R.V. Venkateshan Vs Sanjay @ Sanjay Sait (Madras High Court)
The Civil Revision Petition challenged a trial Court order directing the plaintiff to disclose his PAN number to the defendants and to forward the plaint and related documents to the jurisdictional Income Tax Department. The plaintiff had filed a suit for recovery of Rs.80,00,000 allegedly paid in cash on 21.06.2016 based on a promissory note. The defendants sought disclosure of PAN details and intimation to the Income Tax Department citing possible violation of Section 269ST of the Income Tax Act. The petitioner argued that Section 269ST came into force only from 01.04.2017 and was not applicable to the 2016 transaction. The High Court noted the Supreme Court’s guidelines mandating courts to intimate large cash transactions exceeding Rs.2,00,000 to tax authorities. Though the transaction predated Section 269ST, the Court held that such heavy cash transactions require scrutiny. It upheld the direction to forward case details to the Income Tax Department but set aside the direction compelling disclosure of the plaintiff’s PAN number.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
The Civil Revision Petition is filed challenging the order passed by the trial Court directing the petitioner/plaintiff to produce the PAN number to the respondents 1 and 2/defendants 1 and 2 and to forward the case particulars to the Income Tax Department.
