Ravi Agrawal vs Union Of India

REPORTABLE 2024 INSC 648

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.706 OF 2020

RAVI AGRAWAL … PETITIONER

VERSUS

UNION OF INDIA & ANOTHER … RESPONDENTS

ORDER

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 Petitioner.

b. Issue a writ of Mandamus under Article 32 of the Signature Not Verified Constitution of India or any other appropriate writ, order Digitally signed by Nisha Khulbey Date: 2024.08.31 or directions under Article 142 of the Constitution of the India to the Respondents to take cognizance of the 16:50:50 IST Reason:

judgment passed by the Apex Court in Writ Petition (Civil)

1 W.P. (C) No.706/2020

No.1107 of 2017 dated January 03, 2019 and initiate suitable necessary action accordingly.

c. Issue order or directions to annul/strike down clause(a) of sub-section (2) of Section 88DD of the Income Tax which is against the objective of the legislation and violating the fundamental rights of the handicapped person provided under Article 14 of the Constitution of the India.

d. Pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case.”

2. We have heard Mr. Partha Sil learned counsel who has been

appointed to assist this Court and learned senior counsel Mr. Kailash

Vasdev for Respondent No.2 and learned senior counsel Ms. Nisha

Bagchi for Respondent-Union of India and perused the material on

record.

3. Having heard learned counsel for the respective parties, we find

that the concerns expressed by the petitioner in this writ petition have

been assuaged to a certain extent inasmuch as the Parliament has

amended Section 80DD of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter

referred to as the “Act” for the sake of brevity). The said provision deals

with payment of annuity of a lump sum amount for the benefit of a

dependant, being a person 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

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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 behalf by the Life Insurance Corporation or any other insurer or the Administrator or the specified company subject to the conditions specified in sub-section (2) and approved by the Board in this behalf for the maintenance of a dependant, being a person with disability,

the assessee shall, in accordance with and subject to the provisions of this section, be allowed a deduction of a sum of seventy-five thousand rupees from his gross total income in respect of the previous year:

Provided that where such dependant is a person with severe disability, the provisions of this sub-section shall have effect as if for the words “seventy-five thousand rupees”, the words “one hundred and twenty-five thousand rupees” had been substituted.

(2) The deduction under clause (b) of sub-section (1) shall be allowed only if the following conditions are fulfilled, namely:-

3 W.P. (C) No.706/2020 (a) the scheme referred to in clause (b) of sub-

section (1) provides for payment of annuity or lump sum amount for the benefit of a dependant, being a person with disability, in the event of the death of the individual or the member of the Hindu undivided family in whose name subscription to the scheme has been made;

(b) the assessee nominates either the dependant, being a person with disability or any other person or a trust to receive the payment on his behalf, for the benefit of the dependant, being a person with disability.

(3) If the dependant, being a person with disability, predeceases the individual or 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 stipulated in the aforesaid certificate, no deduction under this section shall be allowed for any assessment year relating to any previous year beginning after the expiry of the previous year during which the aforesaid certificate of disability had expired, unless a new certificate is obtained from the medical authority in the form and manner, as may be prescribed, and a copy thereof is furnished along with the return of income.”

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By virtue of the Finance Act, 2022, Section 80DD was amended

with effect from 01.04.2023, in the following terms:

(I) in sub-section (2), for clause (a), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:––

“(a) the scheme referred to in clause (b) of sub-

section (1) provides for payment of annuity or lump sum amount for the benefit of a dependant, being a person with disability,––

(i) in the event of the death of the individual or the member of the Hindu undivided family in whose name subscription to the scheme has been made; or

(ii) on attaining the age of sixty years or more by such individual or the member of the Hindu undivided family, and the payment or deposit to such scheme has been discontinued;”;

(II) after sub-section (3), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:–

“(3A) The provisions of sub-section (3) shall not apply to the amount received by the dependant, being a person with disability, before his death, by way of annuity or lump sum by application of the condition referred to in sub-clause (ii) of clause (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

5 W.P. (C) No.706/2020

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 01.04.2023 to

the existing policies as it will benefit a large number of subscribers

who are interested in making use of the benefit of the such policies for

the benefit of the disabled persons on turning 60 years of age. That an

option could be reserved to the subscribers to have the benefit of the

amendment in respect of policies which were made much prior to 2014

as in the said year such policies have been discontinued. He

contended that if the amendment is given a retrospective effect, many

subscribers as well as disabled persons would benefit and hence the

concerns of the petitioner being purely in public interest may be

considered and relief may be granted.

6. Per contra, learned senior counsel appearing for the respondent

contended that Section 80DD refers to a situation where the benefit of

the policy would be provided to a disabled person only on the death or

demise of the caregiver or the subscriber. The event at which the

6 W.P. (C) No.706/2020

benefit of the policy would be given to the disabled person is on the

death of the subscriber. It is only then the policy would come to end

and the monetary benefit would be given to the disabled person. That

there is a salient object with which the terms and conditions of the

policy have been devised. That having regard to the order of this Court

on 03.01.2019, there has been an insertion of a clause under Section

80DD taking into consideration the concern expressed by the very

same petitioner herein in the earlier writ petition and to that extent,

amendment 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 said amendment be applied

retrospectively to policies which were taken prior to 2014 so that the

7 W.P. (C) No.706/2020

benefit of the amendment is given to those subscribers also. The

reasons are not far to see. The whole object of Jeevan Adhar Policy is

to benefit disabled persons by making provision by the subscriber post

his demise. The concern and apprehension of a caregiver or subscriber

of a policy for a disabled family member or other person for whose

benefit the policy is taken after the demise of the caregiver is of utmost

significance. It is only with that object that the caregiver or a

subscriber would take such a policy so that he would not leave a

disabled person in the lurch on his demise. If that is the object of the

policy then we do not think the subscriber or the caregiver of the

subscriber should be given the liberty to discontinue the policy during

his lifetime on attaining 60 years of age. That would only go against

the object with which the policy has been taken and against the

interest of the beneficiary, namely, a disabled person.

8. In the circumstances, we do not think that the plea for

retrospective operation of the amendment is in the interest of the

disabled persons nor can this Court give a retrospective operation to

the amendment. This is particularly having regard to the fact that an

insurance contract is in a sense, a commercial contract, having

certain terms and conditions and the sub-stratum of the contract

cannot be removed by giving a retrospective operation to the

8 W.P. (C) No.706/2020

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

and Pacific Region, 1992; and the subsequent enactments, namely, the

Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights

and Full Participation) Act, 1995 which has been substituted by the

Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, as well as the

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional

Protocol 2006; and, the provisions of the Life Insurance Corporation

Act, 1956.

11. In view of the said observations, we are not inclined to take a

different view of the matter and particularly having regard to the

9 W.P. (C) No.706/2020

reasons assigned by us as aforesaid.

In the circumstances, the writ petition stands disposed of.

We place on record our sincere appreciation for the valuable

assistance rendered by Mr. Partha Sil, learned counsel appointed to

assist this Court.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.

(B.V. NAGARATHNA)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.

(NONGMEIKAPAM KOTISWAR SINGH)

New Delhi;

August 20, 2024

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