Incomplete SVLDRS declaration cannot be rectified after the scheme period; discharge certificate denied.

An incomplete SVLDRS-1 declaration left the pre-deposit column blank, and the authority's role under Section 126(1) was confined to verifying the particulars furnished and the departmental record, not curing an incomplete form. Rectification was not sought within the scheme's thirty-day period, so the omission could not be corrected later. The pandemic-based explanation was rejected because the declaration had been filed before the later period relied on, and the asserted bank-transfer instruction was unsupported in the absence of the bank or RBI. The petitioner was therefore not entitled to rectification or issuance of the discharge certificate.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to rectification of the blank pre-deposit column in the SVLDRS-1 declaration and consequent acceptance of the balance payment and issue of the discharge certificate.

Analysis: The declaration admittedly left the pre-deposit column blank, and the respondent's role under Section 126(1) was only to verify the declaration on the basis of the particulars furnished and the departmental record, not to complete an incomplete form. No rectification was sought within the thirty-day period prescribed under the scheme. The plea based on the pandemic was rejected because the declaration had been filed well before the later period relied upon, and the alleged instruction to the bank to transfer the balance amount could not be accepted in the absence of the bank or the Reserve Bank of India being before the Court.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not entitled to rectification or to issuance of the discharge certificate, and the challenge failed.

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