Gauhati High Court: BSF Officer Belonging To Schedule Tribe Can't Be Denied Benefit Of Exemption U/s. 10(26) Of Income Tax Act

The Gauhati High Court has held that an officer of the BSF belonging to a Scheduled Tribe cannot be denied the benefits of exemption under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The Court was considering an intra-court appeal against an order whereby it was held that the Petitioner was entitled to the benefits accruing to him under the provisions of Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, with further direction to the Income Tax authorities to process the request for refund of income tax deducted from the salary of the sole respondent and to remit the same to him, forthwith.

The division bench of Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi and Justice N. Unni Krishnan Nair observed, ".....the sole respondent, herein, while being posted at Agartala, Tripura; was so posted in a specified area in terms of the provisions of Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, it is to be held that he would be entitled to the benefits of exemption from income tax flowing from the provisions of Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, 1961...."

The Appellant was represented by Senior Advocate S.C. Keyal, while the Respondent was represented by Advocate A Goyal.

Facts of the Case

The Sole Respondent, herein, belongs to the Meena Community, which is considered as a Scheduled Tribe under the Constitution Scheduled Tribe State Order, 1951, in the State of Rajasthan and was recruited in the Border Security Force in the year 1991 as an Assistant Commandant. The Appellants made deductions towards the payment of income tax from the salary of the sole respondent, herein, by contending that being a member of recognized Scheduled Tribe community, they are entitled to the benefits flowing from the provisions of Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and that such deduction from his salary was not permissible; had approached the income tax authorities at Silchar and Agartala where he was so posted, seeking refund of the income tax so deducted from his salary in view of the exemption available to him under the provisions of Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The said Income Tax deducted from the salary of the sole respondent not having been refunded, he had approached the Writ Court, praying for a direction upon the Respondent Authorities to forthwith refund the income tax deducted from his salary by reckoning that he was entitled to the exemption provided under the provisions of Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Writ Petition was allowed by the single judge by observing that the Petitioner was entitled to the benefits accruing to him under the provisions of Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Counsel for the Appellant raised an issue as to whether the Respondent, herein, would be entitled to claim such income tax exemption for the period he was posted at Silchar, Assam; the said position was clarified by Counsel for the Respondent, by contending that the Respondent is not claiming income tax exemption for the period he was posted at Silchar, Assam, which was not a specified area under the provisions of Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, but, the Respondent, herein, was claiming income tax exemption relating to the period he was posted at Agartala, Tripura, which was a specified area under the provisions of Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The Court thus held that he would be entitled to the benefits of exemption from income tax flowing from the provisions of Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The Appeal was accordingly dismissed.

Cause Title: The Union Of India vs. Chyawan Prakash Meena (2025:GAU-AS:5337-DB)

Appearances:

Appellant- Senior Counsel S.C. Keyal

Respondent- Advocate A Goyal, Advocate A. Choudhury

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