J U D G M E N T

PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV, J.

1. The petitioner, vide the instant petition, seeks to assail the order dated 15.07.2023 passed under Section 197 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 [“Act”], whereby, the Revenue rejected the petitioner‟s application seeking „Nil‟ deduction at source certificate.

2. The brief facts relevant to appreciate the controversy at hand would reveal that the petitioner is an ex-employee of the company namely Flipkart Internet Private Limited [“FIPL”] which is a wholly-

owned subsidiary of Flipkart Marketplace Private Limited [“FMPL”]. In addition thereto, the FMPL is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Flipkart Pvt. Ltd., Singapore [“FPS”].

3. In 2012, the FPS rolled out an Employee Stock Option Plan [“ESOP”] called as Flipkart Stock Option Plan [“FSOP”], wherein, the FPS granted certain stock options to the eligible persons, including employees of its subsidiaries. As per the clauses of FSOP, the petitioner was granted 1,27,552 stock options on and from 01.11.2014 to

31.11.2016 with a vesting schedule of 4 years.

4. On 23.12.2022, FPS announced the disinvestment of its wholly- owned subsidiary called PhonePe. Thereafter, the value of the stock options of FPS fel