New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a plea seeking scrapping of tax deducted at source (TDS) framework under the Income Tax Act.
The matter came up before a bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar. The top court observed that TDS was levied almost everywhere in the world, and moreover, there were judgments supporting it.
The bench told the petitioner, "Sorry, we will not entertain. It is very badly drafted. You can move the high court. Some judgments have upheld it. Sorry. We will not entertain. Dismissed".
The bench, while refusing to entertain the plea, said there could be some important issues related to IT Rules and it could be filed in the Delhi High Court. The apex court, in its order, did not make any observations on the case's merits or demerits. The bench left it to the high court to decide it afresh when the plea was filed.
The plea filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, who filed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in his personal capacity through advocate Ashwani Dubey, sought a direction to declare that the TDS system is manifestly arbitrary, irrational, and against Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution. The PIL challenged the TDS framework under the Income Tax Act, which mandates the deduction of tax at the time of payment by the payer and its deposit with the income tax department.
