PADMARJAIAH Vs. SECRETARY DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE BANGALORE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is before this Court praying for the following relief:

(2.) THE brief facts leading to the filing of this writ petition are as under: the petitioner who is a Senior Advocate of the Bar, holding a PPF account No. 0154 (one of the specified Savings under Section 80-C of Income tax Act) with the 6th respondent. Section 80-C of the Income-Tax Act was amended by the Finance Act, 2005 increasing the permissible deduction from Rs. 70,000/- to Rs. 1,00,000/- for the financial year 2005-06 (commencing from 1. 4. 2005 to 31. 3. 2006 ). During the financial year 2005-06 the petitioner had deposited a sum of Rs. 40,000/- in his PPF Account. Later on, he sent a cheque for Rs. 40,000/- by way of second instalment towards PPF. But, the said 6th defendant refused to accept the second instalment of Rs. 40,000/- on the ground that the total deposit exceeds Rs. 70,000/- in a year. Hence, the petitioner sent another cheque for a sum of rs. 30,000/- towards the PPF Account. He made a request to authorities concerned to permit him to deposit a maximum of Rs. 1,00,000/- in his PPF a/c, as per Finance Act, 2005, but in vain. The reply received by the petitioner from the respondents 5th, 3rd and 2nd are at Annexures-K, L and M, respectively. It is contend that the respondents-1 to 5 have no authority to reply as per the impugned communication contrary to the income-Tax Act. Therefore, the petitioner is before this Court praying for the reliefs as mentioned above.

(3.) THE Writ Petition was filed on 5. 1. 2006. The financial year of 2005-2006 came to an end on 31. 3. 2006. There is no interim order in favour of the petitioner. Learned Counsel for the petitioner submitted that as per section 80-C of the Income-Tax Act as amended by the Finance Act, 2005, the petitioner was entitled to deposit a sum of Rs. 1,00,000/- in PPF Account, but the 6th respondent erred in refusing to receive the deposit more than rs. 70,000/- on the ground that the Public Provident Fund Scheme, 1968 (in short, 'the PPF Scheme') does not permit. Thus, the petitioner was deprived of making use of Section 80-C of the Income-Tax Act and avail the deduction thereof.