In a guardianship petition, the Bombay High Court has issued a notice to deputy income tax commissioner of Mumbai zone, to remain present in the court and explain under which provision of law he insisted the petitioner to bring a certificate from the court verifying that he is the biological father of his own child.
Girish Kanse, the petitioner, had filed a guardian petition at the high court, in which he had requested the court to issue a certificate saying that he is the father of his child so that he can claim pension benefits of his deceased wife.
According to the petition, Mr Kanse’s wife, who was working with IT department, died on May 2013. After her death Mr Kanse married again in 2014. He also gave an application to IT department, through which he claimed pension benefits of his deceased wife for him and his minor daughter.
However, the deputy IT commissioner Anil Kulkarni refused to grant pension benefits to Mr Kanse. In his letter on January 2015, Mr Kulkarni sought a certificate from HC, which substantiates that Mr Kanse is the father of his minor daughter. Further, he refused to permit any benefit to Mr Kanse stating that according to the rules, IT employees do not allow pensioner benefits to the spouse if they remarried.
While hearing Mr Kanse’s petition, justice Gautam Patel said, “This is incomprehensible. The income tax department is not concerned with the marital status of its staff.”
Justice Patel then issued a notice to Mr Kulkarni to remain present in the court on next hearing and told him to explain the provisions of law under which he refused to grant pension benefits to Mr Kanse and his daughter.
The judge also asked under what provision of law did Mr Kulkarni require a certification that a father is the guardian of his own daughter. The next hearing of this case is on July 5.
