New Delhi:
On Monday, the Supreme Court was surprised when the bench was told that the Income Tax Department has issued a notice to the monitoring committee formed for illegal construction in Delhi. The Income Tax Department has demanded income tax on the amount to be deposited in the Supreme Court. Angered by this, the Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Income Tax Department. Along with this, the concerned officer who took the decision to send the notice has been asked to appear in the court.
During the hearing on Monday, a bench of Justice Abhay S Oak and Justice Pankaj Mithal objected to the income tax notice sent to the court-appointed panel. During the hearing, senior advocate and amicus curiae Guru Krishna Kumar told the bench that the Income Tax Department has sent notices thrice. The notice was sent despite the committee informing the department that it should not file income tax returns because the collected money is sent to the Supreme Court Registry. He cited the 188th report of the monitoring committee, in which the panel raised the issue and raised the problem coming from the Income Tax Department.
The committee told the court that it has received a total of Rs 23.10 crore including interest as permanent de-sealing processing fee and this amount has been transferred to the Supreme Court Registry from time to time. The total balance as of August 8 is Rs 48,863. The report said that the amount collected by the monitoring committee as processing fee will now be transferred to the Supreme Court on a quarterly basis starting from September 1.
Despite reply, the notice was not settled
Kumar told the court that the Income Tax Department had issued a notice to the monitoring committee under section 133(6) of the Income Tax Act regarding interest earned from interest. He told the court that the said notice was duly replied to by the committee through letters dated March 22, April 17 and August 27, but the notice has not been disposed of yet. He requested the court to intervene, to which the bench agreed.
He said that the monitoring committee has been formed by the Supreme Court, therefore, the monitoring committee is not required to file income tax returns at its level. The fund is maintained under the supervision and direction of the Supreme Court. All funds including savings bank interest are sent to the court from time to time.
The panel had written to the Income Tax Department and also enclosed various orders passed by the Supreme Court, including the 2006 order by which a monitoring committee was formed. This committee is monitoring the sealing drive against illegal and unauthorised constructions and also taking action against misuse of residential premises for commercial purposes in the national capital.
Supreme Court sought clarification
The court sought clarification from the Income Tax department and said that some action should be taken against the concerned officer.
In fact, on March 24, 2006, the Supreme Court had appointed a monitoring committee comprising former Election Commission advisor KJ Rao, EPCA chairman Bhure Lal and Major General (retired) Som Jhingon to monitor the implementation of the law as per the court’s directions. That is, the violating premises can be sealed.
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