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2025 Supreme(Del) 497
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
PRATHIBA M. SINGH, SHAIL JAIN, JJ.
Vikram Malhotra And Anr. - Appellant
Vs.
Municipal Corporation Of Delhi And Ors. - Respondent
W.P.(C) 15001 Of 2023, CM APPL. 59924 Of 2023 & CM APPL. 45172 Of 2025
Decided On : 28-08-2025
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant : Ms. Diya Kapur, Senior Adv. with Mr. Raghav Kumar and Mr. Aditya Ladha, Advs.
For the Respondent: Ms. Sunieta Ojha, Adv.
Taxpayers under the SUNIYO scheme are entitled to adjustments for prior payments, and failure to comply with scheme payments may result in further tax liabilities and penalties.
Headnote:(A) Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2003 - Section 123D - Property tax assessment - Challenge to demands raised by Municipal Corporation of Delhi regarding property tax assessment leading to disputes over principal amounts and interest - Amnesty scheme SUNIYO 2025-26 provides waiver of prior dues upon payment of principal property tax for specified years. (Paras 4, 6, 25)
(B) Appeal and adjustment of payments - Adjustment claimed for previous payments made by petitioners under interim orders and their implications under the SUNIYO scheme were examined - Court held that adjustment should be given for amounts already paid as clarity on outstanding dues was needed. (Paras 11, 20)
(C) Legal proceedings - Legal issues regarding property tax assessments are under adjudication in a batch of writ petitions, including clarity on tax demands pending in the High Court. (Paras 5, 30)
Facts of the case:
The petitioners contested a demand of Rs.29,55,616/- raised for property tax, including principal and interest components, based on an assessment carried out by the MCD under relevant legislation. They aimed to avail benefits under the SUNIYO tax amnesty scheme.
Findings of Court:
Adjustment is provided for amounts paid under interim orders, leading to a requirement for the petitioners to pay a reduced amount of Rs.4,37,631/- to benefit from the tax amnesty scheme.
Issues: The primary legal questions were regarding the calculation of property tax, fair adjustment of prior payments, and implications of the SUNIYO scheme on ongoing cases.
Ratio Decidendi: The court concluded that previous payments made under interim orders must be credited to the petitioners while understanding the overarching tax amnesty aims, hence providing clarity to tax liabilities against existing demands.
Result: Writ petition disposed of with directions as stated.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. details of property tax demand (Para 2 , 3 , 4) |
| 2. implementation of the suniyo scheme (Para 6 , 7) |
| 3. arguments on payment adjustment under the scheme (Para 8 , 9) |
| 4. court's interpretation of suniyo scheme provisions (Para 14 , 15 , 19 , 22 , 23) |
| 5. determination of final payment amount under the scheme (Para 25 , 26 , 27) |
| 6. conclusion and order of case disposition (Para 30) |
JUDGMENT :
Prathiba M. Singh, J.
1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.
2. The Petitioners have filed this Petition challenging various demands raised by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (hereinafter, ‘MCD’) towards property tax in respect of Farm House No. 31, Deramandi Road bearing Khasra Nos.75/11,20,21 at Village Deramandi, New Delhi (hereinafter, ‘the farm house’).
3. The demand in terms of the said communication dated 10th October, 2023 was to the tune of Rs.29,55,616/- which includes principal amount of Rs.18,36,616/- and interest of Rs.11,19,000/-.
4. The demand was based on an assessment carried out by the MCDunder Section 123D of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2003.
5. The legal issue that has been raised in this matter is with respect to the manner in which the property tax is to be determined, based upon the vacant land in farm houses. This issue is pending in a batch of writ petitions before this Court, including W.P.(C) 3264/2024 titled Libra Buildwell LLP vs. Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Anr. /b>. where submissions have already been heard in part.
6. In the meantime, the MCD has launched a one-time property tax amnesty scheme known as “Sumpattikar Niptaan Yojana” (hereinafter, SUNIYO scheme) on 2nd June, 2025. The salient features of the said scheme are as under:
(a) On Payment of Principal amount of property tax for the current year 2025-26 & previous five (5) years (i.e. FY 2025-26 + FYs 2020-21 to 2024-25), all the previous dues prior to the FY 2020-21 including interest and penalty will stand waived off.
(b) The taxpayer has to file online PTR by accessing the link for the purpose at https://mcdonline.nic.in/ptrmcd/web/citizen/info (c) The owners/occupiers having multiple UPIC numbers for the same property may get their multiple UPIC numbers merged by accessing the aforesaid link.
(d) There shall be a helpline number +91-7065064988 in MCD to facilitate the taxpayers.
(e) Taxpayer shall have to upload the proof of previous payment receipts for the period from FY 2020-21, if any, alongwith other documents. In order to facilitate the taxpayers, MCD is publishing the details of property tax paid in public domain.
(f) On successful submission of an application and payment of dues under the scheme, a tax receipt will get auto generated indicating the payment made and will be available to the tax payer for download.
(g) In case of Government & Railway Properties (GRP), PSU/Autonomous bodies etc. who wish to avail the benefits of the Scheme, payment shall be accepted through online mode like RTGS/NEFT as well as through demand draft. The demand draft shall be in favour of "Commissioner, MCD" payable at New Delhi. The payment for depositing the property tax for other categories, except Government & Railway Properties (GRP), PSU/Autonomous bodies etc. shall be through online mode only.
(h) The taxpayers, whose case(s) are pending under litigation in any court i.e. Municipal Taxation Tribunal/District Court/High Court/Supreme Court etc., and want to avail benefits of this scheme, have to file a written undertaking (Specimen is at Annex-A) that the taxpayer will withdraw the court case pending in any court and shall agree to the terms and conditions of the SUNIYO 2025-26 Scheme.
(i) The taxpayers may rectify their wrong SAPTR within two months or upto the closure of the Scheme, whichever is earlier, without any interest & penalty.
(j) The department will carry out scrutiny from 01-04-2026 to 31-03-2027 of the SAPTRs filed under the scheme and if there is any underpayment, the taxpayer shall be liable to pay all
