TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (9) TMI 660
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....Mr. Shlok Chandra, Adv. Mr. Navanjay Mahapatra, Adv. Mr. Kailash Vasdev, Sr. Adv. Mr. R. Chandrachud, AOR Mr. Dhuli Venkata Krishna, Adv. ORDER PER 1. This writ petition is filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India as a Public Interest Litigation seeking the following prayers to be granted in exercise of powers of this Court under Article 142 of the Constitution: "a. Issue a writ of Mandamus under Article 32 of the Constitution of India or any other appropriate writ, order or directions under Article 142 of the Constitution of the India to the Respondents to execute/carry out the decision/directions of the Central Information Commission given on 27th June, 2019 in the Second Appeal No. CIC/LICOI/A/ 2018/611292-BJ of the Peti....
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....rson with disability, in the event of death of the individual or the member of a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) in whose name the subscription to the scheme stipulated in the said provision has been made. 4. For easy reference, the said provision is extracted as under: "80DD. Deduction in respect of maintenance including medical treatment of a dependent who is a person with disability.- (1) Where an assessee, being an individual or a Hindu undivided family, who is a resident in India, has, during the previous year.- (a) incurred any expenditure for the medical treatment (including nursing), training and rehabilitation of a dependant, being a person with disability; or (b) paid or deposited any amount under a scheme framed in this ....
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.... the member of the Hindu undivided family referred to in sub-section (2), an amount equal to the amount paid or deposited under clause (b) of sub-section (1) shall be deemed to be the income of the assessee of the previous year in which such amount is received by the assessee and shall accordingly be chargeable to tax as the income of that previous year. (4) The assessee, claiming a deduction under this section, shall furnish a copy of the certificate issued by the medical authority in the prescribed form and manner, along with the return of income under section 139, in respect of the assessment year for which the deduction is claimed: Provided that where the condition of disability requires reassessment of its extent after a period s....
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....a) of sub-section (2).". 5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that having regard to the order passed by this Court in the case of Ravi Agrawal vs. Union of India, being Writ Petition (C) No. 1107/2017 disposed of on 03.01.2019 and the observations made therein, the Parliament has amended Section 80DD of the Act in terms of Section 21 of the Finance Act, 2022. Consequently, on attaining the age of 60 years or more by an individual subscriber or a member of an HUF, the payment or deposit to the scheme envisaged under Section 80DD can be discontinued and the monetary benefit which would have accumulated can be made use of. It is submitted that the said amendment ought to be made retrospective as the same is with effect from 01.04.....
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....endment has been made. But it is too farfetched for the petitioner to seek retrospective operation of the said amendment to the existing policies. It was contended that the terms of the policies cannot be changed subsequent to their crystallization and the premiums being paid on the said terms. Therefore, there can be no retrospective operation of the amendments. 7. We have considered the submissions advanced at the Bar in light of the object of Section 80DD and the fact that pursuant to the order of this Court, the Parliament has taken note of the observations made in the said order and has amended Section 80DD as extracted above. We find it difficult to accept the plea made by the learned counsel for the petitioner to the effect that the....
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....to the amendment. The benefit under Section 80DD of the Act would have been availed by the subscribers at the time when they have subscribed to the policy. 9. It is also relevant to note that the order passed by this Court on 10.02.2023 in Contempt Petition (C) No.408/2024 arising from W.P.(C) No. 1107/2017 (the earlier writ petition), this Court disposed of the contempt petition for the reason that the Respondent-Union of India had amended Section 80DD of the Act via Budget 2022-2023 Finance Act and therefore, the grievance of the persons like the petitioner had stood addressed though with prospective effect. 10. We have also considered the Proclamation on the Full Participation and Equality of the People with Disabilities in the Asian a....