Arbitrary tax collection results in social injustice, says CJI

Chief Justice of India S A Bobde at the 79th Foundation Day celebrations of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in New Delhi on Friday. (Express Photo: Praveen Khanna) A week ahead of the Union Budget, Chief Justice of India Sharad Bobde Friday said while tax evasion by citizens is social injustice, excessive and arbitrary tax collection by government also results in social injustice.

“Excessive taxation can be seen as a tool of creating social injustice by the government,” he said addressing the 79th Foundation Day celebrations of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT).

Making a case for speedy adjudication of tax related disputes, he said, “To the tax collector, an efficient tax judiciary assures that demands arising out of legitimate assessment are not strangled in judicial delay. To the tax payer, a just and speedy tax dispute resolution is an incentive.”