B R Ramachandra Vs M/S Astra Zeneca Pharma India Ltd. — Company and Corporate | Karnataka HC (2026)

B R Ramachandra Vs M/S Astra Zeneca Pharma India Ltd. — Company and Corporate | Karnataka HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

The writ appeal was disposed of without interfering with the Single Judge's judgment dated 17.12.2024: liberty reserved to the respondent-employee (appellant) to file income tax returns with an application to condone delay and claim refund of the tax deducted on the gratuity; the Income Tax Department directed to process such returns and any excess refund expeditiously in accordance with law; and the Appellate Authority under the Payment of Gratuity Act directed to process the pending gratuity-computation appeals expeditiously in accordance with law.

Issue for consideration

Whether the judgment and order dated 17.12.2024 of the learned Single Judge in W.P.No.8770/2024, by which the Controlling Authority's direction to the company to refund the TDS deducted on gratuity was set aside, required interference by this Division Bench. +2 more

Court's answer

The judgment and order dated 17.12.2024 passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P.No.8770/2024 does not require interference by this Court, because the amount deposited towards income tax with the treasury may be claimed as refund by filing income tax returns.

Ratio / Principle

Liberty is reserved to the respondent-employee to file income tax returns along with an appropriate application for condoning the delay in filing the returns and to claim refund of the tax paid on the gratuity amount which the company deposited after deducting it from the gratuity payable.

Key takeaways

If such returns along with the condonation application are filed, they should be processed expeditiously, and the refund of any excess amount paid towards income tax should be processed in accordance with law by the Income Tax Department.ratio¶41
Since appeals regarding computation of gratuity payable to the employees are pending before the Appellate Authority under the Payment of Gratuity Act, the Appellate Authority is directed to process those appeals expeditiously in accordance with law.ratio¶42

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Writ Appeal No. 1919 of 2024 (L-PG), High Court of Karnataka, Division Bench (Justice D K Singh and Justice S Rachaiah; oral judgment per Justice D K Singh), decided 19.01.2026. Ex-employee B R Ramachandra appealed under Section 4 of the Karnataka High Court Act against the learned Single Judge's judgment and order dated 17.12.2024 in W.P.No.8770/2024, whereby writ petitions of M/s Astra Zeneca Pharma India Ltd were allowed and the Controlling Authority under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 was set aside to the extent it had directed the company to refund the TDS (deducted with education cess and deposited with the Income Tax Department) on the gratuity paid to the appellant, whose gratuity was below the tax limit. The Division Bench held that the impugned judgment required no interference, since the amount deposited towards income tax with the treasury may be claimed as refund by filing income tax returns. The appeal was disposed of: liberty was reserved to the respondent-employee to file income tax returns with an application to condone the delay and claim refund of the tax paid on the gratuity; the Income Tax Department was to process such returns and any excess refund expeditiously in accordance with law. The Bench also noted appeals pending before the Appellate Authority under the Payment of Gratuity Act regarding computation of gratuity and directed it to process those appeals expeditiously in accordance with law.