The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a PIL seeking the quashing of Section 11 of the Income Tax Act, 2025, on the ground that it grants blanket exemption to Scheduled Tribes residing in the Northeast.

The petition filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay alternatively sought application of the “creamy layer” principle to exclude well-to-do tribal communities from the tax-exemption bracket.

Refusing to interfere with the provisions of the I-T Act, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice V. Mohana allowed the petitioner to approach a parliamentary panel dealing with public grievances and make representations to the Centre and its instrumentalities.

“How can tribals who converted to Christianity and now earn in hundreds of crores and have so many educational institutions be exempted from paying tax?” Upadhyay argued.

“It is a legislative issue. There is a committee in Parliament where every citizen can approach for the enactment of law or correction in law,” the CJI said.