Case Law Details
Ravi Agrawal Vs Union of India (Supreme Court of India)
The Legislature has provided the condition that amount/annuity under the policy is to be released only after the death of the person assured. This is the legislative mandate. There is no challenge to this provision. The prayer is that Section 80DD of the Act be suitably amended. This Court cannot give a direction to the Parliament to amend or make a statutory provision in a specified manner. The Court can only determine, in an exercise of its power of judicial review, as to whether such a provision passes the muster of the Constitutional Scheme. Though there is no specific prayer in this behalf, in the body of the writ petition, an argument of discrimination is raised. Here, it is found that the respondents have been able to successfully demonstrate that the main provision is based on reasonable classification, which as a valid rationale behind it and there is a specific objective sought to be achieved thereby.
FULL TEXT OF THE SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT
This writ petition is filed by the petitioner, Ravi Agrawal, under Article 32 of the Constitution of India as a Public Interest Litigation. The petition is stated to be filed in the interest of handicapped children whose parents have taken Jeevan Aadhar Policy (Table 114) from the Life Insurance Corporation of India (for short, ‘LIC’) for the livelihood of their children. The petitioner himself is a differently abled person as he is suffering from Cerebral Dysphagia. The petitioner also is an income tax assessee whose Permanent Account Number (PAN) issued by the Income Tax Department is AAPPA5222M. He has stated that he has no personal interest in the subject matter raised in this petition which he has filed on behalf of the handicapped children.
2) Section 80DD of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act’) provides for payment of annuity of lump sum amount for the benefit of a dependant, being a person with disability, in the event of the death of the individual or the member of the Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) in whose name subscription to the scheme stipulated in the said provision has been made. Though it is a long provision, for our purposes it would be suffice to reproduce sub-sections (1), (2) and (3) thereof, which are as under:
Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.
