The Bombay High Court held that no income tax should be deducted on the compensation given for acquiring land in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Hi-Speed Rail Project by the National Hi-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) and steps should be taken to refund the amount.
A Division Bench of Justices S.V. Gangapurwala and M.G. Sewlikar, which passed the order on Thursday, was hearing a petition filed by Seema Patil. She is the owner of certain plots of land situated at Bhiwandi in Thane district and the National Hi-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) acquired the land from her under an agreement and deducted income tax at the source from the compensation paid to her on October 23, 2019.
On or about May 8, 2020, a supplementary deed was entered into between Ms. Patil and the NHSRCL under which some additional amount was paid to her and TDS amount was deducted. On or about December 4, 2020, Ms. Patil requested the company to reverse the TDS on the ground that no tax was deductible. After 20 days, the NHSRCL got back to her and said exemption from income tax is not applicable in the case land is acquired from Ms. Patil and it was duly deposited with the Income Tax Department.
