*Rejection of application under Section 197 of the Income-tax Act,1961 for Nil/Lower deduction of Tax at source-Bombay High court allows the writ by quashing the rejection order.*

The Bombay High court in the case of *Vijaykumar Satramdas Lakhani Vs CBDT & Ors in WP No 5837 of 2020 vide order dated 30th September,2020 * quashed the order of rejection passed in the case of the appellant where ignoring the provisions of *Section 3 of the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020’ * whereby the time limits prescribed in the Income Tax Act 1961, falling within the period from 20.03.2020 to 29.06.2020 stood extended. The court noted that *It is well settled that an ordinance made by the President is not an executive act. Power to promulgate ordinance is legislative in nature* . An ordinance issued by the President is as much a law as an Act passed by the Parliament. President’s power of legislation by an ordinance is co- extensive with the power of Parliament to make legislation. The Court thus rejected Department’s argument that the said ordinance did not extend the date for compliance of any application seeking information in response to the application u/s 197.
*An important judgement wherever the application u/s 197 has been rejected ignoring the due process of law.*

Ramesh Patodia
5-10-2020