Delhi High Court Questions Income Tax Dept. Over Two PANs Issued In Same Person's Name, Seeks Records

The Delhi High Court has questioned the Income Tax Department over the issuance of two Permanent Account Numbers (PANs) in the name of the same person and directed the Department to produce the original records relating to both PAN cards.

The Division Bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Aditi Choudhary was hearing a petition filed by Neeraj Kukreja, who claimed that he holds only one PAN and had neither applied for nor obtained the second PAN attributed to him.

The Income Tax Department however contended that there were striking similarities between the details associated with the two PANs.

The Department argued that it could only have been the Petitioner who obtained the PAN cards in his name, particularly since he had received the notice under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and had also obtained information regarding the assessment proceedings.

The Department placed before the Court an affidavit containing a comparative table of the details associated with both PANs.

After considering the material, the Bench noted that although there were similarities in the data relating to the two PAN cards, there were dissimilarities as well.

It questioned how and why the Department had issued two PAN cards to the same person when both carried the same name and father's name and almost the same date of birth.

“We fail to comprehend as to how and why the Department had issued two PAN Cards to one person – petitioner,” the Court observed.

It further observed that in the absence of proof of the date of birth, it was unclear how the second PAN could have been allotted and the corresponding PAN card issued.

The Court accordingly directed the Income Tax Department to produce the original records concerning both PANs.

The records are to include the original applications and documents furnished at the time of obtaining the PAN cards, along with the mobile number and/or email ID used for verification purposes.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on October 15.

For Petitioner: Advocate Gunjan Richharia.

For Respondent: Advocates Apoorv Agarwal, Jr. SC with Priya Katare and  Alok Shukla, Advs.