KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Friday allowed a person to file Income Tax returns manually without quoting the Aadhaar number or enrolment ID.The court allowed Prasant Sugathan of Kochi, who approached the HC seeking permission to file IT returns through e-filing or manual filing, without insisting on Aadhaar number. The court posted the case after three weeks.Sugathan submitted the Income Tax Department was not accepting IT returns without quoting Aadhaar or enrolment number despite the Supreme Court’s directives.
In an interim order, the SC had clearly stated enrolling in Aadhaar scheme must be voluntary and no services should be denied for not having the Aadhaar number.He also said the Supreme Court upheld the validity of an Income Tax Act provision making Aadhaar mandatory for the allotment of permanent account number (PAN) cards and the filing of tax returns, but imposed a partial stay on its implementation until a Constitution Bench addresses the right to privacy issue.He submitted the partial stay granted by the apex court in the case against compulsory linking of PAN and Aadhaar would be futile if assessees were forced to quote their Aadhaar number while filing I-T returns.