TCA Ramanujam, retired Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, advocate, Sanskrit scholar and columnist with BusinessLine, passed away on Tuesday. He was 88. He is survived by his son, TCA Arvind Rangarajan, and daughter, TCA Sangeetha.
Mr. Ramanujam had been to Tirupati over the weekend to deliver the keynote address at the Ananthalwar festival. He complained of uneasiness and was admitted to a private hospital where he died on Tuesday at 11.30 p.m., said Ms. Sangeetha.
Mr. Ramanujam retired in 1992 as Chief Commissioner of Income Tax and served as a member of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal for a year. He resumed practice as an advocate and represented the Income Tax department as a senior standing counsel in 2002.
He had a degree in M.A. Economics from Vivekananda College and law degree from Madras Law College. He began his career as a tax columnist in TheIndian Express in 1992 and later in BusinessLine in 1995. An erudite tax jurist, he began the journal section in the Income Tax Reporter, along with his daughter Ms. Sangeetha, an advocate at the Madras High Court, who has co-authored many articles along with her father.
Varied interests
A versatile scholar and economist, he had varied interests, including music, dance, literature (English and Tamil), Vedas, religion and temples.
He had penned a monograph on privatisation and a book on economic offences. He recently contributed an article to The Hindu’s coffee table book on Tirumala.
A member of the Madras Music Academy, he rarely missed his favourite concerts. Some of his former colleagues said Mr. Ramanujam was a great administrator, a noble human being and outstanding tax scholar.
