Self employed
198 Points
Joined September 2015
As per section 10(26) of the income tax act:
A member of a Scheduled Tribe residing in-
States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, the Ladakh region of the state of J&K is exempt from tax on his income arising or accruing:
a) from any source in the areas
b) by way of dividend or interest on securities
In simple terms, a member of a Scheduled Tribe is entitled to benefit of section 10(26) when he/she is residing in the specified area and when the income other than income by way of interest or dividend accrues to him/her from a source in the specified area. It is thus obvious that when a member of the ST is residing outside the specified area he is not entitled to this benefit. Similarly, the member of the ST is not entitled to such benefit if the source of income other than the case of dividend or interest is outside the specified areas.
So what I have understood from your query is that you are working outside the specified area (Ladakh), so according to me you are not entitled to any exemption.
You can also refer a case law from this link https://www.casemine.com/judgement/in/56ea7ff6607dba36ace7106c