmarried woman who was 24 weeks pregnant, and was in a consensual relationship. The Bench cited “transformative constitutionalism” that promotes and engenders societal change, and said that “the law must remain cognizant of the fact that changes in society have ushered in significant changes in family structures”.

— In 2021, India revised the upper gestational limit for legal abortion to 24 weeks for specific categories of “vulnerable women”, removing them altogether in case of substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by a medical board.

Conclusion:

— In its latest guidelines on abortion care, the WHO recommends that States fully decriminalise abortion and remove grounds-based regulation and gestational limits to abortion (amongst others) to ensure non-discriminatory and equal abortion care to all.

— The recommendations offer clinical best practises for safely terminating a pregnancy at any gestational age. The WHO regards grounds-based restriction and gestational limitations on abortion as “medically unnecessary policy barriers” that are not supported by evidence.

(Source: What is ‘foetal viability’ in abortion, and do the rights of an unborn child matter? by Apurva Vishwanath, SC allows abortion of 30-week foetus: What is the law on abortions, and what does the court consider? by Apurva Vishwanath)

Points to Ponder

What is ‘foetal viability’ in abortion?

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971

Related Previous Year Questions

Does the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 ensure effective mechanism for empowerment and inclusion of the intended beneficiaries in the society? Discuss. (2017)

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 remains inadequate in promoting incentive-based system for children’s education without generating awareness about the importance of schooling. Analyse. (2022)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 47)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 48)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 46)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 47)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 47)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 48)

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