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State of Karnataka .v. Karnataka Pawn Brokers Association (2018) 255 Taxman 12 (SC )

S. 4 :Charge of income-tax – Legislative power of retrospective amendment – Legislature cannot by way of introducing an amendment overturn a judicial pronouncement to declare it to be wrong or nullity – Rather Legislature can amend provisions of any statute to remove basis of judgment- Clause in statute – Prohibiting payment of interest on amount of security deposit is not arbitrary or violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.[ Art. 14 ]

On appeal, the Supreme Court held that:

  • Legislature has the power to enact validating laws including the power to amend laws with retrospective effect to remove causes of invalidity.However, Legislature cannot set at naught the judgments which have been pronounced by amending the law not for the purpose of making corrections or removing anomalies but to bring in new provisions which did not exist earlier.  The Legislature cannot, by way of introducing an amendment, overturn a judicial pronouncement and declare it to be wrong or nullity but it can amend the provisions of statute to remove the basis of judgment.
  • Any provision / clause in the enactment which prohibits payment of interest on the amount of security deposits cannot be said to be arbitrary or violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. (CA No. 5793 of 2008, 2874-2878 of 2018 dt. 15-03-2018)