Business
Post Office and Fujitsu accused of delaying £4m damages claim
Post Office and Fujitsu have been accused of driving up legal costs and delaying a former sub-postmaster from suing them for £4m in damages over the Horizon IT scandal, the High Court heard.
Lee Castleton OBE was pursued by the Post Office to recover £25,000 of cash it alleged was missing from his branch in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, in 2007. His two-year legal fight saw him declared bankrupt following legal costs of £321,000.
At the first hearing in his claim on Friday, the court was told that Fujitsu, the company responsible for the faulty software, had already racked up more than £700,000 in legal costs.
Mr Castleton is the first individual to take legal action against both organisations.
Friday’s preliminary hearing was about how the case should proceed.
The court heard that “hurdles” were being put in front of Mr Castleton to make his claim as “difficult, time-consuming and expensive as possible”.
His legal team allege the Post Office’s decision to pursue its 2007 civil claim against him was an “abuse of process of the court”, and that the eventual judgment was obtained by fraud.
They also all claim the state-run institution conspired with Fujitsu to pervert the course of justice by “deliberately and dishonestly” withholding evidence.
Mr Castleton was one of 555 sub-postmasters who took the Post Office to court in an epic legal battle, led by Sir Alan Bates.
They won their case in 2019 and agreed a settlement but they never received proper compensation because the money they received was largely swallowed up by the huge costs to fund their case.
Mr Castleton wants that settlement to be set aside, alleging it was fraudulently obtained involving “sharp practice” by the Post Office.
Both Post Office and Fujitsu are yet to file a defence to Mr Castleton’s claims but called for his case to be split into two trials.
They want a court to decide if the settlement agreement bars the former sub-postmaster from proceeding with his own individual claim and if it does, this would “dispose of the proceedings in their entirety”. Doing it this way, they argued, would save time and money.
But in written arguments on behalf of Mr Castleton, the court heard the reverse would be true and that his claim was of the “utmost simplicity.”
His barrister, Paul Marshall KC, rejected the need for a separate trial.
But at the conclusion of the hearing, Mr Justice Trower and Judge Francesca Kaye ordered for the trials to be split in two, saying they would give the reasons for their decision at a later date.
The Post Office, which is owned by the government, said it had made every effort to engage with Mr Castleton to overturn his civil judgment and remained more than willing to do so, but it did not accept his current claim was “a good one and it had a duty to its shareholders to defend it”.
Mr Castleton wants “vindication” that the judgement against him, that had “blighted” his and his family’s life for 20 years, was obtained dishonestly by the Post Office and for a judge to decide what he is owed.
Speaking outside of court, Mr Castleton told the BBC: “We know what we need to do and we’re very happy where we are.
“We’ll get a defence and that’s what we’ve been waiting for. The facts aren’t going to change. It’s just the money.”
India’s budget focuses on infrastructure and defence spending and tax breaks for data-centre investments.
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Business
New Income Tax Act 2025 to come into effect from April 1, key reliefs announced in Budget 2026
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that the Income Tax Act 2025 will come into effect from April 1, 2026, and the I-T forms have been redesigned such that ordinary citizens can comply without difficulty for ease of living.
The new measures include exemption on insurance interest awards, nil deduction certificates for small taxpayers, and extension of the ITR filing deadline for non-audit cases to August 31.
Individuals with ITR 1 and ITR 2 will continue to file I-T returns till July 31.
“In July 2024, I announced a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act 1961. This was completed in record time, and the Income Tax Act 2025 will come into effect from April 1, 2026. The forms have been redesigned such that ordinary citizens can comply without difficulty, for) ease of living,” she said while presenting the Budget 2026-27
In a move that directly eases cash-flow pressure on individuals making overseas payments, the Union Budget announced lower tax collection at source across key categories.
“I propose to reduce the TCS rate on the sale of overseas tour programme packages from the current 5 per cent and 20 per cent to 2 per cent without any stipulation of amount. I propose to reduce the TCS rate for pursuing education and for medical purposes from 5 per cent to 2 per cent,” said Sitharaman.
She clarified withholding on services, adding that “supply of manpower services is proposed to be specifically brought within the ambit of payment contractors for the purpose of TDS to avoid ambiguity”.
“Thus, TDS on these services will be at the rate of either 1 per cent or 2 per cent only,” she mentioned during her Budget speech.
The Budget also proposes a tax holiday for foreign cloud companies using data centres in India till 2047.
Business
Budget 2026 Live Updates: TCS On Overseas Tour Packages Slashed To 2%; TDS On Education LRS Eased
Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is presenting the Union Budget 2026-27 in Parliament, her record ninth budget speech. During her Budget Speech, the FM will detail budgetary allocations and revenue projections for the upcoming financial year 2026-27. Sitharaman is notably dressed in a Kanjeevaram Silk saree, a nod to the traditional weaving sector in poll-bound Tamil Nadu.
The budget comes at a time when there is geopolitical turmoil, economic volatility and trade war. Different sectors are looking to get some support with new measures and relaxations ahead of the budget, especially export-oriented industries, which have borne the brunt of the higher US tariffs being imposed last year by the Trump administration.
On January 29, 2026, Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2025-26, a comprehensive snapshot of the country’s macro-economic situation, in Parliament, setting the stage for the budget and showing the government’s roadmap. The survey projected that India’s economy is expected to grow 6.8%-7.2% in FY27, underscoring resilience even as global economic uncertainty persists.
Budget 2026 Expectations
Expectations across key sectors are taking shape as stakeholders look to the Budget for support that sustains growth, strengthens jobs and eases financial pressures:
Taxpayers & Households: Many taxpayers want practical improvements to the income tax structure that preserve simplicity while supporting long-term financial planning — including broader deductions for home loan interest and diversified retirement savings options.
New Tax Regime vs Old Tax Regime | New Income Tax Rules | Income Tax 2026
Businesses & Industry: With industrial output and investment showing resilience, firms are looking for policies that bolster capital formation, ease compliance, and expand infrastructure spending — especially in manufacturing and technology-driven sectors that promise jobs and exports.
Startups & Innovation: The startup ecosystem expects incentives around employee stock options and capital access, along with regulatory tweaks that encourage risk capital and talent retention without increasing compliance burdens.
Also See: Stock Market Updates Today
The Budget speech will be broadcast live here and on all other news channels. You can also catch all the updates about Budget 2026 on News18.com. News18 will provide detailed live blog updates on the Budget speech, and political, industry, and market reactions.
We are providing a full, detailed coverage of the union budget 2026 here, with a lot of insights, experts’ views and analyses. Stay tuned with us to get latest updates.
Also Read: Budget 2026 Live Streaming
Here are the Live Updates of Union Budget 2026:
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