Section 197 of Income Tax Act, 1961—TDS—  In  the instant case, grievance raised by the petitioner that the withholding tax certificate issued to the petitioner has been made effective from the date of issue, and not from the beginning of the financial year i.e. 01.04.2019.

Held that— In a matter like the present one, time is of the essence since the petitioner is being subjected to higher deduction of tax at source by the parties which are transacting in business, while its claim is for lower withholding tax. The petitioner is a well established business enterprise. Though, the lower withholding tax certificates have been issued in respect of all the parties, the dispute remains with regard to the date from which the certificates should take effect since the petitioner claims that it had made the application on 18.03.2019 for the financial year 2019-20. In respect of all the parties, we are inclined to direct as an interim measure that the said certificates issued to the petitioner would be effective for the entire financial year of 2019-20, subject to further orders.[BRITISH AIRWAYS PLC VERSUS INCOME TAX OFFICER & ORS.] [2020] 21 ITCD Online (5) [DELHI HIGH COURT]