Vodafone tax review petition: Govt's last shot to save face

Hitesh Jain, partner at ALMT Legal spoke to CNBC-TV18 for an insight into the review petition that the government has filed in the Vodafone Tax case.

Below is the edited transcript of the interview. Also watch the accompanying video.

Q: What do you make of the government actually filing that review petition?

A: According to me, this is a last-ditch attempt being made by the government. Everybody is aware about the legal position that review is not like a routine procedure where you can again open the case or try to agitate the same fact. Unless there is a manifest or a patent error on the face of the order or there is some fact which could not have been produced before the court or which has been overlooked, only in the exceptional circumstances, the court examines the review or reviews its own order. So what I can see from this thing is that the stakes involved for the government are huge and the government is again trying to make a last-ditch attempt if it can salvage its position.

Q: As someone who has been tracking this case very closely, the grounds on the basis of which the income tax department has actually filed that review petition, what do you make of them for example say the Supreme Court did not interpret Section 9 properly?

A: According to me I don