The Delhi High Court has disposed of a Public Interest Litigation seeking a prescribed timeframe for deciding applications relating to cancellation or surrender of duplicate Permanent Account Numbers (PANs). The Court permitted the petitioner to submit a detailed representation to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and directed the Board to take an appropriate decision within eight weeks from the date of receipt of the representation.
The PIL was filed by Abhay Gupta, who highlighted the issue of a person being allotted more than one PAN. The petitioner relied on Section 139A(7) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, which provides that a person can be allotted only one PAN and cannot apply for, obtain or possess another PAN.
The petitioner also referred to CBDT Circular No. 7 of 2022 concerning the linking of PAN with Aadhaar. According to the submissions, where a person has multiple PANs, the additional PAN has to be surrendered before the retained PAN can be linked with Aadhaar. However, the petitioner contended that there was no specified timeframe for deciding an application seeking cancellation of a duplicate PAN.
The petitioner further relied on information obtained under the Right to Information Act, stating that the response from the CBDT did not specify any timeframe for deciding such applications. He submitted that prolonged pendency could create difficulties in filing income-tax returns and using other PAN-linked services.
The Revenue acknowledged that applications for cancellation or surrender of duplicate PANs should not remain pending for an unduly long period and should be decided by the competent authority with due expedition.
The Bench observed that the petitioner had not first submitted a representation to the CBDT explaining the grounds for prescribing such a timeframe. It therefore considered that the grievance could more appropriately be addressed by allowing the petitioner to make such a representation.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia granted the petitioner liberty to submit a detailed representation to the CBDT within a fortnight. If such a representation is submitted, the CBDT has been directed to consider it and take an appropriate decision in accordance with law within eight weeks from the date of its receipt, and communicate the decision to the petitioner.
The Court ordered:
"In the event such a representation is submitted, the CBDT shall consider the same and take an appropriate decision thereon, in accordance with law, within a period of eight weeks from the date of its receipt. The decision so taken shall be communicated to the Petitioner."
The PIL was accordingly disposed of in these terms.
Case Title: Abhay Gupta v. Union of India & Ors.
Case Number: W.P.(C) 14527/2026
