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Soumik Dey
Soumik Dey

INCOME TAX

Kerala HC allows filing of I-T returns without Aadhaar

INDIA-ECONOMY-BANKING-DIGITAL Representational image | File

Passed interim order on par with Supreme Court's previous verdict on the issue

Taking a tough stance against the Centre's decision to make seeding of Aadhaar mandatory for filing Income Tax returns, the Kerala High Court on Friday, passed an interim order directing the tax authority to allow filing manually without quoting Aadhaar or Aadhaar enrollment numbers.

Seeding of Aadhaar was made mandatory by Parliament during budget session this year, when it allowed introduction of Section 139AA in the Income Tax Act (1961).

The petitioner, Prasanth Sugathan, legal director of Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC), an advocacy group promoting digital freedom, had filed a case before the Kerala High Court seeking to file his income tax returns manually without providing the Aadhaar number.

“I had registered the case when the Income Tax Office of my circle refused to admit my IT return application without the Aadhaar numbers,” Sugathan told THE WEEK.

“My case was filed after a two-member bench of the Supreme Court in the case of Binoy Viswam and others earlier this year held that PAN cards of those who do not hold Aadhaar cards cannot be invalidated,” said Sugathan.

The high court has admitted his case and passed an interim order, directing the income tax officer concerned to allow the petitioner to file I-T returns manually, without quoting Aadhaar number or Aadhaar enrollment ID.

Sugathan submitted before the Kerala High Court that the partial stay granted by the Supreme Court in the Binoy Viswam-case a few months back would be futile, if assesses are forced to quote Aadhaar number while filing their returns.

SFLC President Mishi Choudhary said they have been continuously working to raise awareness about the 'mission creep' that is happening with the Aadhaar scheme. “The so-called voluntary scheme is being made mandatory for citizens to avail a host of services as well for performing obligations as a citizen. This is a gross denial of citizens' rights,” she said.

Though a final judgement in the case is still awaited, the petitioner says that the high court's interim order would benefit those who do not have an Aadhaar number and want to file their I-T returns in the current year.

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