The High Court of Kerala has allowed one Prasanth Sugathan to file his Income Tax Returns manually without quoting Aadhaar..The interim order to that effect was passed by Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar in a petition filed by Sugathan, who is the Legal Director at Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC)..Sugathan has challenged the mandatory requirement as per Section 139AA of the amended Income Tax Act, 1961, to quote the twelve-digit number or enrollment ID for filing Income tax returns..The High Court issued notice to the central government, CBDT and the Income Tax Officer. It also allowed the petitioner to file his returns manually without the need of an Aadhaar number..Earlier this year, the Supreme Court heard the challenge of mandatory linking of Aadhaar to PAN in the cases of Binoy Viswam v. Union of India and SG Vombatkere & Anr. v. Union of India, in which the two-judge bench held that the PAN cards of those people who are not Aadhaar card holders, and who do not comply with the provision of Section 139(2), cannot be “treated as invalid for the time being”..However, Sugathan has taken a stand before the High Court that the partial stay granted by the Supreme Court in the Binoy Viswam case would be futile if assesses are forced to quote Aadhaar while filing the returns..Read the High Court order below.
The High Court of Kerala has allowed one Prasanth Sugathan to file his Income Tax Returns manually without quoting Aadhaar..The interim order to that effect was passed by Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar in a petition filed by Sugathan, who is the Legal Director at Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC)..Sugathan has challenged the mandatory requirement as per Section 139AA of the amended Income Tax Act, 1961, to quote the twelve-digit number or enrollment ID for filing Income tax returns..The High Court issued notice to the central government, CBDT and the Income Tax Officer. It also allowed the petitioner to file his returns manually without the need of an Aadhaar number..Earlier this year, the Supreme Court heard the challenge of mandatory linking of Aadhaar to PAN in the cases of Binoy Viswam v. Union of India and SG Vombatkere & Anr. v. Union of India, in which the two-judge bench held that the PAN cards of those people who are not Aadhaar card holders, and who do not comply with the provision of Section 139(2), cannot be “treated as invalid for the time being”..However, Sugathan has taken a stand before the High Court that the partial stay granted by the Supreme Court in the Binoy Viswam case would be futile if assesses are forced to quote Aadhaar while filing the returns..Read the High Court order below.
