COCP Nos. 1688 of 2011 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH COCP No. 1688 of 2011 Date of decision: September 01, 2011 Shanti and Others ......Petitioners Vs. Satish Bhardwaj and another ...Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE PERMOD KOHLI. PRESENT: Ms. P.K. Deol, Advocate & Mr. Karan Singh, Advocate for the petitioners. Mr. Yogesh Putney, Advocate for respondents. **** PERMOD KOHLI, J . (ORAL): These contempt proceedings have been initiated for alleged violation of the directions contained in the Division Bench judgments passed in Bikramjit Sood Vs. State of Punjab and others, whereby the Hon'ble Division Bench directed to refund the TDS amount deducted by the Collector Land Acquisition in respect to the compensation arising out of acquisition of the agricultural land. The judgment in Rishal Singh Vs. Union of India (2010) 321 ITR (P&H) was reiterated in Bikramjit Sood's case. These judgments have been again clarified by Hon'ble Division Bench in Kulwant Rai and others Vs. State of Haryana in CWP No. 10333 of 2011 decided on 02.06.2010. It has been clarified that the TDS is deductable on the amount of interest, accrued and received upon such compensation from the Land Acquisition Collector. It has further been held that the claimants have an alternative remedy of filing Income COCP Nos. 1688 of 2011 -2- tax return, for seeking adjustment against their tax liability or refund of the tax etc. Union of India filed a Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 14608 of 2010 against the judgment dated 11.01.2010 passed in CWP No. 10123 of 2009 titled as Rishal Singh and others Vs. Union Of India. Hon'ble Supreme Court vide order dated 27.09.2010 passed in the above said SLP issued notice to consider the question of sending the matter to the Assessing Officer for proper adjudication. From the perusal of the judgments in Rishal Singh and Bikramjeet Sood's cases (Supra), it is apparent that the TDS is not deductable in case of compensation arising out of acquisition of the agricultural land. Though, the said TDS is deductable in so far as the component of interest is concerned. However, it is for the Collector Land Acquisition to determine the nature and status of the land acquired by him. The question of deduction of TDS depends upon the nature of the land acquired in each case. In contempt proceedings, it is neither desirable, nor possible for this Court to determine the nature and status of the acquired land so as to find out whether the directions of the Court have been violated or not. Under the circumstances, it is deemed appropriate that all the petitioners in these contempt petitions are allowed to file their income tax returns in respect to the amount of compensation, interest etc. as is payable by the Collector Land Acquisition for their respective lands/properties. Income tax authorities on consideration of the nature of the acquired land/properties may pass appropriate order in accordance with the provisions of Income Tax Act. It has been urged on behalf of the petitioners that since the petitioners have approached the High Court by invoking the writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, there might occur some delay in filing the returns in accordance with the provisions of Section 139 (1) of the Income Tax Act. Mr. Yogesh Putney, Advocate appearing for respondents has informed the Court that in so far COCP Nos. 1688 of 2011 -3- as the limitation for filing returns in respect to the assessment years 2010- 11 is concerned, the period of limitation for filing returns was upto 31st July 2010 which has been extended upto 31st March, 2012 under Section 139 (4). Similarly, in respect to the assessment year 2011-12 the period of limitation has been extended upto 31st July, 2013 in terms of Section 139(4) of the Income Tax Act. In view of the fact that the petitioners are entitled to file their returns and the period of limitation being available with them, these contempt petitions are disposed of with liberty to the petitioners to file their income tax returns in accordance with law and seek refund of TDS deducted by the Collector in accordance with law. It is however observed that Assessing Authorities will expeditiously decide the cases of the petitioners so that the payment of refund if allowed under law is not delayed. September 01, 2011 (PERMOD KOHLI) harjeet JUDGE