SC-appointed panel on sealing gets I-T notice

A three-member committee appointed by the Supreme Court to monitor sealing in the Capital, in its latest report to the Supreme Court, has stated that it has been served notices from the income tax (I-T) department, and despite furnishing several replies, the case is yet to be settled.
The committee sought the intervention of the Supreme Court in the matter, submitting that it had transferred ₹11 crore to the apex court last month, and currently has a balance amount of only ₹48,863 in its account.
“It is pertinent to mention the income tax department has issued notice to the monitoring committee under section 133(6) of the income tax act regarding the interest earned from saving bank. The notice was duly replied by the monitoring committee vide letters on March 22, May 17 and August 27, 2024 but the notice has not yet been settled. The monitoring committee would like have intervention of the Hon’ble court in this regard,” the report dated September 5, signed by the three committee members, said.
HT has seen a copy of the committee’s report and I-T notices.
The three-member committee was set up by the Supreme Court in 2006 to identify unauthorised structures in Delhi. The committee, comprising former Election Commission of India advisor KJ Rao, former Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) chairman Bhure Lal, and Major General SP Jhingon (retired) was once again revived in December 2017, and it oversaw major sealing drives in areas such as Defence Colony, Sunder Nagar, Amar Colony, and Lajpat Nagar, among others.
Later, the Supreme Court, in an August 14, 2020 judgment, ruled that the monitoring committee had the mandate to act only against commercial properties, not residential ones — restricting the ambit of the sealing panel.
The committee — now comprising Bhure Lal, SP Jhingon and former IAS officer Vijay Chhibber —largely remained dormant after the 2020 ruling, was recently revived after the death by drowning of three IAS aspirants in the basement of an Old Rajendra Nagar coaching institute, that was illegally being used as a library.
According to the members, the committee received its first I-T notice on March 16 regarding the interest it earned over processing fee and charges in its bank account. The panel received two more I-T notices — on May 6, and on August 7.
In the latest response dated August 27, member Chibber argued that the committee has been created by the Supreme Court, and therefore is not required to file any income tax at its end.
“The funds are maintained under the supervision and directions of the Supreme Court, and all funds, including saving bank interests, are remitted to the court from time to time. In view of the above, you are requested to get the notice settled from the income tax department,” Chibber’s letter to the Union finance secretary (revenue), and commissioner of Central Board of Direct Taxes, stated.
In its report submitted to the Supreme Court, the committee also said that the amount collected as processing fee would henceforth be transferred to Supreme Court on a quarterly basis, starting September 1. The move comes after the apex court on August 22 had directed the panel to transfer the remaining amount in its bank account, and initiate transfers every three months.
The committee’s report said it collected a processing fee of ₹13.38 crore from 1,338 cases, and collected a judicial committee process fee amounting to ₹8.97 crore from 897 cases. The panel further earned ₹72.48 lakh as interest, with a total amount received as permanent desealing charges to be ₹23.10 crore.
“In compliance of court order dated August 22, ₹11 crore has been transferred to registry of Supreme Court… At present ₹48,836 is available in the bank account of Monitoring committee,” the report said.