Malini, aged 47 years, W/o Dileep and Abhinand, aged 18 years, S/o Dileep and Amrutha, aged 13 years, D/o Dileep, minor, represented by her mother and natural guardian the 1st petitioner Malini V. The Commissioner of Income Tax (TDS), Kerala and The National Insurance Company Ltd. and The Divisional Manager, National Insurance Company Ltd., Aluva Divisional Office

WP(C)/5040/2023

AI Insights

The case involves a writ petition filed by Malini, Abhinand, and Amrutha against the Commissioner of Income Tax (TDS), Kerala, and the National Insurance Company Ltd. The petitioners sought a refund of TDS deducted from the compensation awarded to them by the MACT, which they argued was improperly deducted as they were not assessees under the Income Tax Act and did not possess PAN cards. The court examined whether the petitioners were required to file income tax returns to claim a refund of the TDS deducted from their compensation. The court concluded that since the petitioners were not assessees and no income tax was payable on the compensation, they were not required to file returns for the refund to be processed.

• Counselvise Citation: [2023] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 814553 (HC-KERALA)
• Appeal Type: Others
• Pronouncement Date: 12-09-2023
• Assessment Year: misc
• Laws Referred To: Article 226 of the Constitution of India, Income Tax Act
• Result in Favour of: Others
• Court: HIGH COURT
• Department Lawyers: CHRISTOPHER ABRAHAM; LATHA CHERIAN; GEORGE CHERIAN; GEORGE CHERIAN
• Assessee Lawyers: V N SANKARJEE; P VISWANATHA MENON
• Keywords: Compensation; Income Tax; TDS refund; Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal; Assessees; Non-assessees
• Section: 226

Judgement Text

"IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DINESH KUMAR SINGH TUESDAY, THE 12TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2023 / 21ST BHADRA, 1945 WP(C) NO. 5040 OF 2023 PETITIONERS: 1 MALINI, AGED 47 YEARS, W/O DILEEP, CHARAMAYIL HOUSE, KOTHAMANGALAM VILLAGE, KUTHUKUZHY BHAGOM, KOTHAMANGALAM TALUK, ERNAKULAM DISTRICT, PIN – 686691. 2 ABHINAND, AGED 18 YEARS,S/O DILEEP, CHARAMAYIL HOUSE, KOTHAMANGALAM VILLAGE, KUTHUKUZHY BHAGOM, KOTHAMANGALAM TALUK, ERNAKULAM DISTRICT, PIN – 686691. 3 AMRUTHA, AGED 13 YEARS, D/O DILEEP, MINOR, REPRESENTED BY HER MOTHER AND NATURAL GUARDIAN THE 1ST PETITIONER MALINI, CHARAMAYIL HOUSE, KOTHAMANGALAM VILLAGE, KUTHUKUZHY BHAGOM, KOTHAMANGALAM TALUK, ERNAKULAM DISTRICT, PIN – 686691. BY ADVS. SRI. DR. V.N.SANKARJEE SRI. P. VISWANATHA MENON RESPONDENTS: 1 THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (TDS), *(CORRECTED) KERALA, C.R. BUILDING, I.S. PRESS ROAD, KANAYANNUR TALUK, ERNAKULAM DISTRICT * CORRECTED AS THE COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX(TDS), KERALA, C. R. BUILDING, I. S. PRESS ROAD, KANAYANNOOR TALUK, ERNAKULAM DISTRICT, PIN-682018. (AS PER ORDER DATED 09.08.2023 IN I.A.1/2023 IN WP(C)5040/2023, PIN – 682018) 2 THE NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD., REGISTERED OFFICE 3, MIDDLE TOWN STREET, KOLKATA, REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGING DIRECTOR,PIN – 700071. WP(C) NO. 5040 OF 2023 2 3 THE DIVISIONAL MANAGER, NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD., ALUVA DIVISIONAL OFFICE, PUMP JUNCTION, ALUVA, ERNAKULAM DISTRICT, PIN – 683101. BY ADVS. SRI. CHRISTOPHER ABRAHAM, SC - INCOME TAX SMT. LATHA SUSAN CHERIAN SRI. GEORGE A.CHERIAN SRI. GEORGE CHERIAN (SR.) THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 12.09.2023, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: WP(C) NO. 5040 OF 2023 3 DINESH KUMAR SINGH, J. -------------------------- W.P.(C) No.5040 of 2023 ------------------------- Dated this the 12th day of September, 2023 JUDGMENT 1. The present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed for a direction to the 1st respondent to refund Rs. 5,67,939/- (Rupees Five lakh sixty seven thousand nine hundred and thirty nine only) being the total TDS amount deducted from the amount of compensation awarded to the three petitioners by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT), Perumbavoor vide the award dated 31.08.2017 passed in O.P.(MV) No.392 of 2014. 2. The petitioners are not the assessees under the provisions of the Income Tax Act. They don’t even possess PAN Card. The 3rd respondent Insurance Company while making the payment of compensation to the petitioners had deducted the TDS amount of Rs.1,89,313/- (Rupees One lakh eighty nine thousand three hundred and thirteen only) from each of the three petitioners. 3. The submission of the Learned Counsel for the petitioners is that the petitioners are not liable to file return of income as they WP(C) NO. 5040 OF 2023 4 are not the assessees under the provisions of Income Tax Act. It is not in dispute that no amount of income tax is payable on the compensation awarded by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal. TDS is nothing but an advance tax on the income of the assessees. It is deducted at source by the persons making payment to an assessees. When no income tax is payble and the petitioners are not assessees, there is no question of them filing the returns on their income. 4. In the above circumstances, I do not find any substance in the submission of Mr. Christopher Abraham, Learned Counsel for the 1st respondent that unless the petitioners file return of their income, their application for return of the TDS amount cannot be processed. When the petitioners are neither assessees nor they have an income for which the return can be filed, the refund of TDS amount deducted and deposited by the Insurance Company on the compensation awarded by the MACT has to be processed on a simple application by the petitioners. Thus I grant liberty to the petitioners to file an application before the 1st respondent within a period of ten days from today and the 1st respondent Commissioner of Income Tax (TDS), Kerala shall process the said application and refund the TDS amount deducted and deposited WP(C) NO. 5040 OF 2023 5 by the Insurance Company from the compensation paid to the petitioners. Such refund should be processed within a period of one month after filing the application by the petitioners. With the aforesaid directions the writ petition is finally disposed of. Sd/- DINESH KUMAR SINGH JUDGE Svn WP(C) NO. 5040 OF 2023 6 APPENDIX OF WP(C) 5040/2023 PETITIONERS’ EXHIBITS EXHIBIT P1 TRUE COPY OF THE AWARD DATED 31.8.2017 IN O.P.(MV) NO.392/2014 OF THE MOTOR ACCIDENTS CLAIMS TRIBUNAL, PERUMBAVOOR EXHIBIT P2 TRUE COPY OF THE CLAIM FILE NO. P8898 DATED 10.5.2018 OF THE 2ND RESPONDENT ISSUED TO THE 1ST PETITIONER "