(1.) In these three writ petitions filed by the petitioners, who claim themselves to be pubic spirited persons, challenge is laid to the constitutional validity of Sec. 139AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act'), which provision has been inserted by the amendment to the said Act vide Finance Act, 2017. Sec. 139AA of the Act reads as under:
(2.) Even a cursory look at the aforesaid provision makes it clear that in the application forms for allotment of Permanent Account Number (for short, 'PAN') as well as in the income-tax returns, the assessee is obliged to quote Aadhaar number. This is necessitated on any such applications for PAN or return of income on or after July 01, 2017, which means from that date quoting of Aadhaar number for the aforesaid purposes becomes essential. Proviso to sub-section (1) gives relaxation from quoting Aadhaar number to those persons who do not possess Aadhaar number but have already applied for issuance of Aadhaar card. In their cases, the Enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form is to be quoted. It would mean that those who would not be possessing Aadhaar card as on July 01, 2017 may have to necessarily apply for enrolment of Aadhaar before July 01, 2017.
(3.) The effect of this provision, thus, is that every person who desires to obtain PAN card or who is an assessee has to necessarily enrol for Aadhaar. It makes obtaining of Aadhaar card compulsory for those persons who are income-tax assessees. Proviso to sub-section (2) of Sec. 139AA of the Act stipulates the consequences of failure to intimate the Aadhaar number. In those cases, PAN allotted to such persons would become invalid not only from July 01, 2017, but from its inception as the deeming provision in this proviso mentions that PAN would be invalid as if the person had not applied for allotment of PAN, i.e. from the very beginning. Sub-section (3), however, gives discretion to the Central Government to exempt such person or class or classes of persons or any State or part of any State from the requirement of quoting Aadhaar number in the application form for PAN or in the return of income. The challenge is to this compulsive nature of provision inasmuch as with the introduction of the aforesaid provision, no discretion is left with the income-tax assessees insofar as enrolment under the Aadhaar (Targeting Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Aadhaar Act') is concerned. According to the petitioners, though Aadhaar Act prescribes that enrolment under the said Act is voluntary and gives choice to a person to enrol or not to enrol himself and obtain Aadhaar card, this compulsive element thrusted in Sec. 139AA of the Act makes the said provision unconstitutional. The basis on which the petitioners so contend would be taken note of at the appropriate stage. Purpose of these introductory remarks was to highlight the issue involved in these writ petitions at the threshold.
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