Mr.Shyam Divan, Senior Advocate representing writ petitioners in WP(C) 277/2017 in the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, has provided his opinion on the effect of the June 9, 2017, judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the batch of cases under the caption Binoy Viswam v. Union of India and Others, and also provided guidance in that connection. The document providing Mr.Shyam Divan’s opinion and guidance is ATTACHED for perusal and information.

The points of guidance provided by Mr.Shyam Divan are reproduced below for use by any IT assessee:

# Since section 139AA takes effect from July 1, 2017, all assessees who file a return of income before that date need not quote the Aadhaar number. This applies to all persons whether or not they have an Aadhaar number.

# Persons who have a PAN but do not have an Aadhaar number enjoy the benefit of a stay of the proviso to section 139AA(2). This means that such a person need not inform the Income Tax Department of any Aadhaar number. In view of the stay granted by the Supreme Court, his/her PAN shall not be invalid. Such a person need not apply for an Aadhaar number and will not suffer any adverse consequence under the Income Tax Act.