Case Law Details
Milestone Systems A/S Vs DCIT (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court directed the concerned officer to revisit the application preferred under section 197 of the Income Tax Act as the concerned officer simply by-passed the Supreme Court judgement in Engineering Analysis by observing that revenue has preferred a review petition. Such approach of officer is untenable.
Facts- The petitioner is a non-resident company, incorporated under the laws of Denmark. The record shows, that the petitioner had filed an application under Section 197 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 [in short, “the Act”] for being granted lower withholding tax certificate. The petitioner had sought a certificate, at “NIL” rate of tax. The impugned certificate, however, pegs the rate of tax at 9.99%. Quite obviously, the petitioner’s prayer has been rejected.
Conclusion- In our view, the impugned order does not deal with the core issue which arose for consideration, and was the basis on which the application had been preferred by the petitioner under Section 197 of the Act.
The concerned officer has simply by-passed the judgement of the Supreme Court in Engineering Analysis by observing that the revenue has preferred a review petition, and that the same is pending adjudication. According to us, as long as the judgment of the Supreme Court is in force, the concerned authority could not have side stepped the judgment, based on the fact that the review petition had been preferred. It would have been another matter, if the concerned officer had, on facts, distinguished the judgment of the Supreme Court.
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