C.I.T. v. G.R.

Karthikeyan
1993 Supp (3) SCC 222

B.P. JEEVAN REDDY, J. - The question referred under Section 256(1) of the Income Tax
Act reads as follows:
Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Appellate Tribunal was
right in holding that the total sum of Rs 22,000 received by the assessee from the Indian Oil
Corporation and All India Highway Motor Rally should not be brought to tax?
2. The assessment year concerned is 1974-75. The assessee, G.R. Karthikeyan, assessed as
an individual, was having income from various sources including salary and business income.
During the accounting year relevant to the said assessment year, he participated in the All India
Highway Motor Rally. He was awarded the first prize of Rs 20,000 by the Indian Oil
Corporation and another sum of Rs 2000 by the All India Highway Motor Rally. The Rally was
organised jointly by the Automobile Association of Eastern India and the Indian Oil
Corporation and was supported by several Regional Automobile Associations as well as
Federation of Indian Motor Sports Clubs and the Federation of Indian Automobile Associations.
The rally was restricted to private motor cars. The length of the rally route was approximately
6956 kms. One could start either from Delhi, Calcutta, Madras or Bombay, proceed anti-
clockwise and arrive at the starting point. The rally was designed to test endurance driving and
the reliability of the automobiles. One had to drive his vehicle observing the traffic regulations
at different places as also the regulations prescribed by the Rally Committee. Prizes were
awarded on the basis of overall classification. The method of ascertaining the first prize was
based on a system of penalty points for various violations. The competitor with the least penalty
points was adjudged the first-prize winner. On the above basis, the assessee won the first prize
and received a total sum of Rs 22,000. The Income Tax Officer included the same in the income
of the respondent-assessee relying upon the definition of ‗income‘ in clause (24) of Section 2.
On appeal, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner held that inasmuch as the rally was not a race,
the amount received cannot be treated as income within the meaning of Section 2(24)(ix). An
appeal preferred by the Revenue was dismissed by the Tribunal. The Tribunal recorded the
following findings:
(a) That the said rally was not a race. It was predominantly a test of skill and
endurance as well as of reliability of the vehicle.
(b) That the rally was also not a ‗game‘ within the meaning of Section 2(24)(ix).
(c) That the receipt in question was casual in nature. It was nevertheless not an income
receipt and hence fell outside the provisions of Section 10(3) of the Act.
3. At the instance of the Revenue, the question aforementioned was stated for the opinion of
the Madras High Court. The High Court held in favour of the assessee on the following
reasoning:
(a) The expression ‗winnings‘ occurring at the inception of sub-clause (ix) in Section
2(24) is distinct and different from the expression ‗winning‘. The expression ‗winnings‘ has
acquired a connotation of its own. It means money won by gambling or betting. The
 expression ‗winnings‘ controls the meaning of several expressions occurring in the sub-
clause. In this view of the matter, the sub-clause cannot take in the receipt concerned herein
which was received by the assessee by participating in a race which involved skill in driving
the vehicle. The rally was not a race. In other words the said receipt does not represent
‗winnings‘.
(b) A perusal of the memorandum explaining the provisions of the Finance Bill, 1972,
which inserted the said sub-clause in Section 2(24), also shows that the idea behind the sub-
clause was to rope in windfalls from lotteries, races and card games etc.
(c) Section 74(A) which too was introduced by the Finance Act, 1972 supports the said
view. Section 74(A) provides that any loss resulting from any of the sources mentioned
therein can be set off against the income received from that source alone. The sources
referred to in the said section are the very same sources mentioned in sub-clause (ix) of
Section 2(24) namely lotteries, crossword puzzles, races including horse-races, card-games
etc.
5. The definition of ‗income‘ in Section 2(24) is an inclusive definition. The Parliament has
been adding to the definition by adding sub-clause(s) from time to time. Sub-clause (ix) which
was inserted by the Finance Act, 1972 reads as follows—
(ix) any winnings from lotteries, crossword puzzles, races including horse-races, card-
games and other games of any sort or from gambling or betting of any form or nature
whatsoever.
6. We may notice at this stage a provision in Section 10. Section 10 occurs in Chapter III
which carries the heading ―Incomes which do not form part of total income‖. Section 10 insofar
as is relevant reads thus:
10. Incomes not included in total income.- In computing the total income of a previous
year of any person, any income falling within any of the following clauses shall not be
included - ………..
(3) any receipts which are of a casual and non-recurring nature, not being winnings
from lotteries, to the extent such receipts do not exceed one thousand rupees in the
aggregate.
7. It is not easy to define income. The definition in the Act is an inclusive one. As said by
Lord Wright in Kamakshya Narayan Singh v. CIT [(1943) 11 ITR 513 (PC)] ―income ... is a
word difficult and perhaps impossible to define in any precise general formula. It is a word of
the broadest connotation‖. In Gopal Saran Narain Singh v. CIT [(1935) 3 ITR 237 (PC)] the
Privy Council pointed out that ―anything that can properly be described as income is taxable
under the Act unless expressly exempted‖. This Court had to deal with the ambit of the
expression ‗income‘ in Navinchandra Mafatlal v. CIT [AIR 1955 SC 58]. The Indian Income
Tax and Excess Profits Tax (Amendment) Act, 1947 had inserted Section 12(B) in the Indian
Income Tax Act, 1922. Section 12(B) imposed a tax on capital gains. The validity of the said
amendment was questioned on the ground that tax on capital gains is not a tax on ‗income‘
within the meaning of Entry 54 of List 1, nor is it a tax on the capital value of the assets of
individuals and companies within the meaning of Entry 55 of List 1 of the Seventh Schedule to
the Government of India Act, 1935. The Bombay High Court repelled the attack. The matter
was brought to this Court. After rejecting the argument on behalf of the assessee that the word
‗income‘ has acquired, by legislative practice, a restricted meaning - and after affirming that the
entries in the Seventh Schedule should receive the most liberal construction - the Court
observed thus:
What, then, is the ordinary, natural and grammatical meaning of the word ‗income‘?
According to the dictionary it means ‗a thing that comes in‘. In the United States of
America and in Australia both of which also are English speaking countries the word
‗income‘ is understood in a wide sense so as to include a capital gain. In each of these cases
very wide meaning was ascribed to the word ‗income‘ as its natural meaning. The relevant
observations of learned Judges deciding those cases which have been quoted in the
judgment of Tendolkar, J. quite clearly indicate that such wide meaning was put upon the
word ‗income‘ not because of any particular legislative practice either in the United States
or in the Commonwealth of Australia but because such was the normal concept and
connotation of the ordinary English word ‗income‘. Its natural meaning embraces any profit
or gain which is actually received. This is in consonance with the observations of Lord
Wright to which reference has already been made…. The argument founded on an assumed
legislative practice being thus out of the way, there can be no difficulty in applying its
natural and grammatical meaning to the ordinary English word „income‟. As already
observed, the word should be given its widest connotation in view of the fact that it occurs
in a legislative head conferring legislative power.
8. Since the definition of income in Section 2(24) is an inclusive one, its ambit, in our
opinion, should be the same as that of the word income occurring in Entry 82 of List I of the
Seventh Schedule to the Constitution (corresponding to Entry 54 of List I of the Seventh
Schedule to the Government of India Act).
9. In Bhagwan Dass Jain v. Union of India [(1981) 2 SCC 135] the challenge was to the
validity of Section 23(2) of the Act which provided that where the property consists of house in
the occupation of the owner for the purpose of his own residence, the annual value of such
house shall first be determined in the same manner as if the property had been let and further be
reduced by one-half of the amount so determined or Rs 1800 whichever is less. The contention
of the assessee was that he was not deriving any monetary benefit by residing in his own house
and, therefore, no tax can be levied on him on the ground that he is deriving income from that
house. It was contended that the word income means realisation of monetary benefit and that in
the absence of any such realisation by the assessee, the inclusion of any amount by way of
notional income under Section 23(2) of the Act in the chargeable income was impermissible and
outside the scope of Entry 82 of List 1 of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution. The said
contention was rejected affirming that the expression income is of the widest amplitude and that
it includes not merely what is received or what comes in by exploiting the use of the property
but also that which can be converted into income.
10. Sub-clause (ix) of Section 2(24) refers to lotteries, crossword puzzles, races including
horse-races, card games, other games of any sort and gambling or betting of any form or nature
whatsoever. All crossword puzzles are not of a gambling nature. Some are; some are not. See
State of Bombay v. R.M.D. Chamarbaugwala [AIR 1957 SC 699]. Even in card games there
are some games which are games of skill without an element of gamble [See State of A.P. v. K.
Satyanarayana, AIR 1968 SC 825]. The words ―other games of any sort‖ are of wide
amplitude. Their meaning is not confined to games of a gambling nature alone. It thus appears
that sub-clause (ix) is not confined to mere gambling or betting activities. But, says the High
Court, the meaning of all the aforesaid words is controlled by the word ‗winnings‘ occurring at
the inception of the sub-clause. The High Court says, relying upon certain material, that the
expression ‗winnings‘ has come to acquire a particular meaning viz., receipts from activities of
a gambling or betting nature alone. Assuming that the High Court is right in its interpretation of
the expression ‗winnings‘, does it follow that merely because winnings from gambling/betting
activities are included within the ambit of income, the monies received from non-gambling and
non-betting activities are not so included? What is the implication flowing from insertion of
clause (ix)? If the monies which are not earned — in the true sense of the word - constitute
income why do monies earned by skill and toil not constitute income? Would it not look odd, if
one is to say that monies received from games and races of gambling nature represent income
but not those received from games and races of non-gambling nature? The rally in question was
a contest, if not a race. The respondent-assessee entered the contest to win it and to win the first
prize. What he got was a ‗return‘ for his skill and endurance. Then why is it not income - which
expression must be construed in its widest sense. Further, even if a receipt does not fall within
sub-clause (ix), or for that matter, any of the sub-clauses in Section 2(24), it may yet constitute
income. To say otherwise, would mean reading the several clauses in Section 2(24) as
exhaustive of the meaning of ‗income‘ when the statute expressly says that it is inclusive. It
would be a wrong approach to try to place a given receipt under one or the other sub-clauses in
Section 2(24) and if it does not fall under any of the sub-clauses, to say that it does not
constitute income. Even if a receipt does not fall within the ambit of any of the sub-clauses in
Section 2(24), it may still be income if it partakes of the nature of the income. The idea behind
providing inclusive definition in Section 2(24) is not to limit its meaning but to widen its net.
This Court has repeatedly said that the word ‗income‘ is of widest amplitude, and that it must be
given its natural and grammatical meaning. Judging from the above standpoint, the receipt
concerned herein is also income.
May be it is casual in nature but it is income nevertheless. That even the casual income is
‗income‘ is evident from Section 10(3). Section 10 seeks to exempt certain ‗incomes‘ from
being included in the ‗total income‘. A casual receipt - which should mean, in the context,
casual income - is liable to be included in the total income, if it is in excess of Rs 1000, by
virtue of clause (3) of Section 10. Even though it is a clause exempting a particular
receipt/income to a limited extent, it is yet relevant on the meaning of the expression ‗income‘.
In our respectful opinion, the High Court, having found that the receipt in question does not fall
within sub-clause (ix) of Section 2(24), erred in concluding that it does not constitute income.
The High Court has read the several sub-clauses in Section 2(24) as exhaustive of the definition
of income when in fact it is not so. In this connection it is relevant to notice the finding of the
Tribunal. It found that the receipt in question was casual in nature but - it opined - it was
nevertheless not an income receipt and fell outside the provision of Section 10(3) of the Act. We
have found it difficult to follow the logic behind the argument.
 11. For the above reasons we hold that the receipt in question herein does constitute
‗income‘ as defined in clause (24) of Section 2 of the Act. The appeal is accordingly allowed
and the question referred by the Tribunal under Section 256(1) of the Act is answered in the
negative i.e. in favour of the Revenue and against the assessee.

*****
6

CIT v. Sitaldas Tirathdas

(1961) 2 SCR 634

HIDAYATULLAH, J. - The Commissioner of Income Tax, Bombay City II, has filed this
appeal with a certificate under Section 66-A(2) of the Income Tax Act, against the judgment
and order of the High Court of Bombay dated September 20, 1957, in Income Tax Reference
No. 15 of 1957.
2. The question referred to the High Court for its opinion by the Income Tax Appellate
Tribunal, Bombay was:
―Whether the assessee is entitled to a deduction of Rs 1350 and Rs 18,000 from his
total income of the previous year relevant to Assessment Years 1953-54, 1954-55?‖
3. The assessee, Sitaldas Tirathdas of Bombay, has many sources of income, chief among
them being property, stocks and shares, bank deposits and share in a Firm known as Messrs
Sitaldas Tirathdas. He follows the financial year as his accounting year. For Assessment
Years 1953-54 and 1954-55, his total income was respectively computed at Rs 50,375 and Rs
55,160. This computation was not disputed by him, but he sought to deduct therefrom a sum
of Rs 1350 in the first assessment year and a sum of Rs 18,000 in the second assessment year
on the ground that under a decree he was required to pay these sums as maintenance to his
wife, Bai Deviben and his children. The suit was filed in the Bombay High Court (Suit No.
102 of 1951) for maintenance allowance, separate residence and marriage expenses for the
daughters and for arrears of maintenance, etc. A decree by consent was passed on March 11,
1953, and maintenance allowance of Rs 1500 per month was decreed against him. For the
account year ending March 31, 1953 only one payment was made, and deducting Rs 150 per
month as the rent for the flat occupied by his wife and children, the amount paid as
maintenance under the decree came to Rs 1350. For the second year, the maintenance at Rs
1500 per month came to Rs 18,000 which was claimed as a deduction. No charge on the
property was created, and the matter does not fall to be considered under Section 9(1)(iv) of
the Income Tax Act. The assessee, however, claimed this deduction on the strength of a ruling
of the Privy Council in Bejoy Singh Dudhuria v. CIT [(1933) 1 ITR 135]. This contention of
the assessee was disallowed by the Income Tax Officer, whose decision was affirmed on
appeal by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. On further appeal, the Tribunal observed:
―This is a case, pure and simple, where an assessee is compelled to apply a portion of
his income for the maintenance of persons whom he is under a personal and legal
obligation to maintain. The Income Tax Act does not permit of any deduction from the
total income in such circumstances.‖
The Tribunal mentioned in the statement of the case that counsel for the assessee put his
contention in the following words:
―I claim a deduction of this amount from my total income because my real total
income is whatever that is computed, which I do not dispute, less the maintenance amount
paid under the decree.‖
 7

The assessee appears to have relied also upon a decision of the Lahore High Court in
Diwan Kishen Kishore v. CIT [(1933) 1 ITR 143]. The Tribunal, however, referred the above
question for the opinion of the High Court.
4. The High Court followed two earlier decisions of the same Court reported in Seth
Motilal Manekchand v. CIT [(1957) 31 ITR 735] and Prince Khanderao Gaekwar v. CIT
[(1948) 16 ITR 294] and held that, as observed in those two cases, the test was the same, even
though there was no specific charge upon property so long as there was an obligation upon the
assessee to pay, which could be enforced in a court of law. In Bejoy Singh Dudhuria case,
there was a charge for maintenance created against the assessee, and the Privy Council had
observed that the income must be deemed to have never reached that assessee, having been
diverted to the maintenance-holders. In the judgment under appeal, it was held that the
income to the extent of the decree must be taken to have been diverted to the wife and
children, and never became income in the hands of the assessee.
5. The Commissioner of Income Tax questions the correctness of this decision and also of
the two earlier decisions of the Bombay High Court. We are of opinion that the contention
raised by the Department is correct.
6. Before we state the principle on which this and similar cases are to be decided, we may
refer to certain rulings, which illustrate the aspects the problem takes. The leading case on the
subject is the decision of the Judicial Committee in Bejoy Singh Dudhuria case. There, the
stepmother of the Raja had brought a suit for maintenance and a compromise decree was
passed under which the stepmother was to be paid Rs 1100 per month, which amount was
declared a charge upon the properties in the hands of the Raja, by the Court. The Raja sought
to deduct this amount from his assessable income, which was disallowed by the High Court at
Calcutta. On appeal to the Privy Council, Lord Macmillan observed as follows:
―But Their Lordships do not agree with the learned Chief Justice in his rejection
of the view that the sums paid by the appellant to his step-mother were not ‗income‘
of the appellant at all. This in Their Lordships‘ opinion is the true view of the matter.
When the Act by Section 3 subjects to charge ‗all income‘ of an individual, it is
what reaches the individual as income which it is intended to charge. In the present
case the decree of the court by charging the appellant‘s whole resources with a
specific payment to his step-mother has to that extent diverted his income from him
and has directed it to his stepmother; to that extent what he receives for her is not his
income. It is not a case of the application by the appellant of part of his income in a
particular way, it is rather the allocation of a sum out of his revenue before it becomes
income in his hands.‖
7. Another case of the Privy Council may well be seen in this connection. That case is
reported in P.C. Mullick v. CIT [(1938) 6 ITR 206]. There, a testator appointed the appellants
as executors and directed them to pay Rs 10,000 out of the income on the occasion of his
addya sradh. The executors paid Rs 5537 for such expenses, and sought to deduct the amount
from the assessable income. The Judicial Committee confirmed the decision of the Calcutta
High Court disallowing the deduction, and observed that the payments were made out of the
income of the estate coming to the hands of the executors and in pursuance of an obligation
8

imposed upon them by the testator. It observed that it was not a case in which a portion of the
income had been diverted by an overriding title from the person who would have received it
otherwise, and distinguished the case in Bejoy Singh Dudhuria case.
8. These cases have been diversely applied in India, but the facts of some of the cases
bring out the distinction clearly. In Diwan Kishen Kishore v. CIT there was an impartible
estate governed by the law of primogeniture, and under the custom applicable to the family,
an allowance was payable to the junior member. Under an award given by the Deputy
Commissioner acting as arbitrator and according to the will of the father of the holder of the
estate and the junior member, a sum of Rs 7200 per year was payable to the junior member.
This amount was sought to be deducted on the ground that it was a necessary and obligatory
payment, and that the assessable income must, therefore, be taken to be pro tanto diminished.
It was held that the income never became a part of the income of the family or of the eldest
member but was a kind of a charge on the estate. The allowance given to the junior member,
it was held, in the case of an impartible estate was the separate property of the younger
member upon which he could be assessed and the rule that an allowance given by the head of
a Hindu coparcenary to its members by way of maintenance was liable to be assessed as the
income of the family, had no application. It was also observed that if the estate had been
partible and partition could have taken place, the payment to the junior member out of the
coparcenary funds would have stood on a different footing. In that case, the payment to the
junior member was a kind of a charge which diverted a portion of the income from the
assessee to the junior member in such a way that it could not be said that it became the
income of the assessee.
9. In CIT v. Makanji Lalji [(1937) 5 ITR 539] it was stated that in computing the income
of a Hindu undivided family monies paid to the widow of a deceased coparcener of the family
as maintenance could not be deducted, even though the amount of maintenance had been
decreed by the Court and had been made a charge on the properties belonging to the family.
This case is open to serious doubt, because it falls within the rule stated in Bejoy Singh
Dudhuria case; and though the High Court distinguished the case of the Judicial Committee,
it appears that it was distinguished on a ground not truly relevant, namely, that in Bejoy Singh
Dudhuria case the Advocate-General had abandoned the plea that the stepmother was still a
member of the undivided Hindu family. It was also pointed out that this was a case of
assessment as an individual and not an assessment of a Hindu undivided family.
10. In CIT v. D.R. Naik [(1939) 7 ITR 362] the assessee was the sole surviving member
of a Hindu undivided family. There was a decree of Court by which the assessee was entitled
to receive properties as a residuary legatee, subject, however, to certain payments of
maintenance to widows. The widows continued to be members of the family. It was held that
though Section 9 of the Income Tax Act did not apply, the assessee‘s assessable income was
only the balance left after payment of the maintenance charges. It appears from the facts of
the case, however, that there was a charge for the maintenance upon the properties of the
assessee. This case also brings out correctly the principles laid down by the Judicial
Committee that if there be an overriding obligation which creates a charge and diverts the
income to some one else, a deduction can be made of the amounts so paid.
 9

11. The last case may be contrasted with the case reported in P.C. Mullick and D.C. Aich,
In re [(1940) 8 ITR 236]. There, under a will certain payments had to be made to the
beneficiaries. These payments were to be made gradually together with certain other
annuities. It was held that the payments could only be made out of the income received by the
executors and trustees from the property, and the sum was assessable to income tax in the
hands of the executors. It was pointed out that under the will it was stated that the amounts
were to be paid ―out of the income of my property‖, and thus, what had been charged was the
income of the assessees, the executors. The case is in line with the decision of the Privy
Council in P.C. Mullick v. CIT.
12. In Hira Lal, In re [(1945) 13 ITR 512] there was a joint Hindu family, and under two
awards made by arbitrators which were made into a rule of the Court, certain maintenance
allowances were payable to the widows. These payments were also made a charge upon the
property. It was held that inasmuch as the payments were obligatory and subject to an
overriding charge they must be excluded. Here too, the amount payable to the widows was
diverted from the family to them by an overriding obligation in the nature of a charge, and the
income could not be said to accrue to the joint Hindu family at all.
13. In Prince Khanderao Gaekwar v. CIT, there was a family trust out of which two
grandsons of the settler had to be paid a portion of the income. It was provided that if their
mother lived separately, then the trustees were to pay her Rs 18,000 per year. The mother
lived separately, and two deeds were executed by which the two grandsons agreed to pay Rs
15,000 per year to the mother, and created a charge on the property. The sons having paid Rs
6000 in excess of their obligations, sought to deduct the amount from their assessable income,
and it was allowed by the Bombay High Court, observing that though the payment was a
voluntary payment, it was subject to a valid and legal charge which could be enforced in a
court of law and the amount was thus deductible under Section 9(1)(iv). There is no
distinction between a charge created by a decree of Court and one created by agreement of
parties, provided that by that charge the income from property can be said to be diverted so as
to bring the matter within Section 9(1)(iv) of the Act. The case was one of application of the
particular section of the Act and not one of an obligation created by a money decree, whether
income accrued or not. The case is, therefore, distinguishable from the present, and we need
not consider whether in the special circumstances of that case it was correctly decided.
14. In V.M. Raghavalu Naidu & Sons v. CIT [(1950) 18 ITR 787] the assessees were the
executors and trustees of a will, who were required to pay maintenance allowances to the
mother and widow of the testator. The amount of these allowances was sought to be deducted,
but the claim was disallowed. Satyanarayana Rao and Viswanatha Sastri, JJ. Distinguished
the case from that of the Privy Council in Bejoy Singh Dudhuria case. Viswanatha Sastri, J.
observed that the testator was under a personal obligation under the Hindu law to maintain his
wife and mother, and if he had spent a portion of his income on such maintenance, he could
not have deducted the amount from his assessable income, and that the position of the
executor was no better. Satyanarayana Rao, J. added that the amount was not an allowance
which was charged upon the estate by a decree of Court or otherwise and which the testator
himself had no right or title to receive. The income which was received by the executors
10

included the amount paid as maintenance, and a portion of it was thus applied in discharging
the obligation.
15. The last cited case is again of the Bombay High Court, which seems to have
influenced the decision in the instant case. That is reported in Seth Motilal Manekchand v.
CIT. In that case, there was a managing agency, which belonged to a Hindu joint family
consisting of A, his son B and A‘s wife. A partition took place, and it was agreed that the
managing agency should be divided, A and B taking a moiety each of the managing agency
remuneration but each of them paying A‘s wife 2 as. 8 pies out of their respective 8 as. Share
in the managing agency remuneration. Chagla, C.J. and Tendolkar, J. held that under the deed
of partition A and B had really intended that they were to receive only a portion of the
managing agency commission and that the amount paid to A‘s wife was diverted before it
became the income of A and B and could be deducted. The learned Judge observed at p. 741
as follows:
―We are inclined to accept the submission of Mr Kolah that it does constitute a
charge, but in our opinion, it is unnecessary to decide this question because this
question can only have relevance and significance if we were considering a claim
made for deduction under Section 9(1)(iv) of the Income Tax Act where a claim is
made in respect of immovable property where the immovable property is charged or
mortgaged to pay a certain amount. It is sufficient for the purpose of this reference if
we come to the conclusion that Bhagirathibai had a legal enforceable right against the
partner in respect of her 2 annas and 8 pies share and that the partner was under a
legal obligation to pay that amount.‖
16. These are the cases which have considered the problem from various angles. Some of
them appear to have applied the principle correctly and some, not. But we do not propose to
examine the correctness of the decisions in the light of the facts in them. In our opinion, the
true test is whether the amount sought to be deducted, in truth, never reached the assessee as
his income. Obligations, no doubt, there are in every case, but it is the nature of the obligation
which is the decisive fact. There is a difference between an amount which a person is obliged
to apply out of his income and an amount which by the nature of the obligation cannot be said
to be a part of the income of the assessee. Where by the obligation income is diverted before
it reaches the assessee, it is deductible; but where the income is required to be applied to
discharge an obligation after such income reaches the assessee, the same consequence, in law,
does not follow. It is the first kind of payment which can truly be excused and not the second.
The second payment is merely an obligation to pay another a portion of one‘s own income,
which has been received and is since applied. The first is a case in which the income never
reaches the assessee, who even if he were to collect it, does so, not as part of his income, but
for and on behalf of the person to whom it is payable. In our opinion, the present case is one
in which the wife and children of the assessee who continued to be members of the family
received a portion of the income of the assessee, after the assessee had received the income as
his own. The case is one of application of a portion of the income to discharge an obligation
and not a case in which by an overriding charge the assessee became only a collector of
another‘s income. The matter in the present case would have been different, if such an
overriding charge had existed either upon the property or upon its income, which is not the
 11

case. In our opinion, the case falls outside the rule in Bejoy Singh Dudhuria case and rather
falls within the rule stated by the Judicial Committee in P.C. Mullick case.
17. For these reasons, we hold that the question referred to the High Court ought to have
been answered in the negative. We, accordingly, discharge the answer given by the High
Court, and the question will be answered in the negative. The appeal is thus allowed with
costs here and in the High Court.

*****
12

C.I.T. v. Sunil J. Kinariwala

(2003) 1 SCC 660

S.S.M. QUADRI, J. - At the instance of the Revenue, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal
referred the following questions, under Section 256(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for the
opinion of the High Court:
(1) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, 50 per cent out of
the assessee‘s ten per cent, right, title and interest in the partnership firm of Messrs
Kinariwala R.J.K. Industries belongs to Sunil Jivanlal Kinariwala Trust and the
income arising therefrom belongs to the said Trust by overriding title?
(2) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the sum of Rs
20,141 being the profits referable to 50 per cent, out of the assessee‘s right, title
and interest of ten per cent, in the partnership firm of Messrs Kinariwala R.J.K.
Industries is not the real income of the assessee, but of Sunil Jivanlal Kinariwala
Trust and as such assessable only in the hands of the Trust?
(3) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, fifty per cent, out
of the assessee‘s ten per cent, share in the firm of Messrs Kinariwala R.J.K. Industries
has been validly assigned to Sunil Jivanlal Kinariwala Trust under the deed of trust
dated 27-12-1973, and whether the income arising therefrom belongs to the said Trust
by way of overriding title?
4. The assessee, a partner in the partnership firm, known as ―M/s Kinariwala R.J.K.
Industries‖, Ahmedabad, was having ten per cent share therein. On 27-12-1973, he created a
trust named ―Sunil Jivanlal Kinariwala Trust‖ by a deed of settlement assigning fifty per cent
out of his ten per cent right, title and interest (excluding capital), as a partner in the firm, and a
sum of rupees five thousand out of his capital in the firm in favour of the said Trust. There are
three beneficiaries of the Trust - the assessee‘s brother‘s wife, assessee‘s niece and the
assessee‘s mother. In Assessment Year 1974-75, he claimed that as fifty per cent of the
income attributable to his share from the firm, stood transferred to the Trust resulting in
diversion of income at source, the same could not be included in his total income for the
purpose of his assessment. The Income Tax Officer rejected the claim on the view that it was
a case of application of income and not diversion of income at source; he also found that
Section 60 of the Act was attracted as only income without transfer of asset was settled.
Against the order of assessment, the assessee appealed before the Appellate Assistant
Commissioner of Income Tax who allowed the appeal directing that a sum of Rs 20,141
which stood transferred to the Trust under the settlement, be excluded from the total income
of the assessee. However, on appeal by the Revenue, the Tribunal reversed the order of the
Appellate Assistant Commissioner. Thus, the aforementioned questions of law came to be
referred to the High Court by the Tribunal.
5. The High Court, relying on the judgments of this Court in CIT v. Bagyalakshmi & Co.
[(1965) 55 ITR 660] and Murlidhar Himatsingka v. CIT [(1966) 62 ITR 323] held, inter
alia, that on assignment of fifty per cent share of the assessee in the firm, it became the
income of the Trust by overriding title and it could not be added in the total income of the
 13

assessee. In that view of the matter, the aforementioned questions (1) to (3) were answered in
the affirmative, in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue.
7. Mr Preetesh Kapur, learned counsel appearing for the Revenue, contended that having
regard to the terms of the settlement, what was assigned was the right to receive profits to the
extent of fifty per cent of the share of the assessee; there was, therefore, no overriding title in
the Trust so as to divert the income at source and the High Court erred in treating the
assignment as resulting in diversion of the income. The question of application of Section 60
of the Act was urged as an alternative contention and was not seriously pursued. Mr U.U.
Lalit, learned counsel appearing for the respondent assessee, on the other hand, argued that
under Section 29(1) of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, the Trust became entitled to receive
fifty per cent share of the assessee‘s income from the firm by assignment under the settlement
deed and, therefore, the Trust was getting the income by virtue of the overriding title and the
High Court had correctly answered the questions. Further, it was conceded by the learned
counsel for the parties that Questions (1) and (3) overlap and they need to be reframed. By an
order of this Court dated 3-12-2002, they were reframed as question (1). Now, we have to
advert to the following two questions:
(1) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, assignment of 50
per cent out of the assessee‘s ten per cent share in right, title and interest (excluding
capital) in M/s Kinariwala R.J.K. Industries in favour of Sunil Jivanlal Kinariwala
Trust under a deed of trust dated 27-12-1973 creates an overriding title in favour of
the Trust and whether the income accruing to the Trust can be treated as the income
of the assessee?
(2) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the sum of Rs
20,141 being the profits referable to 50 per cent, out of the assessee‘s right, title
and interest of ten per cent, in the partnership firm of Messrs Kinariwala R.J.K.
Industries is not the real income of the assessee, but of Sunil Jivanlal Kinariwala
Trust and as such assessable only in the hands of the Trust?
8. It may be pointed out that under the scheme of the Act, it is the total income of an
assessee, computed under the provisions of the Act, that is assessable to income tax. So much
of the income which an assessee is not entitled to receive by virtue of an overriding title
created in favour of a third party would get diverted at source and the same cannot be added
in computing the total income of the assessee. The principle is simple enough but more often
than not, as in the instant case, the question arises as to what is the criteria to determine, when
does the income attributable to an assessee get diverted by overriding title? The determinative
factor, in our view, is the nature and effect of the assessee‘s obligation in regard to the amount
in question. When a third person becomes entitled to receive the amount under an obligation
of an assessee even before he could lay a claim to receive it as his income, there would be
diversion of income by an overriding title; but when after receipt of the income by the
assessee, the same is passed on to a third person in discharge of the obligation of the assessee,
it will be a case of application of income by the assessee and not of diversion of income by
overriding title. The decisions of the Privy Council in Bejoy Singh Dudhuria v. CIT [(1933)
1 ITR 135(PC)] and P.C. Mullick v. CIT [(1938) 6 ITR 206(PC)] together are illustrative of
the principle of diversion of income by overriding title.
14

9. In Bejoy Singh Dudhuria under a compromise decree of maintenance obtained by the

stepmother of the assessee, a charge was created on the properties in his hand. The Law Lords
of the Privy Council, reversing the judgment of the Calcutta High Court, held that the amount
of maintenance recovered by the stepmother was not a case of application of the income of
the assessee. In contrast, in P.C. Mullick under a will, certain payments had to be made to the
beneficiaries by the executors and the trustees (assessees) from the property of the testator. It
was held by the Privy Council that such payments could only be out of the income received
by the assessees from the property, therefore, such payments were assessable to income tax in
the hands of the assessees and there was no diversion of income at source. Whereas in the
former case, the stepmother of the assessee acquired the right to get the maintenance by virtue
of charge created by the decree of the court on the properties of the assessee even before he
could lay his hands on the income from the properties, but in the latter case, the obligation of
the assessee to pay amounts to the beneficiaries was required to be discharged after receipt of
the income from the properties.
10. In CIT v. Sitaldas Tirathdas [(1961) 41 ITR 367] speaking for a Bench of three
learned Judges of this Court, Hidayatullah, J. having considered, among others, the aforesaid
two judgments of the Privy Council laid down the test as follows:
In our opinion, the true test is whether the amount sought to be deducted, in truth, never
reached the assessee as his income. Obligations, no doubt, there are in every case, but it is
the nature of the obligation which is the decisive fact. There is a difference between an
amount which a person is obliged to apply out of his income and an amount which by the
nature of the obligation cannot be said to be a part of the income of the assessee. Where
by the obligation income is diverted before it reaches the assessee, it is deductible; but
where the income is required to be applied to discharge an obligation after such income
reaches the assessee, the same consequence, in law, does not follow. It is the first kind of
payment which can truly be excused and not the second. The second payment is merely
an obligation to pay another a portion of one‘s own income, which has been received and
is since applied. The first is a case in which the income never reaches the assessee, who
even if he were to collect it, does so, not as part of his income, but for and on behalf of
the person to whom it is payable.
In that case, the respondent assessee derived his income from many sources. He sought to
deduct certain sums of money on the ground that, under a consent decree, he was required to
pay those sums as maintenance to his wife and children. Though no charge was created on the
properties of the assessee by the compromise decree, the decreed sums were, in fact, paid by
the assessee to his wife and children. The High Court took the view that notwithstanding
absence of specific charge upon the properties of the assessee, the assessee was under an
obligation to pay maintenance under the decree which could be enforced by a court of law and
purporting to apply the principle of Bejoy Singh Dudhuria held that in view of the decree of
the Court, the sums must be taken to have been diverted to the wife and children and never
became income in the hands of the assessee. Setting aside the judgment of the High Court,
this Court held: (ITR p. 375)
In our opinion, the present case is one in which the wife and children of the assessee
who continued to be members of the family received a portion of the income of the
 15

assessee, after the assessee had received the income as his own. The case is one of
application of a portion of the income to discharge an obligation and not a case in
which by an overriding charge the assessee became only a collector of another‘s
income. The matter in the present case would have been different, if such an
overriding charge had existed either upon the property or upon its income, which is
not the case. In our opinion, the case falls outside the rule in Bejoy Singh Dudhuria
case and rather falls within the rule stated by the Judicial Committee in P.C. Mullick
case.
11. We may notice a few decisions as instances of application of the principle of
diversion of income by overriding title.
13. In Moti Lal Chhadami Lal Jain v. CIT [(1991) 190 ITR 1] a company took over the
business of the Hindu undivided family (referred to as ―the landlord‖). Under the agreement
of lease with the landlord, the Company was required to pay rupees ten thousand to a college,
run by a trust out of the annual rent of rupees twenty-one thousand. In a subsequent
agreement entered into between the landlord, the Company, the Trust and the College, it was
stipulated, inter alia, that in the event of failure to pay the amount to the College, it would
have full right to recover the said amount by recourse to the court and that the College shall
have the first charge on the property. The landlord claimed that the amount paid to the
College was the income of the College as it got diverted by an overriding title and ceased to
be the income of the landlord. That contention was rejected by the Tribunal as well as the
High Court. On appeal to this Court, applying the principle in Sitaldas Tirathdas it was held
by a Bench of three learned Judges that the stipulation in the agreement to pay rupees ten
thousand out of the annual rent directly to the College was only a mode of application of the
income of the landlord, which made no difference to its liability to pay tax on the entire rent
of rupees twenty-one thousand which had accrued to the landlord. The fact that the College
was given the right to sue and recover rupees ten thousand directly from the Company in case
of default, it was observed, did not alter the position, nor would creation of charge in favour
of the College make any difference.
15. In Bagyalakshmi two members of a Hindu undivided family together held ten annas‘
share in a firm. On partition in the family, the share of the said members was divided among
various members of the family. Thereafter, a fresh partnership deed was executed in which
the said two persons were, however, shown as having the same proportion of share in the
firm. They claimed that they were liable to pay tax only on the respective shares shown in the
partnership deed. That contention was upheld by the Tribunal. Thereafter, the Commissioner
cancelled the registration of the partnership firm under the Act on the ground that it did not
specify the correct shares of the said persons in the partnership. It was held by this Court that
the firm was entitled to be registered and that the shares given to the said two persons in the
partnership deed were correct according to the terms of the deed, although they would be
answerable to the divided members of the family in respect of profits pertaining to their
shares. This case does not deal with the principle of diversion of income by overriding title
and is of no help to the respondent assessee to support his contention that there was diversion
of income by an overriding title in his case.
16

16. In Murlidhar Himatsingka one of the partners of the firm constituted a sub-
partnership firm with his two sons and a grandson. The deed of sub-partnership provided that
the profits and losses of the partner in the main firm shall belong to the sub-partnership and
shall be borne and divided in accordance with the shares specified therein. The question in
that case was: whether the share of the partner in the main firm, who had become a partner in
the sub-partnership, could be assessed in his individual assessment. It was held that there was
an overriding obligation which converted the income of the partner in the main firm into the
income of the sub-partnership and, therefore, the income attributable to the share of the
partner had to be included in the assessment of the sub-partnership. That was on the principle
that a partner in the sub-partnership had a definite enforceable right to claim a share in the
profits accrued to or received by the other partner in the main partnership, as on entering into
a sub-partnership, such a partner changes his character vis-à-vis the sub-partners and the
Income Tax Authorities. Further, a sub-partnership creates a superior title and results in
diversion of the income from the main firm to the sub-partnership before the same becomes
the income of the partner concerned. In such a case, even if the partner receives the income
from the main partnership, he does so not on his behalf but on behalf of the sub-partnership.
Distinguishing K.A. Ramachar, it was observed:
In that case it was neither urged nor found that a sub-partnership came into existence
between the assessee who was a partner in a firm and his wife, married daughter and
minor daughter. It was a pure case of assignment of profits (and not losses) by the partner
during the period of eight years. Further the fact that a sub-partner can have no direct
claim to the profits vis-à-vis the other partners of the firm and that it is the partner alone
who is entitled to profits vis-à-vis the other partners does not show that the changed
character of the partner should not be taken into consideration for income tax purposes.
17. It is apt to notice that there is a clear distinction between a case where a partner of a
firm assigns his share in favour of a third person and a case where a partner constitutes a sub-
partnership with his share in the main partnership. Whereas in the former case, in view of
Section 29(1) of the Indian Partnership Act, the assignee gets no right or interest in the main
partnership, except, of course, to receive that part of the profits of the firm referable to the
assignment and to the assets in the event of dissolution of the firm, but in the latter case, the
sub-partnership acquires a special interest in the main partnership. The case on hand cannot
be treated as one of a sub-partnership, though in view of Section 29(1) of the Indian
Partnership Act, the Trust, as an assignee, becomes entitled to receive the assigned share in
the profits from the firm not as a sub-partner because no sub-partnership came into existence
but as an assignee of the share of income of the assigner-partner.
19. For the aforementioned reasons, we are of the view that the order under challenge
cannot be sustained. It is, accordingly, set aside. Consequently, the share of the income of the
assessee assigned in favour of the Trust has to be included in the total income of the assessee.
The questions are, accordingly, answered in favour of the Revenue and against the assessee.

*****
 17

Bacha F. Guzdar v. C.I.T., Bombay

AIR 1955 SC 74

GULAM HASAN, J. - The question referred by the Tribunal to the High Court of Judicature
at Bombay was stated thus:
Whether 60% of the dividend amounting to Rs 2750 received by the assessee from the two
Tea companies is agricultural income and as such exempt under Section 4(3)(viii) of the
Act.
Chagla, C.J. and Tendolkar, J. who heard the reference, answered the Question 1n the negative
by two separate but concurring judgments dated March 28, 1952.
3. The facts lie within a narrow compass. The appellant, Mrs Bacha F. Guzdar, was, in
accounting year 1949-50, a shareholder in two Tea companies, Patrakola Tea Company Ltd.,
and Bishnauth Tea Company Ltd., and received from the aforesaid companies dividends
aggregating to Rs 2750. The two companies carried on business of growing and manufacturing
tea. By Rule 24 of the Indian Income Tax Rules, 1922, made in exercise of the powers conferred
by Section 59 of the Indian Income Tax Act, it is provided that
(I)ncome derived from the sale of tea grown and manufactured by the seller in the taxable
territories shall be computed as if it were income derived from business and 40% of such
income shall be deemed to be income, profits and gains, liable to tax.
It is common ground that 40% of the income of the Tea companies was taxed as income
from the manufacture and sale of tea and 60% of such income was exempt from tax as
agricultural income. According to the appellant, the dividend income received by her in respect
of the shares held by her in the said Tea companies is to the extent of 60% agricultural income
in her hands and therefore pro tanto exempt from tax while the Revenue contends that dividend
income is not agricultural income and therefore the whole of the income is liable to tax. The
Income Tax Officer and on appeal, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner both concurred in
holding the whole of the said income to be liable to tax. The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal
confirmed the view that the dividend income could not be treated as agricultural income in the
hands of the shareholder and decided in favour of the Revenue, but agreed that its order gave
rise to a question of law and formulated the same as set out above and referred it to the High
Court. The High Court upheld the order of the Tribunal but granted leave to appeal to this
Court.
4. The question, we comprehend, is capable of an easy solution and can best be answered by
reference to the material provisions of the Income Tax Act. Under Section 2(1) agricultural
income means:
(a) any rent or revenue derived from land which is used for agricultural purposes, and is
either assessed to land- revenue in the taxable territories or subject to a, local rate assessed
and collected by officers of the Government as such;
6. In order, however, that dividend may be held to be agricultural income it will be
incumbent upon the appellant to show that, within the terms of the definition, it is rent or
revenue derived from land which is used for agricultural purposes. Mr Kolah, for the appellant,
18

contends that it is revenue derived from land because 60% of the profits of the company out of
which dividends are payable are referable to the pursuit of agricultural operations on the part of
the company. It is true that the agricultural process renders 60% of the profits exempt from tax
in the hands of the company from land which is used for agricultural purposes but can it be said
that when such company decides to distribute its profits to the shareholders and declares the
dividends to be allocated to them, such dividends in the hands of the shareholders also partake
of the character of revenue derived from land which is used for agricultural purposes? Such a
position - if accepted would extend the scope of the vital words ―revenue derived from land‖
beyond its legitimate limits. Agricultural income as defined in the Act is obviously intended to
refer to the revenue received by direct association with the land which is used for agricultural
purposes and not by indirectly extending it to cases where that revenue or part thereof changes
hands either by way of distribution of dividends or otherwise. In fact and truth dividend is
derived from the investment made in the shares of the company and the foundation of it rests on
the contractual relations between the company and the shareholder. Dividend is not derived by a
shareholder by his direct relationship with the land. There can be no doubt that the initial source
which has produced the revenue is land used for agricultural purposes but to give to the words
―revenue derived from land‖ the unrestricted meaning, apart from its direct association or
relation with the land, would be quite unwarranted. For example, the proposition that a creditor
advancing money on interest to an agriculturist and receiving interest out of the produce of the
lands in the hands of the agriculturist can claim exemption of tax upon the ground that it is
agricultural income within the meaning of Section 4, sub-section (3)(viii) is hardly statable. The
policy of the Act as gathered from the various sub-clauses of Section 2(1) appears to be to
exempt agricultural income from the purview of Income Tax Act. The object appears to be not
to subject to tax either the actual tiller of the soil or any other person getting land cultivated by
others for deriving benefit therefrom, but to say that the benefit intended to be conferred upon
this class of persons should extend to those into whosoever hands that revenue falls, however
remote the receiver of such revenue may be is hardly warranted.
7. It was argued by Mr Kolah on the strength of an observation made by Lord Anderson in
Commissioners of Inland Revenue v. Forrest [(1924) 8 Tax Cas. 704, 710] that an investor
buys in the first place a share of the assets of the industrial concern proportionate to the number
of shares he has purchased and also buys the right to participate in any profits which the
company may make in the future. That a shareholder acquires a right to participate in the profits
of the company may be readily conceded but it is not possible to accept the contention that the
shareholder acquires any interest in the assets of the company. The use of the word ‗assets‘ in
the passage quoted above cannot be exploited to warrant the inference that a shareholder, on
investing money in the purchase of shares, becomes entitled to the assets of the company and
has any share in the property of the company. A shareholder has got no interest in the property
of the company though he has undoubtedly a right to participate in the profits if and when the
company decides to divide them. The interest of a shareholder vis-a-vis the company was
explained in the Sholapur Mills case [(1950) SCR 869, 904]. That judgment negatives the
position taken up on behalf of the appellant that a shareholder has got a right in the property of
the company. It is true that the shareholders of the company have the, sole determining voice in
administering the affairs of the company and are entitled, as provided by the Articles of
Association to declare that dividends should be distributed out of the profits of the company to
 19

the shareholders but the interest of the shareholder either individually or collectively does not
amount to more than a right to participate in the profits of the company. The company is a
juristic person and is distinct from the shareholders. It is the company which owns the property
and not the shareholders. The dividend is a share of the profits declared by the company as
liable to be distributed among the shareholders. Reliance is placed on behalf of the appellant on
a passage in Buckley’s Companies Act (12th Edn.), p. 894 where the etymological meaning of
dividend is given as dividendum, the total divisible sum but in its ordinary sense it means the
sum paid and received as the quotient forming the share of the divisible sum payable to the
recipient. This statement does not justify the contention that shareholders are owners of a
divisible sum or that they are owners of the property of the company. The proper approach to
the solution of the Question 1s to concentrate on the plain words of the definition of agricultural
income which connects in no uncertain language revenue with the land from which it directly
springs and a stray observation in a case which has no bearing upon the present question does
not advance the solution of the question. There is nothing in the Indian law to warrant the
assumption that a shareholder who buys shares buys any interest in the property of the company
which is a juristic person entirely distinct from the shareholders. The true position of a
shareholder is that on buying shares an investor becomes entitled to participate in the profits of
the company in which he holds the shares if and when the company declares, subject to the
Articles of Association, that the profits or any portion thereof should be distributed by way of
dividends among the shareholders. He has undoubtedly a further right to participate in the assets
of the company which would be left over after winding up but not in the assets as a whole as
Lord Anderson puts it.
8. The High Court expressed the view that until a dividend is declared there is no right in a
shareholder to participate in the profits and according to them the declaration of dividend by the
company is the effective source of the dividend which is subject to tax. This statement of the
law we are unable to accept. Indeed the learned Attorney-General conceded that he was not
prepared to subscribe to that proposition. The declaration of dividend is certainly not the source
of the profit. The right to participation in the profits exists independently of any declaration by
the company with the only difference that the enjoyment of profits is postponed until dividends
are declared.
10. It was suggested that the dividend arises out of the profits accruing from land and is
impressed with the same character as the profits and that it does not change its character merely
because of the incident that it reaches the hands of the shareholder. This argument runs counter
to the definition of agricultural income which emphasizes the necessity of the recipient of
income having a direct and an immediate rather than an indirect and remote relation with land.
To accept this argument will be tantamount to saying that the creditor recovering interest on
money debt due from the agriculturist who pays out of the produce of the land is equally entitled
to the exemption. In fairness to Mr Kolah it must, however, be stated that the contention was not
so broadly put but there is no reason why one should stop at a particular stage and not pursue
the analogy to its logical limits.
11. English decisions resting upon the peculiarities of the English Income Tax law can
hardly be a safe guide, in determining upon the language of the Indian Income Tax Act the true
meaning of the words ―agricultural income‖. A few cases of the Privy Council decided with
20

reference to the provisions of the Indian Income Tax Act, however, deserve notice. The first
case viz. CIT v. Raja Bahadur Kamakshya Narayan Singh [AIR 1949 PC 1] dealt with the
question whether interest on arrears of rent payable in respect of land used for agricultural
purposes is agricultural income and therefore exempt from Income Tax. It was held that it was
neither rent nor revenue derived from land within the meaning of Section 2(1) of the Income
Tax Act. Lord Uthwatt who delivered the judgment of the Privy Council used the following
piquant language in coming to that conclusion:
The word, derived‘ is not a term of Article Its use in the definition indeed demands an
enquiry into the genealogy of the product. But the enquiry should stop as soon as the
effective source is discovered. In the genealogical tree of the interest land indeed appears in
the second degree, but the immediate and effective source is rent, which has suffered the
accident of non-payment. And rent is not land within the meaning of the definition.
The second case viz. Premier Construction Co. Ltd. v. CIT [AIR 1949 PC 20] dealt, with the
nature of the commission of a managing agent of the company a part of whose income was
agricultural income. The assessee claimed exemption from tax on the ground that his
remuneration at 10 per cent of the profits was calculated with reference to the income of the
company part of which was agricultural income. It was held that the assessee received no
agricultural income as defined by the Act but that he received a remuneration under a contract
for personal service calculated on the amount of profits earned by the employer, payable not in
specie out of any item of such profits, but out of any moneys of the employer available for the
purpose, and that the remuneration therefore was not agricultural income and was not exempt
from tax. Sir John Beaumont, in the above case observed:
In Their Lordships‘ view the principle to be derived from a consideration of the terms of the
Income Tax Act and the authorities referred to is that where an assessee receives income,
not itself of a character to fall within the definition of agricultural income contained in the
Act, such income does not assume the character of agricultural income by reason of the
source from which it is derived, or the method by which it is calculated.
In the third case viz. Maharajkumar Gopal Saran Narain Singh v. CIT [AIR 1935 PC 143], an
annual payment for life to the assessee was not held to be agricultural income and therefore not
exempt from tax where the annuity arose out of a transfer made by the assessee of a portion of
his estate for discharging his debts and for obtaining an adequate income for his life it being
held that it was not rent or revenue derived from land but money paid under a contract imposing
personal liability on the covenator the discharge of which was secured by a charge on land. But
reliance was placed upon another judgment of the Privy Council in the same volume at p. 305 in
CIT v. Sir Kameshwar Singh. That was a case of a usufructuary mortgagee the profits received
by whom were exempt from Income Tax on the ground that they were agricultural income in his
hands. Lord Macmillan, after referring to certain sections of the Act, observed that ―the result of
those sections is to exclude agricultural income altogether from the scope of the Act howsoever
or by whomsoever it may be received.‖ These observations must be held to be confined to the
facts of that particular case which was a case of usufructuary mortgagee who had received
profits directly from the land. The obvious implication of the words used by Lord Macmillan
was that whosoever receives profit from the land directly is entitled to the exemption. We
accordingly dismiss the appeal with costs.
 21

C.I.T. v. Benoy Kumar Sahas Roy

AIR 1957 SC 768

N.H. BHAGWATI, J. – This appeal with certificate of fitness under s. 66A(2) of the Indian
Income-tax Act is directed against the Judgment and Order of the High Court of Judicature at
Calcutta on a reference under s. 66(1) of the Act.
(2) The respondent owns an area of 6,000 acres of forest land assessed to land revenue and
grown with Sal and Piyasal trees. The forest was originally of spontaneous growth, ―not grown
by the aid of human skill and labour‖ and it has been in existence for about 150 years. A
considerable income is derived by the assessee from sales of trees from this forest.
The assessment year in which this forest income was last taxed under the Indian Income-tax
Act was 1923-24 but thereafter and till 1944-45 which is the assessment year in question, it was
always left out of account. The assessment for 1944-45 also was first made without including
therein any forest income, but the assessment was subsequently re-opened under s. 34.
In response to a notice under s. 22(2) read with s. 34 of the Act, the respondent submitted a
return showing the gross receipt of Rs. 51,798 from the said forest. A claim was, however,
made that the said income was not assessable under the Act as it was agricultural income and
was exempt under s. 4(3)(viii) of the Act. The Income Tax Officer rejected this claim and
added a sum of Rs. 34,430 to the assessable income as income derived from the forest after
allowing a sum of Rs. 17,548 as expenditure.
The Appellate Assistant Commissioner confirmed the assessment and the Income Tax
Appellate Tribunal also was of opinion that the said income was not agricultural income but was
income derived from the sale of jungle produce of spontaneous growth and as such was not
covered by s. 2(1) of the Act. At the instance of the assessee the Tribunal referred to the High
Court under s. 66(1) of the Act two questions of law arising out of its order, one of which was:
Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of this case, the sum of Rs. 51,977 is
‗agricultural income‘ and as such is exempt from payment of tax under S. 4(3)(viii) of the
Indian Income-tax Act?
(3) The Tribunal submitted a statement of case from which the following facts appear as
admitted or established:
(i) The area covered by the forest is about 6,000 acres, trees growing being Sal and
Piyasal;
(ii) It is of spontaneous growth being about 150 years old. It is not a forest grown by
the aid of human skill and labour;
(iii) The forest is occasionally parcelled out for the purposes of sale and the space from
which trees sold are cut away is guarded by forest guards to protect offshoots;
(iv) It has been satisfactorily proved that considerable amount of human labour and
care is being applied year after year for keeping the forest alive as also for reviving the
portions that get denuded as a result of destruction by cattle and other causes;
22

(v) The staff is employed by the assessee to perform the following specific operations:

(a) Pruning
(b) Weeding
(c) Felling
(d) Clearing
(e) Cutting of channels to help the flow of rain water
(f) Guarding the trees against pests and other destructive elements.
(g) Sowing of seeds after digging of the soil in denuded areas.
(4) The Tribunal found that the employment of human labour and skill in items (a) to (f)
was necessary for the maintenance and upkeep of any forest of spontaneous growth. Regarding
item (g), however, it found that the said operation had been performed only occasionally and
over a small fraction of the area where the original growth has been found to have been
completely denuded. Such occasions were however few and far between, the normal process
being that whenever a tree was cut, a stump of about 6‖ height was left intact which sent forth
off-shoots all round bringing about fresh growth in course of time. This went on perpetually
unless an area got otherwise completely denuded.
(5) The reference was heard by the High Court and the High Court held that actual
cultivation of the land was not required and as human labour and skill were spent for the growth
of the forest the income from the forest was agricultural income. It accordingly answered the
above question in the affirmative. The Revenue obtained the requisite certificate of fitness for
appeal to this Court and hence this appeal.
(6) The question that arises for consideration in this appeal is whether income derived from
the sale of Sal and Piyasal trees in the forest owned by the assessee which was originally a
forest of spontaneous growth ―not grown by the aid of human skill and labour,‖ but on which
forestry operations described in the statement of case had been carried on by the assessee
involving considerable amount of expenditure of human skill and labour is agricultural income
within the meaning of s. 2(i) and as such exempt from payment of tax under s. 4(3)(viii) of the
Indian Income Tax Act.
(8) Even though ―agricultural income‖ which is exempted under S. 4(3)(viii) of the Act is
defined in S. 2(1) , there is no definition of ―agriculture‖ or ―agricultural purpose‖ to be found
in the Act and it therefore falls to be determined what is the connotation of these terms.
(9) An argument based on entries 14 and 19 of List II of the Seventh Schedule to the
Constitution may be disposed of at once. It was urged that entry No. 14 referred to agriculture
including agricultural education and research, protection against pests and prevention of plant
diseases while entry No.19 referred to forests and there was therefore a clear line of demarcation
between agriculture and forests with the result that forestry could not be comprised within
agriculture.
If forestry was thus not comprised within agriculture, any income from forestry could not
be agricultural income and the income derived by the assessee from the sale of the forest trees
could not be agricultural income at all, as it was not derived from land by agriculture within the
meaning of the definition of agricultural income given in the Indian Income-tax Act. This
 23

argument, however, does not take account of the fact that the entries in the lists of the Seventh
Schedule to the Constitution are heads of legislation which are to be interpreted in a liberal
manner comprising within their scope all matters incidental thereto.
They are not mutually exclusive. If the assessee plants on a vacant site trees with a view
that they should grow into a forest, as for example, casuarina plantations and expends labour
and skill for that purpose, the income from such trees would clearly be agricultural produce. It
has to be remembered that even though this demarcation between agriculture and forestry was
available in the Lists contained in the Seventh Schedule to the Government of India Act, 1935,
no such demarcation existed in the Devolution Rules made under the Government of India Act,
1919, and in any event the definition of agricultural income with which we are concerned was
incorporated in the Indian Income-tax Acts as early as 1886, if not earlier; vide S.5 of the Indian
Income-tax Act, 1886.
It has also to be remembered that in spite of this demarcation between agriculture and
forests in the Constitution, taxes on agricultural income are a separate head under entry 46 of
List II of the Seventh Schedule and would comprise within their scope even income from
forestry operations provided it falls within the definition of agricultural income which according
to the definition given under Art. 366(1) means agricultural income as defined for the purposes
of the enactments relating to Indian Income Tax.
(10) The terms ―agriculture‖ and ―agricultural purpose‖ not having been defined in the
Indian Income-tax Act, we must necessarily fall back upon the general sense in which they have
been understood in common parlance. ―Agriculture‖ in its root sense means ager, a field and
culture, cultivation, cultivation of field which of course implies expenditure of human skill and
labour upon land. The term has, however, acquired a wider significance and that is to be found
in the various dictionary meanings ascribed to it.
It may be permissible to look to the dictionary meaning of the term in the absence of any
definition thereof in the relevant statutes.
(12) Turning therefore to the dictionary meaning of ―agriculture‖ we find Webster’s New
International Dictionary describing it as ―the art or science of cultivating the ground, including
rearing and management of livestock, husbandry, farming, etc. and also including in its broad
sense farming, horticulture, forestry, butter and cheese-making etc.‖ Murray‘s Oxford
Dictionary describes it as ―the science and art of cultivating the soil, including the allied pursuits
of gathering in the crop and rearing livestock, tillage, husbandry, farming (in the widest sense).‖
(13) In Corpus Juris the term ―agriculture‖ has been understood to mean: ―art or science of
cultivating the ground, especially in fields or large quantities, including the preparation of the
soil, the planting of seeds, the raising and harvesting of crops, and the rearing, feeding and
management of livestock; tillage, husbandry and farming. In its general sense the word also
includes gardening or horticulture.‖
(16) These are the various meanings ascribed to the term ―agriculture‖ in various
dictionaries and it is significant to note that the term has been used both in the narrow sense of
the cultivation of the field and the wider sense of comprising all activities in relation to land
including horticulture, forestry, breeding and rearing of livestock, dairying, butter and cheese
making, husbandry, etc.
24

(17) It was urged on behalf of the assessee that the Court should accept the wider
significance of the term and include forestry operations also within its connotation even though
they did not involve tilling of the land, sowing of seeds, planting, or similar work on the land.
The argument was that tilling of the land, sowing of the seeds planting or similar work on the
land were no doubt agricultural operations and if they were part of the forestry operations
carried on by the assessee the subsequent operations would certainly be a continuation of the
same and would therefore acquire the characteristic of agricultural operations.
But the absence of these basic operations would not necessarily make any difference to the
character of the subsequent operations and would not divest them of their character of
agricultural operations, so that if in a particular case one found that the forest was of
spontaneous growth, even so if forestry operations were carried on in such forests for the
purpose of furthering the growth of forest trees, these operations would also enjoy the character
of agricultural operations.
If breeding and rearing of livestock, dairying, butter and cheese-making etc., could be
comprised within the term ―agriculture,‖ it was asked, why should these also be not classed as
agricultural operations.
(18) Considerable stress was laid on the fact that S. 4(3)(viii) of the Act enacted a provision
in regard to the exemption of ―agricultural income‖ from assessment and it was contended that
exemptions should be liberally construed. Reliance was placed on the observations of
Vishwanatha Sastri J., in Commissioner of Income-tax, Madras v. K.E. Sundara Mudaliar
[1950-18 ITR 259, 271]:
Exemption from tax granted by a Statute should be given full scope and amplitude and
should not be whittled down by importing limitations not inserted by the Legislature.
(19) Mookerjee J. in Commissioner of Agricultural Income-tax, West Bengal v. Raja
Jagadish Chandra Deo Dhabal Deb [1949-17 ITR 426, 438 (Cal)] also expressed himself
similarly:
(A)nd the present day view seems to be that where an exemption is conferred by
statute, that clause has to be interpreted liberally and in favour of the assessee but must
always be without any violence to the language used. The rule must be construed together
with the exempting provisions, which must be regarded as paramount.
(21) It was also pointed out that ―Taxes on agricultural income‖ formed a head of
legislation specified in item 46 of List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution and should
be liberally construed, with the result that agriculture should be understood in the wider
significance of the term and all agricultural income derived from agriculture or so understood
should be included within the category.
(22) We have therefore got to look to the terms of the definition itself and construe the same
regardless of any other consideration, though, in so far as the terms ―agriculture‖ and
―agricultural purpose‖ are concerned, we feel free in view of the same not having been defined
in the Act itself, to consider the various meanings which have been ascribed to the same in the
legal and other dictionaries.
 25

(23) We may also note here the dictionary meanings of the terms ―Forestry‖ and
―Cultivation.‖ The Shorter Oxford Dictionary, Vol. I, page 735, gives the meaning of
―forestry‖ as the ―science and art of forming and cultivating forests, management of growing
timber.‖
(24) Webster’s New International Dictionary, Vol. I, page 990, gives the following
meaning of forestry:
Science and art of farming, caring for, or cultivating forests; the management of
growing timber.
(25) Webster’s New International Dictionary, Vol. I, page 643, while talking of
cultivation says that:
(T)o cultivate‖ means (1) to prepare, or to prepare and use, for the raising of crops; to
till; as, to cultivate the soil, to loosen or break up the soil about (growing crop or plants) for
the purpose of killing weeds, etc., especially with a cultivator, as to cultivate the corn;
(2) to raise, or foster the growth of, by tillage or by labour and care; to produce by
culture; as to cultivate roses; to cultivate oysters.
(26) Whether the narrower or the wider sense of the term ―agriculture‖ should be adopted in
a particular case depends not only upon the provisions of the various statutes in which the same
occurs but also upon the facts and circumstances of each case. The definition of the term in one
statute does not afford a guide to the construction of the same term in another statute and the
sense in which the term has been understood in the several statutes does not necessarily throw
any light on the manner in which the term should be understood generally.
The decided cases disclose a variety of opinions in regard to the connotation of the terms
―agriculture‖ and ―agricultural purposes.‖ At one time ―agriculture‖ was understood in its
primary sense of cultivation of field and that too for production of food crops for human beings
and beasts. This limited interpretation could not be adhered to even though tilling of the land,
sowing of the seeds, planting or similar work on the land were the basic operations, the scope of
the crops produced was enlarged and all crops raised on the land, whether they be food crops or
not were included in the produce raised by agriculture.
There was however another school of thought which extended the term ―agriculture‖ and
included within its connotation not only the products raised by the cultivation of the land but
also allied activities which had relation to the land and operations which had the effect of
fostering the growth, preservation and maintenance as also the regeneration of the products of
the land, thus bringing within its compass not only the basic agricultural operations but also the
further operations performed on the products of the land even though they were not necessarily
accompanied by these preliminary basic operations.
As against these cases which dealt with these preliminary basic operations and also the
further operations either by themselves or in conjunction with the former which of course
necessarily involved the expenditure of human skill and labour in carrying out those operations,
there were instances of products of land which grew wild or were of spontaneous growth
without the expenditure of human skill and labour and which it was agreed on all hands could
26

not be comprised within ―agriculture‖ and the income from which could not fall within the
definition of ―agricultural income.‖
(36) Emperor v. Probhat Chandra [ILR 51 Cal. 504] was a case under the Indian Income-
tax Act and the classes of income derived from permanently settled estates were ―(1) Income
from fisheries, (2) Income from land used for stacking timber, (3) Income from pasturage.‖ The
income from the first two heads was certainly not agricultural income or income derived from
―land which is used for agricultural purposes‖ within the meaning of Ss. 2 and 4 of the Act. But
income derived from pasturage was held to be agricultural income which could not lawfully be
charged with income-tax.
(38) Commissioner of Income-tax, Madras v. Manavedan Tirumalapad [AIR 1930 Mad.
764 (F.B.)] was also a decision under the Indian Income-tax Act and the assessee there was
assessed by the Income-tax Officer for the year 1928-29 on the amount received by the sale of
timber trees cut and removed from the forests. The question was whether these amounts were
liable as such to income tax and the Court observed:
(W)e are unable to distinguish between the income derived from the sale of paddy
which is grown on land and the income derived from the sale of timber cut in a forest; but
the profits earned from the sale of paddy would be assessable to income-tax but for the
special exemption given to that income in the Income-tax Act, by reason of its being
agricultural income. There is no such exemption in the case of income derived from the
sale of timber.
(40) The later decision of the Madras High Court in Chandrasekhara Bharathi Swamigal
v. Duraisami Naidu [ILR 54 Mad. 900], however, contains an elaborate discussion as to the
connotation of the term ―agriculture.‖ The case arose under the Madras Estates Land Act, 1908
and the question which the Court had to consider was whether growing casuarina trees, i.e.
trees for fuel, was an agricultural purpose so as to make the person who held the land for that
purpose a ―ryot‖ within the meaning of the Madras Estates Land Act.
The Court held that land held for growing casuarina trees was not land held for purposes of
agriculture and the person holding the land for that purpose was not a ―ryot‖ within the meaning
of the Act. While delivering the judgment of the Court Reilly J., embarked upon a
consideration of what the term ―agriculture‖ meant and came to the conclusion that agriculture
could not be defined by the nature of the product cultivated but should be defined rather by the
circumstances in which the cultivation was carried on.
(41) It may be noticed that the learned Judge enlarged the connotation of the term
―agriculture‖ by having regard to the circumstances in which the cultivation was carried on
rather than the nature of the products cultivated and embraced within the scope of the term not
merely the production of things useful as food for man or beast or other products fit for human
consumption by way of luxury but also such useful products as cotton, jute, flax and hemp,
though he stopped short at those products and hesitated to include therein growing of trees in
plantation where the land was covered with trees which have to stand on it for a number of
years.
 27

(42) The last case to be referred in this series is that of Deen Mohammad Mian v. Hulas
Narain Singh [23 Pat LT 143, 152], where it was held that an orchard is an agricultural land. It
was observed:
The case of an orchard is quite different. Orchard trees ordinarily are, and can be
presumed to have been, planted by men after preparation of the ground which is cultivation
and seasonal crops are gathered. Fruit trees also require seasonal attention such as pruning
and digging of the soil around the roots and it cannot be said that this ceases to be
cultivation merely because the whole tree is not replanted every year .... In my opinion the
land in suit is agricultural land; it is land from which by preparing the soil and planting and
cultivating trees the raiyat expects to enjoy periodical returns in the way of produce for
food.
(44) A still further extension of the term is to be found in the following observations of
Vishwanatha Sastri J., in 1950-18 ITR 259, 271), at p. 273 :
It is a matter of ordinary experience, at least in this part of the country, that mango,
cocoanut, palmyra, orange, jack, arecanut, tamarind and other trees are planted usually in an
enclosed land, and that these trees do not yield any fruit or crop in the early years of their
growth. They remain on the land for a long number of years yielding fruit only after their
maturity. There is no reason why the planting, rearing, watering, fencing and protection of
such trees and the gathering of their fruits during the annual seasons should not be held to be
―agriculture.‖ There is some kind of cultivation or prodding of the soil at the inception when
the planting is done and subsequently also at intervals. In the case of coffee grown on hill
slopes, there is no ploughing or tillage as in the case of wet and dry fields; but it cannot be
maintained that growing coffee is not an agricultural operation. Coffee and tea plants stand
on the soil for many years, and their produce is gathered periodically.
(45) It is interesting to note that all throughout these cases runs the central idea of either
tillage of the land or sowing of seeds or planting or similar work on the land which invests the
operation with the characteristic of agricultural operations and whenever that Central idea is
fulfilled there is the user of land for agricultural purposes and the income derived therefrom
becomes agricultural income.
(46) There were, on the other hand, decisions which interpreted the term ―agriculture‖ in the
wider sense as including all activities in relation to the land, even though they did not comprise
these basic agricultural operations.
(51) In Commissioner of Income-tax, Burma v. Kokine Dairy, Rangoon [1938-6 ITR 502,
509], the question was whether income from a dairy farm and the milk derived from the farm is
agricultural income and exempt as such from income-tax. Roberts C.J., who delivered the
opinion of the Court observed:
Where cattle are wholly stall-fed and not pastured upon the land at all, doubtless it is
trade and no agricultural operation is being carried on: where cattle are being exclusively or
mainly pastured and are nonetheless fed with small amounts of oil-cake or the like, it may
well be that the income derived from the sale of their milk is agricultural income. But
between the two extremes there must be a number of varying degrees, and the task of the
28

Income-tax Officer is to apply his mind to the two distinctions and to decide in any
particular case on which side of the fence, if I may use the term, the matter falls.
(55) In Moolji Sicka & Co., In re [1939-7 ITR 493 (Cal.)] Derbyshire C.J., understood the
term ―agriculture‖ in a wider sense as including operations not only on the land itself but on the
shrubs which grew on the soil and were according to him a part of the soil. The assessees were
manufacturers of biri, a kind of cigarette consisting of tobacco wrapped in tendu leaves.
The tendu plant was of entirely wild growth and propagated itself without human agency in
jungle and waste lands. The assessees had taken several villages on ―lease‖ for plucking the
leaves of such plants and the work done by the assessees consisted in pruning the trees and
burning the dead branches and dried leaves lying on the ground.
The Court held that the profits accruing to the assessees by the sale of tendu leaves was not
exempt as agricultural income but to the extent to which pruning of the tendu shrub occurred,
there was in a technical and legal sense a cultivation of the soil in which the shrub grew and
therefore so much of the income as was shown by the assessee to be profit derived from the
collection and preparation, so as to take them fit to be taken to the market, of tendu leaves
produced by the pruning of the tendu shrubs was exempt as agricultural income.
(56) The word cultivation was here understood by the learned Chief Justice not only in the
sense of cultivation of the soil but in the sense of cultivation of the tendu shrubs which grew on
the soil and were therefore a part of it. The operations which were performed on the shrubs
were certainly not operations performed on the soil itself and the opinion expressed by the
learned Chief Justice has certainly given an extended meaning to the term cultivation as used
with reference to the soil.
It is significant however to observe that cultivation of the soil was considered an essential
ingredient which rendered the income derived from the tendu leaves agricultural income within
the meaning of its definition in S. 2(1)(a) of the Act.
(57) 1950-18 ITR 259 at p. 271 contains a further extension of this idea where Vishwanatha
Sastri J., observed at p. 274:
Pasture land used for the feeding and rearing of livestock is land used for agricultural
purposes: ILR 25 Mad. 627 at pp. 629, 630. Rearing of livestock such as cows, buffaloes,
sheep and poultry is included in ―husbandry‖. These animals are considered to be the
products of the soil, just like crops, roots, flowers and trees, for they live on the land and
derive their sustenance from the soil and its produce: AIR 1938 Rang. 260 at p. 261)(FB).
It is therefore not legitimate in my opinion, to confine the word ―agriculture‖ to the
cultivation of an open field with annual or periodical crops like wheat, rice, ragi, cotton,
tobacco, jute, etc. Casuarina is usually raised on dry lands of poor quality, and it is usual to
find the same land used alternatively for the cultivation of ordinary cereal crops like
groundnut, gingelly, cholam, kambu, etc. and for the raising of Casuarina plantations. The
land bears the dry assessment whatever be the nature of the crop raised.
(59) The cases above noted all of them involve some expenditure of human skill and
labour either on the land or the produce of the land, for without such expenditure there would be
no question of the income derived from such land being agricultural income. Where, however,
 29

the products of the land are of wild, or spontaneous growth involving no expenditure of human
labour and skill there is unanimity of opinion that no agricultural operations were at all involved
and there is no agricultural income. In such cases, it would be the absence of any such
operations rather than the performance thereof which would be the prime cause of growth of
such products.
(60) The cases bearing on this aspect of the question may be noted. 91 Pun Re 1919, p. 237:
AIR 1919 Lah 222 is the earliest case where a stretch of natural forest came in for consideration.
It was a forest land and it was held to be agricultural land or land used for purposes subservient
to agriculture or for pasture and therefore exempt from pre-emption under S. 4 of the Punjab
Pre-emption Act, 1905.
(63) In Mustafa Ali Khan v. Commissioner of Income-tax, U.P. & C.P. [1945-13 ITR 98
(Oudh)], which went up to the Privy Council, the Oudh Chief Court held that income from the
sale of forest trees growing on land naturally and without the intervention of human agency,
even if the land was assessed to land revenue, was not agricultural income within the meaning
of S. 2(1)(a) of the Income-tax Act.
(65) Benoy Ratan Banerji v. Commissioner of Income-tax, U.P., C.P. & Berar, [1947– 15
ITR 98 (All)], was another case in which the assessee derived income from the sale of timber
from his Zamindari on which there had been for many years, a number of forest trees, khar and
wild plants. There was no evidence on the record to show that the growth of the trees in
question was the result of any actual cultivation by the assessee at all.
The various trees which he sold were of spontaneous growth, not having grown as a result
of actual cultivation. The Court held that in order to come within the definition of ―agricultural
income,‖ the income had not only to be derived from land which was used for ―agricultural
purposes‖ but such income had also to be derived by the process of ―agriculture.‖
The Court observed that being trees of spontaneous growth, to the production of which the
assessee had made no contribution, by way of cultivation no question could arise either of the
land on which they grew being ―used for agricultural purposes‖ or of the trees themselves and
the income they produced being the result of ―agriculture.‖
The Court accordingly held that the income from the sale of forest trees of spontaneous
growth growing on land naturally and without the intervention of human agency, was not
agricultural income within the meaning of S. 2(1)(a) of the Income-tax Act even if such land
was subject to a local rate assessed and collected by officers of the Crown as such and such
income was not exempt from income-tax under S. 4(3)(viii) of the Act.
(66) The Nagpur High Court in Beokar Singh v. Commissioner of Income Tax considered
the dictionary meaning of the term ―agriculture‖ which included forestry within its compass but
observed that the essence of agriculture even when it was extended to include ―forestry‖, was
the application of human skill and labour; without that it could neither be an art nor a science
and that was according to them the determining factor in such class of cases.
(67) The Court came to the conclusion that it was essential that the income should be
derived from some activity which necessitated the employment of human skill and labour and
which was not merely a product of man‘s neglect or inaction except for the gathering in of the
30

spoils. Not only must the assessee labour to reap the harvest, but he must also labour to produce
it, and they accordingly held that the income in question was not agricultural income and was
not exempt from taxation under S. 4(3)(viii) of the Indian Income-tax Act.
(68) We now come to the decision of the Privy Council in Mustafa Ali Khan v.
Commissioner of Income-tax, U.P. Ajmer and Ajmer Merwara (1948) 16 ITR 330. It will be
recalled that the Oudh Chief Court had in 1945 – 13 ITR 98 decided that income from the sale
of forest trees growing on land naturally and without the intervention of human agency even if
the land was assessed to land revenue was not agricultural income within the meaning of S.
2(1)(a) of the Indian Income-tax Act.
The appellant took an appeal to the Privy Council against this decision and the main
question for consideration before their Lordships was whether the land was used for agricultural
purposes and the income derived therefrom was agricultural income. Their Lordships of the
Privy Council observed that the income in question
(W)as derived from the sale of trees described as forest trees growing on land naturally
and the case has throughout proceeded upon the footing that there was nothing to show that
the assessee was carrying on any regular operations in forestry and that the jungle from
which trees had been cut and sold was a spontaneous growth. Upon those facts the question
is whether such income is (within S. 2(1)(a) of the Act) rent or revenue.... or alternatively
.... whether such income was, within S. 2(1)(b), income derived from such land by
agriculture.
It appears to their Lordships that, whether exemption is sought under S. 2(1)(a) or S.
2(1)(b), the primary condition must be satisfied that the land in question is used for
agricultural purposes; the expression ―such land‖ in (b) refers back to the land mentioned in
(a) and must have the same quality. It is not then necessary to consider any other difficulty
which may stand in the way of the assessee. His case falls if he does not prove that the land
is ―used for agricultural purposes‖. Upon this point their Lordships concur in the views
which have been expressed not only in the Chief Court of Oudh but in the High Court of
Madras (see 1946 – 14 ITR 92 at p. 99 and the High Court of Allahabad (see 1947 – 15 ITR
98 (All) and elsewhere in India. The question seems not yet to have been decided whether
land can be said to be used for agricultural purposes within the section, if it has been
planted with trees and cultivated in the regular course of arboriculture, and upon this
question their Lordships express no opinion. It is sufficient for the purpose of the present
appeal to say (1) that in their opinion no assistance is to be got from the meaning ascribed to
the word ―agriculture‖ in other statutes and (2) that, though it must always be difficult to
draw the line, yet, unless there is some measure of cultivation of the land, some expenditure
of skill and labour upon it, it cannot be said to be used for agricultural purposes within the
meaning of the Indian Income-tax Act. In the present case their Lordships agree with the
High Court in thinking that there is no evidence which would justify the conclusion that this
condition is satisfied.
(69) It may be noted that the Privy Council also proceeded upon the footing that there was
nothing to show that the assessee was carrying on any regular operations in forestry and these
observations are patient of argument that if any regular operations in forestry had been carried
on the land they might have made a difference to the result. Their Lordships also did not
 31

express any opinion on the question whether land can be said to be used for agricultural
purposes within the section if it has been planted with trees and cultivated in the regular course
of arboriculture.
They were, however, definite in their opinion that unless there is some measure of
cultivation of the land, some expenditure of skill and labour upon it, the land cannot be said to
be used for agricultural purposes within meaning of the Act. Agricultural operations are thus
defined by them to be operations where there was some measure of cultivation of the land, some
expenditure of skill and labour upon it.
If these conditions were satisfied in regard to any particular land, then such land can be said
to be used for agricultural purposes and the income derived therefrom constitute agricultural
income within the meaning of S. 2(i)(a) of the Act. The term ―agriculture‖ for the purposes of
the Indian Income-tax Act was thus in effect defined by their Lordships to mean some measure
of cultivation of the land and some expenditure of skill and labour upon it and unless the
operations, whether they be agricultural operations or forestry operations conformed within
those definitions, they could not be styled agricultural operations so as to constitute land on
which they were performed land used for agricultural purposes.
(79) In Pratap Singh v. Commissioner of Income Tax, U.P., C.P. and Berar [1952 – 22
ITR 1], however, the High Court of Allahabad struck a different note. The assessee there
derived the income from the sale of forest trees growing on land naturally and spontaneously
without the intervention of any human agency but carried on forestry operations working the
forest for at least some time on scientific lines in accordance with a scheme of making profits.
There was a regular working plan and the assessee was deriving regular income from the forest
and spending money to increase the profit.
The Court held that the ―agriculture‖ and ―agricultural purposes‖ with reference to land
clearly implied that some operations must be carried on the land itself; human skill and labour
should be used for the purpose of ploughing the land, manuring it, planting the trees or some
similar process, and that mere weeding care and preservation of forest trees which grew
spontaneously were not operations on the land which were necessary to constitute the process, a
process of agriculture. In the course of the judgment, the Court interpreted the above passage
from the judgment of their Lordships of the Privy Council in 1949 – 16 ITR 330 as under:
It is quite clear that their Lordships were of the view that, for income to be agricultural
income, the essential element that must exist is that there should be ―some measure of
cultivation of the land,‖ or ―some expenditure of skill and labour upon it.‖ The language
used by their Lordships of the Privy Council shows that the expenditure of skill and labour
must be upon the land and not merely on the trees which are already growing on it as a
result of spontaneous growth.
(80) Mere regeneration and preservation of trees could not be said to be expenditure of
human skill and labour upon the land itself and the land could not under the circumstances be
held to be used for agricultural purposes nor could it be held that any process of agriculture was
being carried on. The Court observed that planned and scientific exploitation of a forest of
spontaneous growth, though it might yield regular income, would not be income from
32

agriculture as no operations were carried out and no human skill and labour was expended in
such a case on the land itself.
(89) It appears from the above survey that there has been a divergence of opinion amongst
the various Courts not only in regard to the connotation of the terms ―agriculture‖ and
―agricultural purposes‖ but also in regard to the nature of forestry operations performed in the
forest which can be styled agricultural operations so as to constitute the ―land used for
agricultural purposes‖ within the definition of agricultural income as given both in the Indian
Income-tax Act and in the several Agricultural Income-tax Acts passed by the various States.
(90) It may be noted at the outset that the definition of ―agricultural income‖ given in S. 2(i)
of the Indian Income-tax Act is in identical terms with the definitions of that term as given in
the various Agricultural Income-tax Acts passed by the several States. It will be idle therefore
to treat ―Taxes on Agricultural Income‖ which fall within the legislative competence of the
State Legislature as having no relation at all to the corresponding provisions of the Indian
Income-tax Act.
Once it is determined that the income in question is derived from land used for agricultural
purposes by agriculture, it would be agricultural income and as such exempt from tax under S.
4(3)(viii) of the Indian Income-tax Act and would fall within the purview of the relevant
provisions of the several Agricultural Income-tax Acts passed by the various States.
The result of this determination would be that the assessee would not be liable to
assessment under the Indian Income-tax Act but he would have to pay the Agricultural Income-
tax which would be levied upon him under the relative Agricultural Income-tax Acts. The only
enquiry which would therefore be relevant is whether the income in question is agricultural
income within the terms of the definition thereof and that would have to be determined in each
case by the Court having regard to the facts and circumstances of the particular case before it.
(91) In order that an income derived by the assessee should fall within the definition of
agricultural income two conditions are necessary to be satisfied and they are: (i) that the land
from which it is derived should be used for agricultural purposes and is either assessed for land
revenue in the taxable territories or is subject to local rates assessed and collected by the officers
of the Government as such; and (ii) that the income should be derived from such land by
agriculture or by one or the other of the operations described in Cls. 2 and 3 of S. 2(b) of the
Indian Income-tax Act.
(92) It was at one time thought that the assessment of the land to land revenue in the taxable
territories was intended to exempt the income derived from that land from liability for payment
of income-tax altogether and that theory was based on the assumption that an assessee who was
subject to payment of land revenue should not further be subjected to the payment of income-
tax, because if he was so subjected he would be liable to pay double taxation.
(95) We have, therefore, to consider when it can be said that the land is used for agricultural
purposes or agricultural operations are performed on it. Agriculture is the basic idea underlying
the expressions ―agricultural purposes‖ and ―agricultural operations‖ and it is pertinent,
therefore, to enquire what is the connotation of the term ―agriculture.‖
 33

As we have noted above, the primary sense in which the term agriculture is understood is
agar-field and cultra- cultivation, i.e., the cultivation of the field and the term is understood only
in that sense, agriculture would be restricted only to cultivation of the land in the strict sense of
the term meaning thereby, tilling of the land, sowing of the seeds, planting and similar
operations on the land.
They would be the basic operations and would require the expenditure of human skill and
labour upon the land itself. There are however other operations which have got to be resorted to
by the agriculturist and which are absolutely necessary for the purpose of effectively raising the
produce from the land.
They are operations to be performed after the produce sprouts from the land, e.g., weeding,
digging the soil around the growth, removal of undesirable under-growths and all operations
which foster the growth and preserve the same not only from insects and pests but also from
depradation from outside, tending, pruning, cutting, harvesting and rendering the produce fit for
the market. The latter would all be agricultural operations when taken in conjunction with the
basic operations above described, and it would be futile to urge that they are not agricultural
operations at all.
But even though these subsequent operations may be assimilated to agricultural operations
when they are in conjunction with these basic operations, could it be said that even though they
are divorced from these basic operations they would nevertheless enjoy the characteristic of
agricultural operations? Can one eliminate these basic operations altogether and say that even if
these basic operations are not performed in a given case the mere performance of these
subsequent operations would be tantamount to the performance of agricultural operations on the
land so as to constitute the income derived by the assessee therefrom agricultural income within
the definition of that term?
(96) We are of opinion that the mere performance of these subsequent operations on the
products of the land where such products have not been raised on the land by the performance
of the basic operations which we have described above would not be enough to characterise
them as agricultural operations. In order to invest them with the character of agricultural
operations, these subsequent operations must necessarily be in conjunction with and a
continuation of the basic operations which are the effective cause of the products being raised
from the land.
It is only if the products are raised from the land by the performance of these basic
operations that the subsequent operations attach themselves to the products of the land and
acquire the characteristic of agricultural operations. The cultivation of the land does not
comprise merely of raising the products of the land in the narrower sense of the term like tilling
of the land, sowing of the seeds, planting, and similar work done on the land but also includes
the subsequent operations set out above all of which operations, basic as well as subsequent
form, one integrated activity of the agriculturist and the term ―agriculture‖ has got to be
understood as connoting this integrated activity of the agriculturist.
One cannot dissociate the basic operations from the subsequent operations, and say that the
subsequent operations, even though they are divorced from the basic operations can constitute
agricultural operations by themselves. If this integrated activity which constitutes agriculture is
34

undertaken and performed in regard to any land that land can be said to have been used for
―agricultural purposes‖ and the income derived therefrom can be said to be ―agricultural
income‖ derived from the land by agriculture.
(97) In considering the connotation of the term ―agriculture‖ we have so far thought of
cultivation of land in the wider sense as comprising within its scope the basic as well as the
subsequent operations described above, regardless of the nature of the products raised on the
land. These products may be grain or vegetables or fruits which are necessary for the
sustenance of human beings including plantations and groves, or grass or pasture for
consumption of beasts or articles of luxury such as betel, coffee, tea, spices, tobacco, etc. or
commercial crops like cotton, flax, jute, hemp, indigo, etc.
(101) If the term ―agriculture‖ is thus understood as comprising within its scope the basic as
well as subsequent operations in the process of agriculture and the raising on the land of
products which have some utility either for consumption or for trade and commerce, it will be
seen that the term ―agriculture‖ receives a wider interpretation both in regard to its operations as
well as the results of the same.
Nevertheless there is present all throughout the basic idea that there must be at the bottom
of it cultivation of land in the sense of tilling of the land, sowing of the seeds, planting, and
similar work done on the land itself. This basic conception is the essential sine qua non of any
operation performed on the land constituting agricultural operation. If the basic operations are
there, the rest of the operations found themselves upon the same.
But if these basic operations are wanting the subsequent operations do not acquire the
characteristic of the agricultural operations.
(102) All these operations no doubt require the expenditure of human labour and skill but
the human labour and skill spent in the performance of the basic operations only can be said to
have been spent upon the land. The human labour and skill spent in the performance of
subsequent operations cannot be said to have been spent on the land itself, though it may have
the effect of preserving, fostering and regenerating the products of the land.
(103) This distinction is not so important in cases where the agriculturist performs these
operations as a part of his integrated activity in cultivation of the land. Where, however, the
products of the land are of spontaneous growth, unassisted by human skill and labour, and
human skill and labour are spent merely in fostering the growth, preservation and regeneration
of such products of land, the question falls to be considered whether these subsequent
operations performed by the agriculturist are agricultural operations and enjoy the characteristic
of agricultural operations.
(104) It is agreed on all hands that products which grow wild on the land or are of
spontaneous growth not involving any human labour or skill upon the land are not products of
agriculture and the income derived therefrom is not agricultural income. There is no process of
agriculture involved in the raising of these products from the land. There are no agricultural
operations performed by the assessee in respect of the same, and the only work which the
assessee performs here is that of collecting the produce and consuming and marketing the same.
 35

No agricultural operations have been performed and there is no question at all of the income
derived therefrom being agricultural income within the definition given in S. 2(1) of the Indian
Income-tax Act. Where, however, the assessee performs subsequent operations on these
products of land which are of wild or spontaneous growth, the nature of those operations would
have to be determined in the light of the principles enumerated above.
(105) Applying these principles to the facts of the present case, we no doubt start with the
finding that the forest in question was of spontaneous growth. If there were no other facts
found, that would entail the conclusion that the income is not agricultural income. But, then, it
has also been found by the Tribunal that the forest is more than 150 years old, though portions
of the forest have from time to time been denuded, that is to say, trees have completely fallen
and the proprietors have planted fresh trees in those areas and they have performed operations
for the purpose of nursing the trees planted by them.
It cannot be denied that so far as those trees are concerned, the income derived therefrom
would be agricultural income. In view of the fact that the forest is more than 150 years old, the
areas which had thus become denuded and re-planted cannot be considered to be negligible.
The position therefore is that the whole of the income derived from the forest cannot be treated
as non-agricultural income.
If the enquiry had been directed on proper lines, it would have been possible for the
Income-tax authorities to ascertain how much of the income is attributable to forest of
spontaneous growth and how much to trees planted by the proprietors. But no such enquiry had
been directed, and in view of the long lapse of time, we do not consider it desirable to direct any
such enquiry now. The expenditure shown by the assessee for the maintenance of the forest is
about Rs. 17,000 as against a total income of about Rs. 51,000.
Having regard to the magnitude of this figure, we think that a substantial portion of the
income must have been derived from trees planted by the proprietors themselves. As no attempt
has been made by the Department to establish which portion of the income is attributable to
forest of spontaneous growth, there are no materials on which we could say that the judgment of
the court below is wrong.
(106) The appeal is accordingly dismissed with costs.

*****
36

C.I.T. v. Maddi Venkatasubbayya

(1951) XX ITR 151 (Mad.)

VISWANATHA SASTRI, J. – The question referred to us is as follows:

Whether, in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was right in holding that the
sum of Rs. 7,500 was ‗agricultural income‘ within the meaning of Section 2(1)(b) of the Act
and exempt from taxation under Section 4(3)(viii) of the Indian Income-tax Act?
The facts are briefly these. The assessee, a firm of merchants, purchased a standing crop of
tobacco on an area of 93 acres 12 cents for Rs. 13,833 in January 1943, from the person who
had raised the tobacco on the land. The tobacco was harvested, cured and sold in the market by
the assessee before 21st March, 1943, for Rs. 33,498. The plucking of the ripe leaves, the
pruning and flue-curing of the harvested tobacco were all done by the assessee firm. It is also
stated that there was some sort of plouging on the land by the assessee. The curing of tobacco is
said to be a process which is ordinarily employed by a cultivator of tobacco to render it fit for
sale in the market.
The assessee was not a landholder or a ryot or a lessee of the land on which the tobacco
crop stood. The tobacco plants had been raised on the land by its owner or lessee and they had
reached such a degree of maturity as to render them saleable as standing crops to tobacco
merchants in the locality. We may observe that it is not uncommon for merchants and traders in
agricultural produce to purchase standing crops of tobacco, sugarcane, groundnut, etc., when the
crop is ready or nearly ready for harvest. The purchaser in such a case may have to do some
pruning work with reference to the crops as in this case and then cut the crops and market the
produce. The operations said to have been performed by the purchaser in the present case were
evidently performed with the consent of the person who raised the standing crop. They are
incidental to reaping the fruits of the purchase. The Income-tax Officer and the Appellate
Assistant Commissioner held that a part of the profit of the assessee realised by sale of the
tobacco, namely Rs. 7,500, was derived from non-agricultural sources or operations and
therefore liable to income-tax. The Appellate Tribunal held that the entire profits of the
assessee from the tobacco dealer calculated in the sum of Rs. 12,000 was agricultural income
and was exempt from income-tax under Section 4(3)(viii) of the Income-tax Act. The
Commissioner of Income-tax disputes the correctness in law of the decision of the Appellate
Tribunal. Hence this reference.
The burden is upon the assessee who claims exemption from tax under Section 4(3)(viii) of
the Income-tax Act to prove that the income is ―agricultural income‖ as defined in the Act: see
Raja Mustafa Ali Khan v. Commissioner of Income-tax [(1948) 16 ITR 330 (PC)]. It is true,
as pointed by the learned advocate for the assessee, that the exemption is conferred by the Act
upon a particular kind of income and it does not depend on the character of the recipient.
―Agricultural income‖ as defined in the Act is exempt from tax even though it can be brought
under one or the other of the heads of income set out in Section 6 of the Act. Agricultural
income has been held not to be assessable as business profits merely because the recipient of the
income is a money-lender who has lent monies on a mortgage with possession and is receiving
the rents and profits of agricultural land in lieu of interest on the loan. This is settled by the
 37

decision of the Judicial Committee in Commissioner of Income-tax v. Sir Kameswar Singh

[(1935) 3 ITR 305 (PC)] and Raja Mustafa Ali Khan v. Commissioner of Income-tax [(1948)
16 ITR 330 (PC)]. But it has to be observed that the rent of the agricultural income received by
a usufructuary mortgagee is agricultural income not because he is a usufructuary mortgagee but
because being a usufructuary mortgagee he has gone into possession of the land and received
rent as such. The mortgagee who receives rent receives it in the character of a person who has
interest in the land and who is entitled to possession thereof. Therefore the income he receives
in lieu of the interest on the loan is considered to be agricultural income. We, however,
consider that this line of argument is not of assistance to the assessee in the present case.
It is agreed that the land on which the tobacco crop was raised was assessed to land revenue
and was used for agricultural purposes. The income of the assessee was obviously not ―rent‖ or
―revenue‖ derived from such land within the meaning of Section 2(1)(a) of the Act. The only
question is whether it is ―income derived from such land by agriculture‖ within the meaning of
Section 2(1)(b)(i) of the Act. The owner of the land, or of an interest therein, be he the landlord,
ryot, lessee or usufructuary mortgagee, has an interest in the land and derives his income from
the land. He may actually cultivate the land or he may receive the rent from cultivating tenants.
In either case, the rent is the immediate and effective source of income and if the rent is derived
from agriculture, the exemption from tax is attracted. Section 2(1)(a), (b)(ii) and (iii) and (c) of
the Act clearly indicate that the person entitled to exemption are the persons falling within the
following categories: The owner who lets agricultural land to cultivating tenants for a stipulated
rent; the owner of agricultural land in which the tenant has a permanent right of occupancy with
liability to pay a fixed rent or revenue; the owner of agricultural land who cultivates it himself;
the lessee of such land; an occupancy tenant of such land having a permanent tenancy with
liability for a fixed rent; a usufructuary mortgagee of the interest of the owner, landholder or
tenant of such land as the case may be; a sub-lessee; and persons occupying a similar position.
The argument of the assessee‘s learned counsel is that Section 2(1)(b)(i) which alone
falls to be considered in the present case is so wide in its scope as to be applicable to profits
derived by a merchant who purchases a standing crop and sells the produce after harvesting it.
It is said that such profits constitute an income ―derived from land by agriculture.‖ A
cultivating owner or tenant of land who sells a standing crop or the produce after harvest,
derives his income from his land by agriculture. The landholder or lessor who receives his rent
either in kind or in cash from his tenant, derives income from his land by agriculture, though the
person who actually ploughs and tills the land is the tenant. A merchant who purchases the
standing crop derives profit from his contract on purchase at an advantageous price and resale of
the produce at a higher price. The land is not the direct or immediate or effective source of his
income. Agricultural income cannot be said to accrue to every person into whose hands the
produce of the land passes. It is only the owner, landlord or ryot, or persons having a derivative
interest in the land from these persons that can be said to ―derive‖ income from the land by the
performance of agricultural operations on it. A merchant who purchases the standing crop
appears on the scene when the crop is ripe or very nearly ripe for harvest, and pays a price for
the commodity in which he is trading. No doubt he has a right to enter upon the land to
preserve the crop, to tend it and to harvest it but he has no right or interest of any kind in the
land itself nor has he any right to the exclusive possession of the land for any period. Growing
38

crops are movable property under Section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act and Section 2,
clause (6), of the Registration Act. See also the definition of immovable property in the General
Clauses Act. In English law a sale of growing crops is regarded as sale of chattels. The
purchaser of a standing crop differs from the purchaser of harvested crops only in this, that the
former has a right to enter upon the land to attend to the crop and cut it when it is ripe for
harvesting. He is in the position of the holder of a ―licence‖ within the definition of that term in
Section 52 of the Indian Easements Act. The purchaser whether of standing crop or of the
harvested produce derives his profits as a trader or merchant from the purchase and resale of the
produce in the market and does not derive the profit from the land in which ex concessi he has
no interest.
If the contention in the present case is to prevail, a trader in grains, cereals or other produce
who purchases a standing crop ready to be harvested and sells the standing crop at a profit to
another merchant, his profit is exempt from income-tax, even though he has no interest of any
kind in the land on which the crops stand. Neither he nor his tenants or servants ever performed
any agricultural operation on the land. The assessee earned a profit by the sale of the tobacco at
a price over and above the cost price paid for the standing crop and the expenses incurred in
harvesting and curing the tobacco. The pruning and ploughing operations were ancillary
operations of an unsubstantial character and were conducted under an arrangement with the
person who raised the crop. Once the standing crop passed from the ownership of the
cultivating tenant to that of the trader who purchased it, it lost the quality of agricultural income
at that point and any profit made by the trader thereafter by a sale of the produce at a higher
price than his cost price would, in our opinion, be a business profit. The direct source of the
assessee‘s income was the purchase and sale of the produce at an advantageous price. The mere
fact that the thing purchased was standing crop rather than any other chattel would not make the
profit derived from the operation of buying and selling anything else than a business profit.
Rent, revenue or income derived from land by agriculture in Section 2 has reference to the rent,
revenue or income derived by a person having some interest in land and by virtue of the fact that
he is the owner of that interest. A profit accruing to a firm of merchants having no interest in
land but having a mere licence to enter upon land and gather the produce as incidental to a
transaction of purchase of standing crops, by a sale of the crops after harvest, differs radically in
its character from income derived by way of rent or revenue or by the performance of
agricultural operations by a person having an interest therein as owner, tenant or mortgagee with
possession etc. The profit in this case is derived, as we have already stated, by entering into
contracts for the purchase of a commodity and by the resale of that commodity for a higher
price. The fact that the movable property now in question springs from, or is the product of
agricultural operations carried out by the owner or tenant of agricultural land, does not lead to
the conclusion that the profit of a trader who has no interest in the land but who buys and sells
the movable property in the course of his trade is ―agricultural income‖ as defined in the Act. A
fruit merchant may purchase only the produce of an orchard belonging to another and a timber
merchant may purchase only the trees planted by the owner of the grove. In these cases he gets
the right to gather the fruits or the timber on the land but the profit realised by the merchant on a
sale of the commodity is not agricultural income derived from land but is business profit.
 39

In Yagappa Nadar v. Commissioner of Income-tax [(1927) I.L.R. 50 Mad. 923], this Court
held that income earned by a person who had a licence to tap toddy from trees belonging to the
licensors and who sold the toddy extracted by him at a profit was non-agricultural income,
though if the same income was earned by the owner or the lessee of the land on which the trees
grew, it would be agricultural income. The learned counsel for the Commissioner of Income-
tax referred us to the decision of the Judicial Committee in Commissioner of Income-tax v.
Kamakshya Narain Singh [(1948) 16 I.T.R. 325] which decided that interest on arrears of rent
payable in respect of land used for agricultural purposes was not agricultural income within
Section 2(1) of the Income-tax Act. It was held that the interest was neither rent nor revenue
derived from the land. The relationship between the tenant who executed the bond for arrears of
rent with interest and the landlord was held to be that of a debtor and creditor. There is however
one observation of the Judicial Committee which might be helpful in connection with the
present case. Their Lordships while holding that interest on rent was revenue derived by the
landholder, went on to hold that it was not revenue ―derived‖ from land. They observed:
The word ‗derived‘ is not a term of art. Its use in the definition indeed demands an
enquiry into the genealogy of the product. But the enquiry should stop as soon as the
effective source is discovered. In the genealogical tree of the interest, land indeed appears
in the second degree, but the immediate and effective source is rent, which has suffered the
accident of non-payment.
Here also the land indeed appears in the history of the trading operations of the assessee but
it cannot be said to be the immediate or the effective source of the income made by the assessee
firm. The immediate and effective source was the trading operation of purchase of the standing
crop and its resale in the market after harvesting the produce at an advantageous price.
For these reasons we hold that the sum of Rs. 7,500 was not exempt from liability to
assessment to income-tax and that the answer to the question referred to must be in the negative
and against the assessee. The assessee shall pay Rs. 250, the costs of the Commissioner of
Income-tax on this reference.

*****
40

Sakarlal Naranlal v. C.I.T.

AIR 1965 Guj. 165

N.H. BHAGWATI, J. – Ordinarily we find cases where the assessee relies on section 4(3)
(viii) and the revenue contests the claim of the assessee, but here in this reference the position
is reversed and we find the revenue relying on section 4(3)(iii) and the assessee disputing that
position. The reference relates to assessment year 1954-55, 1955-56 and 1956-57 the
corresponding previous years being Samvat Years 2009, 2010 and 2011. The assessee is an
individual and he holds certain agricultural lands. In or about 1952, a friend of the assessee
suggested to him the idea of growing a vegetable product commonly called galka, the
botanical name being luffa pentendra and the assessee accordingly obtained galka seeds from
abroad and, after preparing the lands for cultivation, raised galka on the lands in 1952. Now
the kind of galka prown by the assessee was not an indigenous kind but was a kind grown
fairly widely in Formosa, Japan and other places. After the galkas were fully grown, they
were removed from the plants and the assessee then subjected them to a process for preparing
what are called loofahs. The process consisted of various steps taken in the following order:
(1) tapping dry galkas for taking out the seeds; (2) deskinning them; (3) giving them an acetic
acid bath; (4) holding them in salicylic acid; (5) drying them in the sun; (6) putting them in
cold water for two days; and (7) lastly, pressing them for the purpose of packing. The final
product which emerges as a result of subjecting galkas to this process is known as loofah. It
is fibrous product in the nature of a pad and we are told that it is commonly used in the
manufacture of shoes.
The foreign loofahs are about 16‖ in length and 4‖ in width. The loofahs prepared by the
assessee were, however, only 5‖ in length and 2-1/2‖ in width. The assessee tried to market
these loofahs abroad and sent them to England on consignment basis for sale, but it was found
that it was not possible to sell them. The position was that even if they were sold at the
lowest possible rate, the assessee would have been liable to pay purchase tax and that would
have caused considerable loss to the assessee. The loofahs were, therefore, reshipped in
India. The result was that loss was suffered by the assessee in this transaction. The assessee
claimed a loss of Rs. 1,85,932-8-0 in the assessment for the assessment year 1954-55 and
similar losses were also claimed in the assessment for the subsequent assessment years 1955-
56 and 1956-57.
2. We may point out at this stage that the accounts in respect of the activities relating to
the cultivation of galkas were entered by the assessee in the books of account of a business
carried on by him in the name of Sakarlal Sons and Company. After the galkas were raised
and removed from the plants, they were transferred by the assessee to the books of account of
another business carried on by the assessee in the name of Minaxi Trading Company at a
particular value determined by the assessee and it was Minaxi Trading Company which
processed the galkas and exported loofahs prepared out of them. The losses set out above
were, therefore, suffered by the business of Minaxi Trading Company and they were
obviously arrived at on the basis of the cost of the galkas being taken at the value of which
they were shown to have been taken over from Sakarlal Sons and Company. These losses
were claimed by the assessee as business arising out of non-agricultural operations but the
 41

revenue contended that they were agricultural losses and were, therefore, not liable to be
taken into account in computing the income of the assessee from business. That is a question
which we shall presently consider, but it is clear that even if the contention of the assessee is
accepted and it is held that the operation of Minaxi Trading Company were non-agricultural
operations, a question might well arise as to the correct amount of losses suffered by the
assessee attributable to these non-agricultural operations. Both the business, namely, Sakarlal
Sons and Company and Minaxi Trading Company being the proprietary business of the
assessee, the revenue may in that event have to apportion the losses suffered by the assessee
in the entire transaction between the agricultural operations carried on in the name of Sakarlal
Sons and Company and the non-agricultural operations carried on in the name of Minaxi
Trading Company by resort to rule 7 of the Rules made under section 59 of the Act. We are,
however, not concerned with that question and we do not wish to express any opinion upon it.
These facts have been set out by us namely because an argument was founded upon them on
behalf of the assessee for showing the conduct of the assessee as a cultivator.
3. The losses claimed by the assessee were disallowed by the Income-tax Officer on the
ground that they were agricultural losses. The Income-tax Officer took the view that the
raising of galkas was ultimately an agricultural operation and so far as the processing of
galkas resulting in the preparation of loofahs was concerned, it was a process ordinarily
employed by a cultivator to render galkas produced by him fit to be taken to market and the
losses resulting from these operations were, therefore, agricultural losses within the meaning
of section 2(1) (b) (ii). The assessee carried the matter in appeal, but the Appellate Assistant
Commissioner upheld the disallowance of these losses. The matter was then taken to the
Tribunal. The Tribunal also came to the conclusion that the process employed by the assessee
was a process which came within section 2(1)(b)(ii) and the losses suffered by the assessee
were therefore, agricultural losses which were not liable to be dedicated in computing the
income of the assessee. Much argument turned upon the question as to what findings of fact
were actually reached by the Tribunal and it would, therefore, be desirable to set out the
relevant portion of paragraph 5 and the whole of paragraph 6 of the order of the Tribunal
which were in the following terms:
―[I]t was submitted that this was a case where the product galka has a market by
itself and that subsequent operations are in the nature of manufacturing operations
which do not come within the scope of the definition of agricultural income in section
2(1) (b) (ii). Reliance for this purpose is placed on evidence in the shape of letters
written by an entity called Messrs. M. Kawanishi of Kobe, Japan. This is a letter,
which was written to the assessee on September 21, 1959, in which it is stated that
looking to the quality of the stuff, texture and size, they would have been in a position
to purchase the stuff on assorted basis in the year 1952, round about the 12s per dozen
on C.I.F. Japanese port basis. Another letter written on October 8, 1959, by another
party of Japan was also relief upon for showing that the price in 1952 would have
been round about 15-1/2s, a dozen. It is stated that on the basis of these letters, even
dried fruits had a market by themselves and that, therefore, the rest of the activity was
not one which would be an agricultural operations.
42

We are unable to agree with this submission. In order to find out whether there
was a market for the produce as such or whether it had to be processed before it could
be sold, what is necessary is to see whether there is a market at which it could be
absorbed. The existence of a theoretical market in a place like Japan is not one that
has to be taken into account for this purpose. The section postulates the performance
of any process ordinarily employed by a cultivator so as to render the produce fit to be
taken to market. The expression ―ordinarily employed‖ would appear to postulate the
existence of certain conditions at or about the locality in which the produce is grown.
The item marketed by the assessee was a stranger to the Indian market. Therefore,
there could have been no ready market in India. Indeed, this position was not disputed
by the assessee. Therefore, merely because there was some possibility of a sale at its
original stage, in a distant country, it does not follow that the fruit by itself had a
market, which is relevant for our purpose. If a produce is grown, say in Kerala, and it
does not have a ready market in its original stage there, then merely because there is
some market, say in Punjab, for the produce in its original stage, it does not follow
that the process ordinarily employed by cultivators in Kerala would cease to be
agricultural process. In all these matters, what is liable to be looked into is the area in
which the produce is grown and the customary process employed to render it fit for
market, if it is not marketable in its original stage. That is why it is a question of fact
of each case: see Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate Ltd., v. Commissioner of
Income-tax [(1946) 14 ITR 611]. In our opinion, therefore, in this case, there was no
market it could be sold in its original stage.
The assessee thereupon made an application to the Tribunal for a reference and on the
application the Tribunal made an order referring the following question for the opinion of this
court:
Whether on the facts here, where the galka produced does not have a market in
India, the process employed on it for purposes of exporting and selling it abroad
satisfies the requirements of section 2(1)(b)(ii) of the Act?
This was the form in which the question was framed, but an argument was addressed to
us that this question did not bring out the real controversy between the parties inasmuch as it
was based on a very limited postulate, namely, that the galkas did not have a market in India
whereas the actual finding of the Tribunal was that there was no market at all for the galkas
and that the question, should, therefore, be reframed so as to bring out the real controversy
between the parties. We shall consider this argument at the appropriate stage.
4. It is evident that the question depends for its determination on the true construction of
section 2(1)(b)(ii) of the Income-tax Act,1922. The question whether the process employed by
the assessee for the purpose of preparing loofahs out of galkas with a view to exporting and
selling loofahs abroad satisfies the requirements of section 2(1)(b)(ii) becomes material
because if the process is covered by section 2(1)(b)(ii), the whole of the loss suffered by the
assessee would be agricultural loss and would by reason of section 4(3)(viii) be liable to the
excluded in computing the income of the assessee. Section 4(3)(viii) provides that agricultural
income shall not be included in the total income of an assessee.
 43

Section 2 refers to income derived from land which means arising from land and denotes
income, the immediate and effective cause of which is land. It is divided into three clauses.
Clause (i) in terms takes in income derived from agricultural land by agriculture which would
include agricultural produce as held by the Supreme Court in Dooars Tea Co. Ltd., v
Commissioner of Income-tax [(1962) 44 ITR 6]. Clause (ii) includes cases of income derived
from the performance of any process ordinarily employed by a cultivator to render the
produce fit to be taken to market. The reason behind this provision is not far to seek and it
really provides a clue to its interpretation. A cultivator raises produce from the land with a
view to selling it. If there is a market for the produce as grown, there is no difficulty; the
cultivator can in such a case sell the produce without anything more and he need not perform
any process on the produce. But if there is no market for the produce as grown and it can be
sold only by performing some process on it, the cultivator would have to perform such
process in order to be able to sell the produce; otherwise the produce would not be marketable
and the raising of it would be futile. Where such is the case, the legislature says that, though
strictly the agricultural operations ceases when the produce is raised and removed from the
soil, the performance of the process should be regarded as a continuation of the agricultural
operations since the process has to be performed by the cultivator for the purpose of enabling
him to sell the produce which the otherwise cannot. It is because the performance of the
process is essential in order to render the produce marketable, which it is otherwise not, that
the law regards it as a part of the agricultural operations carried on by the cultivator. This
reason also explains the other requirement of the section, namely, that the process must be
such as is ordinarily employed by cultivators to make the produce saleable. The performance
of the process is assimilated to agricultural operations and must, therefore, like agricultural
operations stricto sensu, be an operation which is ordinarily done by cultivators. If some
special or unusual process is employed by a cultivator, which is not ordinarily employed by
cultivators to render the produce marketable, it cannot be regarded as part of the agricultural
operations and the benefit of the income being treated as agricultural income would not be
available to the cultivator. It will be clear from this discussion that there are two conditions
which are required to be fulfilled before a process performed by the assessee can be said to be
a process within the meaning of section 2(1)(b)(ii). The first condition is that the process must
be necessary to render the produce fit to be taken to market and that involves the proposition
that there must be no market for the produce in its raw state. If there is already a market for
the produce in its raw state, then the process cannot be said to be a process employed to
render the produce fit to be taken to market or, in other words, to make it marketable. That
which is already marketable does not need any process to render it marketable. The second
condition is that the process must be one which is ordinarily employed by a cultivator of the
produce to render it marketable. But even if these two conditions are satisfied, it is not
sufficient to attract the applicability of section 2(1) (b) (ii). There is an additional requirement
which must be satisfied and that requirement springs directly from the language and the
reason of the enactment. It follows as a necessary corollary from what is stated above that,
even where the produce is subjected to a process ordinarily employed by cultivators to render
it fit to be taken to market, the produce must not change its original character. The cultivator
is permitted to subject the produce to a process in order to make it marketable and what is
ultimately marketed must, therefore, be that produce. The character of the produce must not
44

be altered as a result of the process. Of course when we say this we must make it clear that
there may by changes brought about in the produce for the purpose of making the produce
marketable but those changes must not amount to altering the original character of the
produce: the vide Dooars Tea Company case.
5. Turning now to the authorities, the first decision to which our attention was invited was
the decision of the Patna High Court in In re Bhikanpur Sugar Concern. The question which
arose in this case was whether income derived from sale of sugar manufactured from
sugarcane grown by the assessee on its lands was agricultural income within the meaning of
section 2(1)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1918, which was in identical terms with section 2(1)(b)
of the income-tax Act, 1922. The assessee contended that the income was agricultural
income, but a Full Bench of the Patna High Court consisting of three judges held that it was
not, on the ground that the process employed by the assessee for manufacturing sugar was not
a process ordinarily employed by cultivators of sugarcane for rendering it fit for marketing.
Dawson-Miller C.J. said that the market of the vast majority of cultivators of sugarcane was
the sugar factory or the country mill and they did not manufacture sugar out of it in order to
make it marketable and that the process employed by the assessee was, therefore, not a
process ordinarily employed by cultivators so as to bring the case within the section
2(1)(b)(ii). The other learned judges also expressed the same view. This decision clearly
proceeded on the basis that the process employed by the assessee not being a process
ordinarily employed by cultivators to render the sugarcane produced by them marketable, one
of the two conditions specified in section 2(1)(b)(ii) was not fulfilled.
6. We were then referred to a decision of the Calcutta High Court in Killing Valley Tea
Company Ltd. v. Secretary of State [(AIR 1921 Cal. 40)]. The assessee in this case grew
green leaf tea in a tea garden owned by it and manufactured tea by performing a process on
green leaves plucked from the tea garden. In its assessment to income-tax, the assessee
contended that the entire income from the sale of manufactured tea was agricultural income
within the meaning of section 2(1)(b)(ii) of the Income-tax Act, 1918. The Calcutta High
Court, however, held that though the green leaf from the tea plant was not a marketable
commodity for immediate use as an article of food, it was certainly ―a marketable commodity
to be manufactured by people who possess the requisite machinery into tea fit for human
consumption‖ and the manufacturing process could not, therefore, properly be said to be
employed to render the tea leaves fit to be taken to market as required by the section. This
decision, therefore proceeded on the basis that if there is a market for the produce grown by
the assessee and despite that, some process is performed on it, such process cannot be said to
be a process to render the produce fit to be taken to market so as to attract the applicability of
section 2(1)(b)(ii).
7. The next decision which was cited before us was the decision of the Patna High Court
in J.M. Casey v. Commissioner of Income-Tax [(AIR 1930 Pat 44)]. The facts in this case
were that the assessee cultivated aloe plants and from them by means of machinery prepared
sisal fibre which he sold in the market. The question arose whether the whole of the income
derived by the assessee was exempt from tax as being agricultural income. The Patna High
Court held that it was exempt and the ground on which the Patna High Court based its
decision was that aloe leaves had no market and that the process performed on aloe leaved for
 45

preparing sisal fibre was a process ordinarily employed to render aloe leaves fit to be taken to
market. Courtney-Terrell C.J. who delivered the main judgment, observed that no cultivation
of aloe plant appeared to have been practiced save in connection with the process of
manufacture of sisal fibre and, moreover, there was no market for aloe leaves. Of course aloe
leaves could be supplied to jails but the learned Chief Justice observed, that did not make any
difference since the leaves so bought by the jail authorities were treated by the prisoners by
means of the same laborious and uneconomic process which was employed by some villagers
in treating the leaves of the wild and uncultivated plant and that the object of the manufacture
in jails was not the conducting of an economic process which rendered profitable the
cultivation of the aloe plant but merely to keep the prisoners employed on sufficiently
laborious and punitive work. It was thus definitely found that the aloe leaves were not
ordinarily marketable and they could normally be sold only by converting them into sisal
fibre. The learned Chief Justice made it clear that the decision of the court was based on
these conditions which existed at the time and observed:
It may be that in the future the economic conditions may change. If the growth of
the aloe leaf should become established as an agricultural industry by itself and if the
manufacturers of sisal fibre should cease to cultivate the plant themselves and should
purchase the leaves in an open market then and such circumstances may possibly
require reconsideration in the light of the income-tax law.
An argument was also advanced on behalf of the revenue that the assessee being the only
cultivator, the process employed by him could not be said to be a process ordinarily employed
by a cultivator to render aloe leaves marketable, but this argument was met by the learned
Chief Justice by saying that since there was no cultivation of the aloe plant save in connection
with the economic process involving the use of machinery such as was employed by the
assessee, the process ordinarily employed would in fact be that used by the assessee. This
decision thus laid down two propositions: (1) that in order to attract the applicability of
section 2(1) (3)(ii) the produce in its state must not have a ready and available market where
goods of that kind are bought and sold; and (2) that even if the assessee is the only cultivator,
a generalization can be made from the single instance of the assessee and the process
employed by the assessee can be regarded as a process ordinarily employed by a cultivator in
render the produce marketable. The second proposition laid down in this decision would
meet the difficulty pointed out on behalf of the assessee, namely, that the assessee being the
only cultivator of galkas in the present case, the process employed by him could not be
appropriately described as a process ordinarily employed by a cultivator to render gankas fit
to be taken to market.
8. Reference was also made to a decision of the Court of the Judicial Commissioner,
Nagpur, in Sheolal v. Commissioner of Income-tax [AIR 1932 Nag. 6] where the question
was whether the process of ginning applied by the assessee could be said to be a process
within the meaning of section 2(1) (b) (ii). The court held that the process of ginning was not
a process ordinarily employed by cultivators to render cotton grown by them fit to be taken to
market since unginned cotton was sold by the cultivators and ginning was not essential in
order to render the cotton fit to be taken to market. The fact that there was a market for cotton
grown on the land was thus taken into account for the purpose of holding that the process of
46

ginning could not be said to be a process necessary to render the produce fit to be taken to
market.
9. Then we were referred to a decision of the Bombay High Court in Brihan
Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate Ltd., v. Commissioner of Income-tax. The question which
arose in this case was whether income realized as a sale of gul manufactured by the assessee
out of sugarcane grown by it, was agricultural income within the meaning of section 2(1)
(b)(ii). The Tribunal found that the requirements of the section were satisfied, but on a
reference to the High Court a Division Bench of the High Court held that though there was
evidence to support the finding of the Tribunal that the process employed by the assessee in
the manufacture of gul was a process ordinarily employed by a cultivator, the finding that the
process was one ordinarily employed by a cultivator to render the produce fit to be taken to
market was erroneous inasmuch as there was a market for the sale of sugarcane before it was
turned into gul. Kania J., as he then was, after referring to section 2(1) (b)(ii), said:
Reading the words used in the definition section with their mutual meaning they
must mean that the produce must retain its original character in spite of the process
unless there is no market for selling it in that condition. If there is no market to sell
the produce then any process which is ordinarily employed to render it fit to reach the
market, where it can be sold, would be covered by the definition….
The learned judge agreed with the Patna High Court in J.M. Casey case that market must
mean a ready and available market where produce of the kind grown by the assessee is bought
and sold and observed that since the statement of the case itself showed that there was a
market for sugarcane, the process employed by the assesses in converting it into gul could not
be said to be a process ordinarily employed to render it fit to be taken to market where it can
be sold. Now it must be conceded straightway that, in view of the decision of the Supreme
Court in Dooars Tea Company Ltd. case, the statement contained in the passage quoted
above can no longer be regarded as good law in so far as it says that if there is no market for
selling the produce in its original character, the character of the produce may be altered by
performing a process necessary to render it fit to be taken to market and such a process too
would be covered by section 2(1)(b)(ii). It is now clear that the produce must retain its
original character and if the effect of the process is to alter the character of the produce, the
process would not be a process within the intendment of section 2(1)(b)(ii). But this much is
certainly established by this decision, namely, if there is a market for the produce, no process
performed on it can be said to be a process necessary for rendering it fit to be taken to market.
10. We were also referred to a decision of the Mysore High Court in A.T.
Parthasarathiah & Bros. v. Commissioner of Income-tax [(1963) 48 ITR 830 (Mys.)]. That
decision does not help us very much for it merely applies section 2(1)(b)(ii) as construed by
us above to the facts of that case. The question there arose in regard to tamarind plucked by
the assessee from trees owned by him and converted into ―flower tamarind‖ by a process of
cleaning which involved removal of fibre and seeds. The Mysore High Court held that
inasmuch as the Tribunal had not addressed itself to the question as to what was the process
ordinarily employed by cultivators in the locality where the assessee resides to render the
tamarind grown by them fit to be taken to market, it was necessary to call for a further
 47

statement of the case and the Tribunal was accordingly required to submit a further statement
of the case in order to enable the court to dispose of the question.
11. The last decision to which we must refer is the decision of the Andhra Pradesh High
Court in Boggavarapu Peda Ammaiah v. Commissioner of Income-tax [(1964) 1 ITJ 197
(A.P.)]. The assessee in this case carried on the business of export of tobacco grown on his
lands and he claimed exemption in respect of income arising on the sale of tobacco as
agricultural income. The revenue authorities treated the income derived from operations up to
the stage of the ―flue-curing‖ as agricultural income but regarded the subsequent activities
which involved the performance of the process of re-drying, stripping and grading and sale of
tobacco subjected to such process as non-agricultural operations and treated the income
attributable to those operations as income from business subject to tax. The Andhra Pradesh
High Court before whom the question came on a reference took the view that the tobacco
after flue-curing had a large market in the country and the operations of re-drying, stripping
and grading were, therefore, not quite essential to make the tobacco marketable. The High
Court also took the view that these operations could not be regarded as a process ordinarily
employed by cultivators in order to make the tobacco marketable. Since in the opinion of the
High Court both the conditions of section 2(1)(b) (ii) were not satisfied, the High Court held
that the income attributable to the operations of re-drying, stripping, and grading could not be
described as agricultural income but should be treated as income liable to tax.
12. It would thus be seen that in all these decisions the various High Courts applied
section 2(1) (b)(ii) to the facts of the case before them and examined the question whether the
two conditions of the section were satisfied so as to make the income agricultural income.
We will, therefore, now proceed to consider how far these two conditions could be said to be
fulfilled in the present case in regard to the process employed by the assessee for the purpose
of preparing loofahs out of galkas.
13. Before, however, we do so, it would be convenient to dispose of one short argument
advanced by Mr. Kaji on behalf of the assessee and that argument was that galkas when
subjected to the process for converting them into loofahs did not retain their original character
but underwent a change in character, since loofahs were goods of a different character from
galkas and section 2(1)(b)(ii) was, therefore, not attracted. Now it is undoubtedly true that if
galkas did not retain their original character on being subjected to the process for converting
them into loofahs, the process would not be a process within the meaning of section
2(1)(b)(ii). But unfortunately for the assessee it is not open to Mr. Kaji to urge this contention
before us since the contention raises a question of fact and not having been advanced before
the Tribunal and their being no finding of the Tribunal on the question and the question not
being the subject-matter of reference before us, the assessee cannot be permitted to raise the
contention before us.
14. Going back to the main question, Mr. Kaji contended that the Tribunal had
misdirected itself in law in proceeding on the basis that for the purpose of determining
whether there was no market for galkas in raw state which would make the performance of
the process for converting them into loofahs necessary to render them marketable, the only
market which the Tribunal was required to take into account was the market in India. He
urged that even if there was no market for galkas in India, but there was a market abroad, say
48

for example, in Japan, as the contention of the assessee was, the performance of the process
for converting them into loofahs could not be said to be necessary in order to render them fit
to be taken to market and the Tribunal should have therefore considered whether there was no
market for galkas outside India. This contention is, in our opinion, well-founded. We do not
think it can be seriously disputed that if there was a market for galkas-and by galkas we mean
the commodity of galkas in raw state-even outside India, the performance of the process for
converting them into loofahs could not be said to be necessary in order to make them
marketable. It is in this connection important to bear in mind that even loofahs had no market
in India and the process of converting into loofahs was performed on the galkas with a view
to exporting and selling them abroad. Both in the case of galkas and in the case of loofahs,
therefore, there was no market in India and the market had to be found outside India. It is
possible that if loofahs had a market in India, an argument could with some plausibility have
been advanced that even if galkas had a market outside, a cultivator of galkas in India would
ordinarily convert them into loofahs which would be saleable in India rather than sell galkas
in their raw state outside India. But where, as in the present case, the markets, if any, could
only be outside India, both for galkas and loofahs, it must be concluded that if galkas had a
market outside India, the process employed for converting galkas into loofahs for a market
which was also outside India could not be said to be employed in order to make galkas fit for
being taken to market. In such a case both the markets being out of India and galkas being
marketable, no process performed on them could be said to be a process essential to make
them marketable. It was, therefore, not enough for the Tribunal to find that there was no
market for galkas in India. The Tribunal should have also considered whether there was no
market for galkas outside India and it was only if the Tribunal found that there was no market
for galkas outside India, that the Tribunal could come to the conclusion that the process
employed for the purpose of converting galkas into loofahs was a process covered by section
2(1)(b)(ii).
15. But the learned Advocate-General contended that even if that be the view which we
are inclined to take, there was a finding of the Tribunal that there was no market for galkas
and that in view of that finding the process employed by the assessee must be regarded as a
process necessary to render galkas fit to be taken to market. This contention involves a
consideration of the order of the Tribunal. But before we examine this contention, we say
dispose of another argument advanced by Mr. Kaji, namely, that the process employed by the
assessee could not be said to be process ordinarily employed by a cultivator to render galkas
fit to be taken to market. There were two circumstances relied on by Mr. Kaji in this
connection. The first was that the assessee was the only cultivator of galkas and there could
not, therefore, be any standard with reference to which it could be said whether the process
was a process ordinarily employed by a cultivator. But this argument is sufficiently met by
the reasoning of the Patna High Court in J.M. Casey case to which we have already referred.
As a matter of fact if galkas in their raw state had no market at all, a cultivator of galkas could
not do otherwise than make loofahs out of them and the process of making loofahs would,
therefore, be a process ordinarily employed by a cultivator of galkas. The second
circumstance on which the reliance was placed was the fact that the accounts in respect of the
cultivation of galkas were maintained by the assessee in one set of books while the accounts
in respect of the processing of galkas and sale of loofahs made out of them were maintained
 49

in other set of books. This, argued Mr. Kaji, showed that the intention of the assessee as a
cultivator was not to make loofahs out of galkas but to sell galkas in their raw state and if the
conduct of assessee be taken as a test, the process of making loofahs out of galkas could not
be said to be a process which would be ordinarily employed by the cultivator. This argument
is, in our opinion, totally devoid of force. It cannot be overlooked that both the concerns
belonged to the assessee and it is not possible to infer from a mere bifurcation of the two
activities of the assessee that an ordinary cultivator of galkas would sell galkas in their raw
state and would not prepare loofahs out of them. The determining factor must be whether
there was a market for galkas as a commodity. If there was a market for galkas as a
commodity, it would be possible to take the view that a cultivator would ordinarily sell galkas
in raw state for he would be interested merely in selling his produce and not in performing
processes which are not necessary in order to render the produce marketable. But if there was
no such market, then obviously the cultivator would have no choice but to make loofahs out
of them for the purpose of sale. We must, therefore, come back to the question whether there
was no market for galkas in the sense that there was no place in India or abroad where galkas
as a commodity were bought or sold.
16. Now turning to the order of the Tribunal, the portion of the paragraph 5 of the order
which we have reproduced above shows that before the Tribunal it was the contention of the
assessee that galkas had a market by themselves and that the subsequent operations were in
the nature of manufacturing operations. The assessee for the purpose of establishing this plea
produced evidence in the shape of letters addressed by parties in Japan to the assessee and
contended on the basis of these letters that there was a market for galkas. The Tribunal after
setting out this contention of the assessee in paragraph 5 proceeded to deal with it in
paragraph 6. The Tribunal started by saying that they were unable to agree with this
contention of the assessee, namely, that galkas had a market. The Tribunal then proceeded to
give its reasons for coming to this conclusion. The Tribunal first stated that in order to find
out whether there was a market for the produce, what was necessary to be seen was whether
there was a market at which it could be absorbed. This is no doubt a correct proposition, but
in the way in which it is put, it is likely to be misunderstood and we would, therefore, like to
clarify it by saying that what is required to be considered is not whether the particular produce
grown by the assessee is saleable but whether there is a market where the produce ordinarily
grown by a cultivator is bought or sold as a commodity so that a cultivator of the produce
would ordinarily sell the produce as such and not perform any process on it. The Tribunal
after setting out this proposition observed that the existence of ―a theoretical market in a place
like Japan is not one that has to be taken into account for this purpose.‖ The learned
Advocate-General relied strongly on this observation and contended that this observation
showed that the Tribunal found as a fact there was no real market in Japan. Mr. Kaji, on the
other hand, contended that all that the Tribunal meant to say in making this observation was
that the existence of a theoretical market in a place like Japan was not relevant but what was
relevant was the existence of a market in India. He urged that the word ―theoretical‖ was
used by the Tribunal to describe the market in Japan because the Tribunal considered that the
real market to be considered was the market in India and all markets outside India were
theoretical markets for the purpose of determination of the present question. We think Mr.
Kaji is right in his reading of this observation of the Tribunal. The observations of the
50

Tribunal which immediately follow upon this observation clearly support the interpretation
sought to be placed by Mr. Kaji. The Tribunal, after making this observations, proceeded to
examine what is the market in reference to which the question whether it exists or does not
exist is required to be considered. The Tribunal observed that the expression ―ordinarily
employed‖ would appear to postulate the existence of certain conditions at or about the
locality in which the produce is grown, meaning thereby that whether there is a market for the
produce must be judged in relation to the area in which the produce is grown. The Tribunal
then stated that the item marketed by the assessee, namely galkas, was a stranger to the Indian
market and, therefore, held that there could not be ready market for galkas in India. This
position was as a matter of fact not disputed by the assessee. The Tribunal emphasized the
necessity of the market in India by observing that merely because there was some possibility
of a sale at its original stage in a distant country, it did not follow that galkas by themselves
had a market. The Tribunal then gave an illustration to reinforce its point of view. The
Tribunal observed that if a produce is grown, say in Kerala, and it does not have a ready
market in its original stage there, then merely because there was some market, say in Punjab,
for the produce in its original stage, it does not follow that the process ordinarily employed by
cultivators in Kerala would cease to be agricultural process. The Tribunal then stated that
what was required to be looked at was the area in which the produce is grown and the
customary process employed to render it fit for market, if it is not marketable in its original
stage. This process of reasoning of the Tribunal which we have set out above clearly shows
that what the Tribunal considered to be the correct position in law was that the market to be
taken into account must be the market in the area in which the produce is grown, that is, the
Indian market, and since there was no ready market for galkas in India, it must be concluded
that galkas had no market so as to attract the applicability of section 2(1)(b)(ii). And that
conclusion was set out by the Tribunal in the last sentence of the paragraph. Reading the
paragraph as a whole we think that though there are one or two observations in the paragraph
which read in isolation appear to lend some support to the argument that the Tribunal found as
a fact that there was no market for galkas in Japan and, therefore, no market at all in India or
abroad since the market in Japan was the only market put forward on behalf of the assessee, if
those observations are read in the context of the rest of the paragraph, it is clear that those
observations were made not for recording a finding that there was no market for galkas as a
commodity in Japan but merely for the purpose of emphasizing that what must be looked at is
the market in India and not the market in a distant place like Japan. The word ―theoretical‖
also appears to have been used in order to emphasize that the real market to be considered is
the Indian market and that the rest of the markets would be mere theoretical markets. The
word ―theoretical‖ was not used in order to record a finding that there was no real market in
Japan. It appears that in the view of the law which it took, the Tribunal did not concern itself
to examine and find whether there was a market for galkas as a commodity in Japan and this
becomes clear if we refer to the statement of the case and the question referred to us for our
opinion. The statement of the case clearly shows that according to the Tribunal what it held
was, to quote its own words:
(T)hat what was liable to be looked into for the purpose of finding out whether
there was a market is the area in which the produce is grown and the customary
process employed to render it fit for market if it is not marketable in its original stage.
 51

The Tribunal found also that there was no market in India in which it could be sold in
its original stage. Under these circumstances, it was held....
The question which has been referred to us also shows that according to the Tribunal the
basis on which its decision was founded was that galkas did not have a market in India. Even
if, therefore, there were any doubt as to what the Tribunal found in its order, such doubt is
clearly laid at rest by the statement of the case and the question referred by the Tribunal. We,
therefore, think that reading the order of the Tribunal as a whole along with the statement of
the case and the question referred for our opinion, it must be held that the only finding
reached by the Tribunal was that there was no market for galkas in raw stage in India and that
there was no finding of the Tribunal that galkas as a commodity had no market even outside
India.
17. Now the real controversy between the parties was whether the process employed by
the assessee was a process within the meaning of section 2(1)(b)(ii) and in order to the proper
determination of that controversy it was necessary for the Tribunal to give a finding on the
question whether there was no market for galkas in India or outside India, for it is only if
there was no market for galkas in India or abroad, that the process employed by the assessee
could be said to be a process covered by section 2(1)(b)(ii) as contended by the revenue. The
question as framed is however based on the postulate that it would be sufficient to attract the
applicability of section 2(1)(b)(ii) if there was no market for galkas in India. It is, therefore,
necessary to reframe the question in order to bring out the real controversy between the
parties and the question as reframed will be as follows:
Whether, on the facts and circumstances of the case, the process employed on
galkas for purposes of exporting and selling them aboard satisfies the requirements of
section 2(1)(b)(ii) of the Act?
In order to properly and effectively answer this question it is necessary to have the
finding of the Tribunal on the question whether there was no market for galkas as a
commodity in India or abroad. We, therefore, direct the Tribunal to give its finding on this
question after hearing the parties and to submit a further statement of the case in relation to
that finding. The Tribunal will of course confine itself to the record of the case in giving the
finding. We, however, do not express any opinion on the question as to on whom would lie
the burden of proof in regard to the question on which the Tribunal is directed to give the
finding. That would be a matter for the Tribunal to consider. The reference will be placed on
board for hearing after the supplementary statement of the case is received from the Tribunal.

*****
52

K. Lakshmanan & Co. v. C.I.T.

(1998) 9 SCC 537

B.N. KIRPAL AND S.P. KURDUKAR, JJ. - 1. The short question which arises for
consideration in this batch of appeals is whether or not the income derived from business of
rearing silkworms is ―agricultural income‖ as defined under Section 2(1) of the Income Tax
Act, 1961.
2. The appellant is a partnership firm constituted for the purpose of carrying out
agricultural activities. During the course of its business it indulges in the activity of growing
mulberry leaves and rearing silkworms. The assessee purchases silkworm eggs and when they
are hatched the worms are principally fed on mulberry leaves. The mulberry leaves are plucked
from the trees grown by the appellant and these leaves are cut into stripes which are fed to the
silkworms. The worms wind around themselves the saliva which oozes from their mouth and
the hardened saliva forms the protective cocoons. These cocoons are then sold in the market by
the appellant.
3. Before the Income Tax Officer, the appellant claimed that the entire income which it
derived from the growing of the mulberry leaves to the sale of the cocoons, was exempt from
levy of income tax as it was ―agricultural income‖ within the meaning of that expression used in
Section 2(1) of the Act. The Income Tax Officer accepted the contention of the appellant only
insofar as it related to the growing of the mulberry leaves but did not accept the appellant‘s
contention that the rearing of the worms and the selling of the cocoons resulted in agricultural
income. He accordingly concluded that that part of the income which was attributable to
growing of mulberry leaves alone constituted agricultural income and was exempt from levy of
income tax but the income derived from the rearing of silkworms on the leaves and selling of
the cocoons was not agricultural income. Therefore, the Income Tax Officer estimated the
income derived from the process of growing silkworms and rearing of cocoons at 25 per cent of
the total income and subjected the same to tax in the assessment years involved. [In appeal, the
Appellate Assistant Commissioner, accepted appellant‘s holding that income derived by it from
growing mulberry leaves and from rearing of silkworms and cocoons was exempt from tax
under the Act.]
5. The Revenue then filed an appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal which
allowed the same and came to the conclusion that even though mulberry leaves did not have a
market the case would still not fall within the purview of Section 2(1) of the Act inasmuch as
the agricultural produce, viz., the mulberry leaves, was not what was sold in the market and
what in fact was sold were cocoons which were not the agricultural produce of the appellant. At
the instance of the appellant, the Tribunal then stated the case and referred the following
question of law to the High Court:
Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal is justified in
holding that the income derived by the assessee from the process, i.e., the rearing of silkworms,
is not entitled to exemption under Section 2(1)(b)(ii) of the Income Tax Act, 1961?
6. The High Court in the impugned judgment has answered the question of law in favour of
the Revenue as it came to the conclusion that feeing of mulberry leaves to silkworms was not a
 53

process employed by cultivator of mulberry leaves to make them marketable by way of

producing silk cocoons.
7. On the basis of the facts found by the Tribunal, we do not find any infirmity in the
conclusion of the High Court. Section 2(1) of the Act defines the expression ―agricultural
income‖.
8. Eliminating the unnecessary words from the said definition, ―agricultural income‖ would
mean an income derived from such land by the performance by a cultivator of any process
ordinarily employed by him to render the produce raised by him fit to be taken to market. It is
clear from the reading of the aforesaid statutory provision that what is taken to the market and
sold must be the produce which is raised by the cultivator. Even though for the purpose of
making it marketable or fit for sale, some process may have to be undertaken, the section does
not contemplate the sale of an item or a commodity which is different from what is cultivated
and processed. Had mulberry leaves been subjected to some process and sold in the market as
such then certainly the income derived therefrom would be regarded as agricultural income but
the case of the appellant before the authorities, and in this Court, has been that mulberry leaves
cannot be sold in the market and they can only be fed to the silkworms. The agricultural produce
of the cultivator will be mulberry leaves and by no stretch of imagination can the silkworms,
and certainly not the silk cocoons, be regarded as the agricultural produce of the cultivator.
9. The aforesaid view finds support from the following observations of this Court in Dooars
Tea Co. Ltd. v. CIT [(1962) 44 ITR 6 ( p.12)]:
Section 2(1)(b) consists of three clauses. Let us first construe clauses (ii) and (iii). Clause
(ii) includes cases of income derived from the performance of any process therein specified. The
process must be one which is usually employed by the cultivator or receiver of rent-in-kind; it
may be simple manual process or it may involve the use and assistance of machinery. That is the
first requirement of this proviso. The second requirement is that the said process must have been
employed with the object of making the produce marketable. It is, however, clear that the
employment of the process contemplated by the second clause must not alter the character of the
produce. The produce must retain its original character and the only change that may have been
brought about in the produce is to make it marketable. The said change in the condition of the
produce is only intended to make the produce a saleable commodity in the market. Thus clause
(ii) includes within the categories of income, income derived from the employment of the
process falling under that clause. As we have just observed the object of employing the requisite
process is to make the produce marketable but in terms the clause does not refer to sale and does
not require that the income should be obtained from sale as such though in a sense it
contemplates the sale of the produce.
10. We are in respectful agreement with the aforesaid observations. The High Court, as we
have already observed, has rightly come to the conclusion that the income derived by the
appellant from the sale of the cocoons could not in law be regarded as agricultural income. The
question of law was, therefore, rightly answered in the affirmative and against the appellant.
*****
54

V.V.R.N.M. Subbayya Chettiar v. C.I.T.

AIR 1951 SC 101

FAZL ALI, J. - This is an appeal from a judgment of the High Court of Judicature at Madras
on a reference made to it under Section 66(1) of the Indian Income Tax Act by the Income Tax
Appellate Tribunal in connection with the assessment of the appellant to income tax for the year
1942-43. The question of law referred to the High Court was as follows:
Whether in the circumstances of the case, the assessee (a Hindu undivided family) is
‗resident‘ in British India under Section 4-A(b) of the Income Tax Act.
2. The circumstances of the case may be briefly stated as follows. The appellant is the karta
of a joint Hindu family and has been living in Ceylon with his wife, son and three daughters,
and they are stated to be domiciled in that country. He carries on business in Colombo under the
name and style of the General Trading Corporation, and he owns a house, some immovable
property and investments in British India. He has also shares in two firms situated at
Vijayapuram and Nagapatnam in British India. In the year of account, 1941-42, which is the
basis of the present assessment, the appellant is said to have visited British India on seven
occasions and the total period of his stay in British India was 101 days. What he did during this
period is summarized in the judgment of one of the learned Judges of the High Court in these
words:
During such stays, he personally attended to a litigation relating to the family lands
both in the trial court and in the court of appeal. He was also attending the income tax
proceedings relating to the assessment of the family income, appearing before the Income
Tax Authorities at Karaikudi and Madras. On one of these occasions, he obtained an
extension of time for payment of the tax after interviewing the authority concerned….
3. The other facts relied upon by the Income Tax Authorities were that he did not produce
the file of correspondence with the business in Colombo so as to help them in determining
whether the management and control of the business was situated in Colombo and he had
started two partnership businesses in India on 25th February, 1942, and remained in India for
some time after the commencement of those businesses.
4. Upon the facts so stated, the Income Tax Officer and the Assistant Commissioner of
Income Tax held that the appellant was a resident within the meaning of Section 4-A(b) of the
Income Tax Act, and was therefore liable to be assessed in respect of his foreign income. The
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal however came to a different conclusion and held that in the
circumstances of the case it could not be held that any act of management or control was
exercised by the appellant during his stay in British India and therefore he was not liable to
assessment in respect of his income outside British India. This view was not accepted by a
Bench of the Madras High Court consisting of the learned Chief Justice and Patanjali Sastri, J.
They held that the Tribunal had misdirected itself in determining the question of the ―residence‖
of the appellant‘s family and that on the facts proved the control and management of the affairs
of the family cannot be held to have been wholly situated outside British India, with the result
that the family must be deemed to be resident in British India within the meaning of Section 4-
 55

A(b) of the Income Tax Act. In this appeal, the appellant has questioned the correctness of the
High Court‘s decision:
Section 4-A(b) runs thus:
For the purposes of this Act -
A Hindu undivided family, firm or other association of persons is resident in British
India unless the control and management of its affairs is situated wholly without British
India.
It will be noticed that Section 4-A deals with ―residence‖ in the taxable territories, of (a)
individuals, (b) a Hindu undivided family, firm or other association of persons, and (c) a
company. In each of these cases, certain tests have been laid down, and the test with which we
are concerned is that laid down in Section 4-A(b). This provision appears to be based very
largely on the rule which has been applied in England to cases of corporations, in regard to
which the law was stated thus by Lord Loreburn in De Beers v. Howe [5 Tax Cas 198]:
A company cannot eat or sleep, but it can keep house and do business. We ought,
therefore, to see where it really keeps house and does business.... The decision of Chief
Baron Kelly and Baron Huddleston in Calcutta Jute Mills v. Nicholson and Cesena
Sulphur Company v. Nicholson [(1876) 1 Ex D 428] now thirty years ago, involved the
principle that a company resides for purposes of income tax where its real business is
carried on. Those decisions have been acted upon ever since. I regard that as the true rule,
and the real business is carried on where the central management and control actually
abides.
5. It is clear that what is said in Section 4-A(b) of the Income Tax Act is what Lord
Loreburn intended to convey by the words ―where the central management and control actually
abides‖.
6. The principles which are now well-established in England and which will be found to
have been very clearly enunciated in Swedish Central Railway Company Limited v. Thompson
[9 Tax Cas 373] which is one of the leading cases on the subject, are:
(1) that the conception of residence in the case of a fictitious ‗person‘, such as a
company, is as artificial as the company itself, and the locality of the residence can only be
determined by analogy, by asking where is the head and seat and directing power of the
affairs of the company. What these words mean have been explained by Patanjali Sastri, J.
with very great clarity in the following passage where he deals with the meaning of Section
4-A(b) of the Income Tax Act:
‗Control and management‘ signifies, in the present context, the controlling and
directive power, ‗the head and brain‘ as it is sometimes called, and ‗situated‘ implies the
functioning of such power at a particular place with some degree of permanence, while
‗wholly‘ would seem to recognize the possibility of the seat of such power being divided
between two distinct and separated places.
As a general rule, the control and management of a business remains in the hand of a
person or a group of persons, and the question to be asked is wherefrom the person or group
of persons controls or directs the business.
56

(2) Mere activity by the company in a place does not create residence, with the result
that a company may be ―residing‖ in one place and doing a great deal of business in
another.
(3) The central management and control of a company may be divided, and it may keep
house and do business in more than one place, and, if so, it may have more than one
residence.
(4) In case of dual residence, it is necessary to show that the company performs some of
the vital organic functions incidental to its existence as such in both the places, so that in
fact there are two centres of management.
7. It appears to us that these principles have to be kept in view in properly construing
Section 4-A(b) of the Act. The words used in this provision clearly show firstly, that, normally,
a Hindu undivided family will be taken to be resident in the taxable territories, but such a
presumption will not apply if the case can be brought under the second part of the provision.
Secondly, we take it that the word ―affairs‖ must mean affairs which are relevant for the
purpose of the Income Tax Act and which have some relation to income. Thirdly, in order to
bring the case under the exception, we have to ask whether the seat of the direction and control
of the affairs of the family is inside or outside British India. Lastly, the word ―wholly‖ suggests
that a Hindu undivided family may have more than one ―residence‖ in the same way as a
corporation may have.
8. The question which now arises is what is the result of the application of these principles
to this case, and whether it can be held that the central control and management of the affairs of
the assessee‘s family has been shown to be divided in this case.
9. It seems to us that the mere fact that the assessee has a house at Kanadukathan, where his
mother lives, cannot constitute that place the seat of control and management of the affairs of
the family. Nor are we inclined in the circumstances of the present case to attach much
importance to the fact that the assessee had to stay in British India for 101 days in a particular
year. He was undoubtedly interested in the litigation with regard to his family property as well
as in the income tax proceedings, and by merely coming out to India to take part in them, he
cannot be said to have shifted the seat of management and control of the affairs of his family, or
to have started a second centre for such control and management. The same remark must apply
to the starting of two partnership businesses, as mere ―activity‖ cannot be the test of residence.
It seems to us that the learned Judges of the High Court have taken rather a narrow view of the
meaning of Section 4-A(b), because they seem to have proceeded on the assumption that merely
because the assessee attended to some of the affairs of his family during his visit to British India
in the particular year, he brought himself within the ambit of the rule. On the other hand, it
seems to us that the more correct approach to the case was made by the Appellate Assistant
Commissioner of Income Tax in the following passage which occurs in his order dated 24th
February, 1944:
During a major portion of the accounting period (year ending 12th April, 1942) the
appellant was controlling the businesses in Burma and Saigon and there is no evidence that
such control was exercised only from Colombo. No correspondence or other evidence was
produced which would show that any instructions were issued from Colombo as regards the
management of the affairs in British India especially as it was an unauthorized clerk who
 57

was looking after such affairs. The presumption therefore is that whenever he came to
British India the appellant was looking after these affairs himself and exercising control by
issuing instructions.... It has been admitted that there are affairs of the family in British
India. Has it been definitely established in this case that the control and management of
such affairs has been only in Colombo? I have to hold it has not been established for the
reasons already stated by me.
10. There can be no doubt that the onus of proving facts which would bring his case within
the exception, which is provided by the latter part of Section 4-A(b), was on the assessee. The
appellant was called upon to adduce evidence to show that the control and management of the
affairs of the family was situated wholly outside the taxable territories, but the correspondence
to which the Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax refers and other material evidence which
might have shown that normally and as a matter of course the affairs in India were also being
controlled from Colombo were not produced. The position therefore is this. On the one hand, we
have the fact that the head and karta of the assessee‘s family who controls and manages its
affairs permanently lives in Colombo and the family is domiciled in Ceylon. On the other hand,
we have certain acts done by the karta himself in British India, which, though not conclusive by
themselves to establish the existence of more than one centre of control for the affairs of the
family, are by no means irrelevant to the matter in issue and therefore cannot be completely
ruled out of consideration in determining it. In these circumstances, and in the absence of the
material evidence to which reference has been made, the finding of the Assistant Commissioner,
that the onus of proving such facts as would bring his case within the exception had not been
discharged by the assessee and the normal presumption must be given effect to, appears to us to
be a legitimate conclusion. In this view, the appeal must be dismissed with costs, but we should
like to observe that as this case has to be decided mainly with reference to the question of onus
of proof, the decision in this appeal must be confined to the year of assessment to which this
case relates, and it would be open to the appellant to show in future years by proper evidence
that the seat of control and management of the affairs of the family is wholly outside British
India.

*****
58

Narottam and Parekh Ltd. v. C.I.T., Bombay City

AIR 1954 Bom. 67

CHAGLA, C.J. – The question that arises in this reference is whether the assessee company is
a resident company. The assessment years are 1944-45 and 1945-46. The company is a
subsidiary company of the Scindia Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. and its business is stevedoring in
Ceylon. It is registered in Bombay and its registered office is also in Bombay. The meetings of
the Board of Directors are held in Bombay and also the meetings of the shareholders.
(2) In order that a company should be resident it is necessary that the control and
management of its affairs should be situated wholly in the taxable territories or its income
earned in the taxable territories should exceed its income without the taxable territories in that
year. In this case we are not concerned with the second part of the definition, because the
income of this company in India was Rs. 3,791 whereas its total world income was Rs.
3,28,108, the bulk of which was earned in Ceylon by the business which it did. In order to
construe S. 4A(c) of the Income-tax Act, it is important to bear in mind that this section deals
with residence and it deals with residence of individuals, Hindu undivided family, firms and
other association of persons and of a company, and therefore, the central idea underlying this
section is the idea of residence, and what has got to be determined is where a particular
company is resident.
Sub-clause (c) tells us what in the eye of the law is residence with regard to a company, and
as far as the first part is concerned, in order that a company‘s income should be subjected to tax
as a resident, it has got to be established that the control and management of its affairs is
situated wholly in the taxable territories. As we shall presently point out, ―control and
management‖ is a compendious expression which has acquired a definite significance and
connotation. It is also necessary that the control and management of the affairs of the company
should be situated wholly in the taxable territories. Therefore, if any part of the control and
management is outside the taxable territories, then the company would not be resident. In this
connection, it is pertinent to look at the converse definition of a Hindu undivided family, firm or
other association of persons.
In their case they are resident unless the control and management of its affairs is situated
wholly without the taxable territories. Therefore, whereas in the case of a Hindu undivided
family or firm or association of persons any measure of control and management within the
taxable territories would make them resident, in the case of a company any measure of control
and management of its affairs outside the taxable territories would make it non-resident. In
construing the expression ―control and management‖ it is necessary to bear in mind the
distinction between doing of business and the control and management of business. Business
and the whole of it may be done outside India and yet the control and management of that
business may be wholly within India.
In this particular case considerable emphasis is placed upon the fact that the whole of the
business of the company is done in Ceylon and the whole of the income which is liable to tax
has been earned in Ceylon. But that is not a factor which the Legislature has emphasised. It is
entirely irrelevant where the business is done and where the income has been earned. What is
 59

relevant and material is from which place has that business been controlled and managed.
―Control and management‖ referred to in S. 4A(c) is, as we shall presently point out on the
authorities, central control and management. The control and management contemplated by this
sub-section is not the carrying on of day to day business by servants, employees or agents.
The real test to be applied is, where is the controlling and directing power, or rather, where
does the controlling and directing power function, or to put it in a different language, there is
always a seat of power or the head and brain, and what has got to be ascertained is, where is this
seat of power, or the head and brain? A company or for the matter of that a firm or an
undivided Hindu family has got to work through servants and agents, but it is not the servants
and agents that constitute the seat of power of the controlling and directing power. It is that
authority to which the servants, employees and agents are subject, it is that authority which
controls and manages them, which is the central authority, and it is at the place where the
central authority functions that the company resides.
It may be in some cases that, like an individual a company may have residence in more than
one place. It may exercise control and management not only from one fixed abode, but it may
have different places. That would again be a question dependent upon the circumstances of
each case. But the contention which Mr. Kolah has most strongly pressed before us is entirely
unacceptable that a company controls or manages at a particular place because its affairs are
carried on at a particular place and they are carried on by people living there appointed by the
company with large powers of management.
A company may have a dozen local branches at different places outside India, it may send
out agents fully armed with authority to deal with and carry on business at these branches and
yet it may retain the central management and controls in Bombay and manage and control all
the affairs of these branches from Bombay and at Bombay. It would be impossible to contend
that because there are authorised agents doing the business of the company at six different
places outside India therefore the company is resident not only in Bombay but at all these six
different places.
(3) When we turn to the facts of the case before us, what has been emphasised by Mr. Kolah
is that two managers under two powers of attorney look after all the affairs of the assessee
company in Ceylon and our attention has been drawn to these two powers-of-attorneys, and we
agree with Mr. Kolah that the widest possible power and authority has been conferred upon
these two managers under these power-of-attorney. But it is equally clear from the minutes of
the meetings of the Board of Directors which are also before us that the central management and
control has been kept in Bombay and has been exercised by the directors in Bombay.
The minutes deal with various matters which are delegated to these two managers and yet
the directors from a proper sense of responsibility to the company have retained complete
control over these matters and have from time to time given directions to the managers as to
how things should be done and managed. The real fallacy underlying Mr. Kolah‘s argument is
to confuse the doing of business with the central control and management of that business. It is
perfectly true that these two managers do all the business of the company in Ceylon and in
doing that business naturally a large amount of discretion is given to them and a considerable
60

amount of authority. But the mere doing of business does not constitute these managers the
controlling and directing power.
Their power-of-attorney can be cancelled at any moment, they must carry out any orders
given to them from Bombay, they must submit to Bombay an explanation of what they have
been doing, and throughout the time that they are working in Ceylon a vigilant eye is kept over
their work from the directors‘ board room in Bombay. The correspondence which has also been
referred upon between the company here and its office in Colombo also goes to show and
emphasise the same state of affairs. Mr. Kolah is right again when he puts emphasis upon the
fact that what we have to consider in this case is not the power or the capacity to manage and
control, but the actual control and management, or in other words, not the ‗de jure‟ control and
management but the ‗de facto‘ control and management, and in order to hold that the company
is resident during the years of account, it must be established that the company ‗de facto‟
controlled and managed its affairs in Bombay.
Mr. Kolah says that the two powers-of-attorney go to show that whatever legal or juridical
control and management the company might have had, in fact the actual management was
exercised by the two managers in Ceylon. In our opinion this is not a case where the company
did nothing with regard to the actual management and control of its affairs and left it to some
other agency. As we said before, the two managers were the employees of the company acting
throughout the relevant period under the control and management of the company, and therefore
in the case we are considering there was not only a ‗de jure‘ control and management, but also a
‗de facto‘ control and management.
(4) Turning to the authorities on which Mr. Kolah has relied, first there is a judgment of this
Court in Bhimji Naik v. Commissioner of Income-tax, Bombay [AIR 1945 Bom. 271]. In that
case Sir Leonard Stone, C.J. and Kania J. were really dealing with a question of construction of
S. 4A(b), and the question that presented itself for decision before that Bench was whether the
control and management contemplated by that sub-section was a ‗de facto‘ or a ‗de jure‘
control. In that case one Naik carried on business in South Africa. In 1912 he returned to India
leaving his business in the hands of three managers. In 1937 he executed a partnership deed by
which he admitted these three managers as partners. Under the partnership deed he retained to
himself the full control of the business and even the right to dismiss any of the three partners.
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal found that the firm was resident in British India as the
legal right to control and manage vested in Naik and he was resident in British India and it was
not shown that he had not exercised any control. The Court remanded the matter to the Tribunal
taking the view that what they were concerned with was actual events which would go to show
where the actual control and management of the affairs was ‗de facto‘ situated and as the
Tribunal had merely held that on the legal aspect of the partnership deed there were not
sufficient facts on which they could express an opinion. It is rather important to note that Mr.
Setalvad who appeared for the Commissioner attempted to argue that the position in the case
was not materially different from that of a man owning a business and having employees, and
the learned Chief Justice dealt with that argument as being
[D]estructive of the whole reference, which proceeds on the basis that we are dealing
with a partnership firm, as indeed is the case when the partnership deed is considered.
 61

Therefore, the learned Chief Justice was at pains to draw a distinction between the case of a
partner and the case of an agent or an employee, and inasmuch as in that case the business was
being managed by the partners of Naik in South Africa, the question of ‗de facto‘ management
had to be considered. Kania, J. at p. 274 states that the question whether the assessee is resident
within the meaning of S. 4-A is a question of fact, and he goes on to say:
―As it is difficult to apply the test of physical residence to an association of persons or a
firm, the test is held to be: where the central control and management actually abides.
Therefore, the learned Judge holds that the expression ―control and management‖ means
where the central control and management actually abides.
(5) The other case relied on is a Madras case – Talipatigala Estate v. Commr. of Income
Tax [AIR 1950 Mad.781]. There the question that arose was whether the assessee firm had any
part of the control and management within British India. There a rubber estate in Ceylon was
managed by the assessee firm consisting of two partners, one of whom was resident in British
India, and the estate was managed by an agent holding a power-of-attorney from the partners,
and the Court held that not only the right to exercise control and management over the firm‘s
affairs in Ceylon vested with the partner resident in British India but some amount of control
and management of the firm‘s affairs was actually exercised in British India and the assessee
firm was therefore resident in British India within the meaning of S. 4-A.
The Court was concerned to determine whether any part of the control and management
was within British India and notwithstanding the fact that the rubber estate was managed by an
agent holding a power-of-attorney, it was found that there was the exercise of control and
management by the partners from British India.
(6) The third decision relied on is a decision of the Supreme Court in Subbayya Chettiar v.
Commr. of Income Tax [AIR 1951 SC 101]. That was a case of an Hindu undivided family
and the Supreme Court has laid down certain important tests for determining what is control and
management within the meaning of S. 4-A of the Act. Fazl Ali J. in his judgment accepts the
rule which has been applied in England to cases of corporations in order to determine their
residence, and he quotes with approval Lord Loreburn‘s dictum in De Beers Consolidated
Mines Ltd. v. Howe [(1906) 5 Tax Cas 198]:
A company cannot eat or sleep, but it can keep house and do business. We
ought, therefore, to see where it really keeps house and does business.
He also lays down four principles which are enunciated in Swedish Central Railway
Company Limited v. Thompson [(1925) 9 Tax Cas 342]. With regard to the first principle he
accepts a passage of Patanjali Sastri J. (p. 102):
Control and management signifies in the present context, the controlling and
directive power, the head and brain as it is sometimes called, and situated implies the
functioning of such power at a particular place with some degree of permanence, while
wholly would seem to recognise the possibility of the seat of such power being divided
between two distinct and separate places.
The second principle is that the mere activity by which the company in a place does not
create residence. The third is that the central management and control of a company may be
62

divided, and it may keep house and do business in more than one place. Finally, in case of dual
residence, there may be two centres of management. But the important principle which applies
to the present case is the one that has been first set out and which emphasises the fact that what
we have to consider in order to determine the residence of a company is as to where its head and
brain is, and the head and brain of the company will be where its controlling and directive
power functions. Mr. Kolah has relied on what Fazl Ali J. says (p. 102):
Secondly, we take it that the word ‗affairs‘ must mean affairs which are relevant for the
purpose of the Income-tax Act and which have some relation to income.
Mr. Kolah says that it is not any business that the company does which has got to be
considered, but the affairs of the company in the sense in which Fazl Ali J. has explained that
expression. With respect, that is perfectly correct. In order to determine the head and brain of
the company we are not to concern ourselves with any other work that the company does except
its business which yields profits, and in this particular case we have got to consider where the
head and brain of the company is with regard to the stevedoring business in Ceylon which has
yielded the income. But even applying that test, as already pointed out, we do come to the
conclusion that the head and brain of the company with regard to this particular business or with
regard to its affairs was in Bombay and not in Ceylon.
(7) The question, therefore, which has been submitted to us must be answered in the
affirmative.

*****
 63

Vodafone International Holdings B.V. v. Union of India (UOI) and Anr

(2012) 6 SCC 613

S. H. KAPADIA, C.J.I. - Vodafone International Holdings BV [for short ―VIH‖], a company

resident for tax purposes in the Netherlands, acquired the entire share capital of CGP
Investments (Holdings) Ltd. [for short ―CGP‖], a company resident for tax purposes in the
Cayman Islands [―CI‖ for short] vide transaction dated 11.02.2007, whose stated aim, according
to the Revenue, was ―acquisition of 67% controlling interest in HEL‖, being a company resident
for tax purposes in India which is disputed by the Appellant saying that VIH agreed to acquire
companies which in turn controlled a 67% interest, but not controlling interest, in Hutchison
Essar Limited (―HEL‖ for short). According to the Appellant, CGP held indirectly through other
companies 52% shareholding interest in HEL as well as Options to acquire a further 15%
shareholding interest in HEL, subject to relaxation of FDI Norms. In short, the Revenue seeks to
tax the capital gains arising from the sale of the share capital of CGP on the basis that CGP,
whilst not a tax resident in India, holds the underlying Indian assets.
2. It was contended on behalf of the Revenue that Union of India v. Azadi Bachao
Andolan (2004) 10 SCC 1 needs to be overruled insofar as it departs from McDowell and
Company Ltd. v. CTO (1985) 3 SCC 230 principle for the following: i) McDowell judgment
has been missed which reads as under: ―on this aspect Chinnappa Reddy, J. has proposed a
separate opinion with which we agree‖.[i.e. Westminster principle is dead]. ii) That, Azadi
Bachao failed to read McDowell in entirety. If so read, the only conclusion one could draw is
that four learned judges speaking through Misra, J. agreed with the observations of Chinnappa
Reddy, J. as to how in certain circumstances tax avoidance should be brought within the tax net.
iii) That, subsequent to McDowell, another matter came before the Constitution Bench of five
Judges in Mathuram Agrawal v. State of Madhya Pradesh(1999) 8 SCC 667, in which
Westminster principle was quoted which has not been noticed by Azadi Bachao. Before coming
to Indo-Mauritius Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (in Short, ‗DTAA‘), we need to clear the
doubts raised on behalf of the Revenue regarding the correctness of Azadi Bachao (supra) for
the simple reason that certain tests laid down in the judgments of the English Courts subsequent
to The Commissioners of Inland Revenue v. His Grace the Duke of Westminster 1935All
E.R.259 and W.T. Ramsay Ltd. v. Inland Revenue Commissioners (1981)1All E.R. 865 help us
to understand the scope of Indo- Mauritius Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (herein after
referred as DTAA). It needs to be clarified, that, McDowell dealt with two aspects. First,
regarding validity of the Circular(s) issued by Central Board of Direct Taxes (herein after
referred as, CBDT) concerning Indo-Mauritius DTAA. Second, on concept of tax
avoidance/evasion. Before us, arguments were advanced on behalf of the Revenue only
regarding the second aspect. The Westminster principle states that, ―given that a document or
transaction is genuine, the court cannot go behind it to some supposed underlying substance‖.
The said principle has been reiterated in subsequent English Courts Judgments as ―the cardinal
principle‖.
3. Ramsay was a case of sale-lease back transaction in which gain was sought to be
counteracted, so as to avoid tax, by establishing an allowable loss. The method chosen was to
buy from a company a readymade scheme, whose object was to create a neutral situation. The
64

decreasing asset was to be sold so as to create an artificial loss and the increasing asset was to
yield a gain which would be exempt from tax. The Crown challenged the whole scheme saying
that it was an artificial scheme and, therefore, fiscally in-effective. It was held that Westminster
did not compel the court to look at a document or a transaction, isolated from the context to
which it properly belonged. It is the task of the Court to ascertain the legal nature of the
transaction and while doing so it has to look at the entire transaction as a whole and not to adopt
a dissecting approach. In the present case, the Revenue has adopted a dissecting approach
at the Department level. Ramsay did not discard Westminster but read it in the proper context
by which ―device‖ which was colorable in nature had to be ignored as fiscal nullity.Thus,
Ramsay lays down the principle of statutory interpretation rather than an over-arching anti-
avoidance doctrine imposed upon tax laws. Furniss (Inspector of Taxes) v. Dawson (1984) 1
All E.R. 530 dealt with the case of interpositioning of a company to evade tax. On facts, it was
held that the inserted step had no business purpose, except deferment of tax although it had a
business effect. Dawson went beyond Ramsay. It reconstructed the transaction not on some
fancied principle that anything done to defer the tax be ignored but on the premise that the
inserted transaction did not constitute “disposal” under the relevant Finance Act. Thus,
Dawson is an extension of Ramsay principle. After Dawson, which empowered the Revenue to
restructure the transaction in certain circumstances, the Revenue started rejecting every case of
strategic investment/tax planning undertaken years before the event saying that the insertion of
the entity was effected with the sole intention of tax avoidance. In Craven (Inspector of Taxes)
v. White (Stephen) (1988) 3 All. E.R. 495 it was held that the Revenue cannot start with the
question as to whether the transaction was a tax deferment/saving device but that the Revenue
should apply the look at test to ascertain its true legal nature. It observed that genuine strategic
planning had not been abandoned. The majority judgment in McDowell held that ―tax planning
may be legitimate provided it is within the framework of law”. Later, it further held that
―colorable device cannot be a part of tax planning and it is wrong to encourage the belief that it
is honorable to avoid payment of tax by resorting to dubious methods‖. It is the obligation of
every citizen to pay the taxes without resorting to subterfuges. The above observations should
be read with para 46 where the majority holds ―on this aspect one of us, Chinnappa Reddy, J.
has proposed a separate opinion with which we agree‖. The words ―this aspect‖ express the
majority‘s agreement with the judgment of Reddy, J. only in relation to tax evasion through the
use of colorable devices and by resorting to dubious methods and subterfuges. Thus, it cannot
be said that all tax planning is illegal/illegitimate/impermissible. Moreover, Reddy, J. himself
says that he agrees with the majority. In the judgment of Reddy, J. there are repeated references
to schemes and devices in contradistinction to ―legitimate avoidance of tax liability‖. In our
view, although Chinnappa Reddy, J. makes a number of observations regarding the need to
depart from the ―Westminster‖ and tax avoidance - these are clearly only in the context of
artificial and colorable devices. Reading McDowell, in the manner indicated hereinabove, in
cases of treaty shopping and/or tax avoidance, there is no conflict between McDowell and Azadi
Bachao or between McDowell and Mathuram Agrawal.
4. The Indian Income Tax Act, 1961, in the matter of corporate taxation, is founded on
the principle of the independence of companies and other entities subject to income-tax. It is
fairly well settled that for tax treaty purposes a subsidiary and its parent are also totally separate
and distinct tax payers.
 65

5. It is generally accepted that the group parent company is involved in giving principal
guidance to group companies by providing general policy guidelines to group subsidiaries.
However, the fact that a parent company exercises shareholder‘s influence on its subsidiaries
does not generally imply that the subsidiaries are to be deemed residents of the State in which
the parent company resides. Further, if a company is a parent company, that company‘s
executive director(s) should lead the group and the company‘s shareholder‘s influence will
generally be employed to that end. This obviously implies a restriction on the autonomy of the
subsidiary‘s executive directors. Such a restriction, which is the inevitable consequences of any
group structure, is generally accepted, both in corporate and tax laws. However, where the
subsidiary‘s executive directors‘ competences are transferred to other persons/bodies or where
the subsidiary‘s executive directors‘ decision making has become fully subordinate to the
Holding Company with the consequence that the subsidiary‘s executive directors are no more
than puppets then the turning point in respect of the subsidiary‘s place of residence comes
about. Similarly, if an actual controlling Non-Resident Enterprise (NRE) makes an indirect
transfer through ―abuse of organization form/legal form and without reasonable business
purpose‖ which results in tax avoidance or avoidance of withholding tax, then the Revenue may
disregard the form of the arrangement or the impugned action through use of Non-Resident
Holding Company, re-characterize the equity transfer according to its economic substance and
impose the tax on the actual controlling Non-Resident Enterprise. Thus, whether a transaction is
used principally as a colorable device for the distribution of earnings, profits and gains, is
determined by a review of all the facts and circumstances surrounding the transaction. It is in
the above cases that the principle of lifting the corporate veil or the doctrine of substance over
form or the concept of beneficial ownership or the concept of alter ego arises. There are many
circumstances, apart from the one given above, where separate existence of different companies,
that are part of the same group, will be totally or partly ignored as a device or a conduit (in the
pejorative sense).
6. The common law jurisdictions do invariably impose taxation against a corporation
based on the legal principle that the corporation is ―a person‖ that is separate from its members.
It is the decision of the House of Lords in Salomon v. Salomon (1897) A.C. 22 that opened the
door to the formation of a corporate group. If a ―one man‖ corporation could be incorporated,
then it would follow that one corporation could be a subsidiary of another. This legal principle
is the basis of Holding Structures. It is a common practice in international law, which is the
basis of international taxation, for foreign investors to invest in Indian companies through an
interposed foreign holding or operating company, such as Cayman Islands or Mauritius based
company for both tax and business purposes. In doing so, foreign investors are able to avoid the
lengthy approval and registration processes required for a direct transfer (i.e., without a foreign
holding or operating company) of an equity interest in a foreign invested Indian company.
However, taxation of such Holding Structures very often gives rise to issues such as double
taxation, tax deferrals and tax avoidance. In this case, we are concerned with the concept of
GAAR. In this case, we are not concerned with treaty-shopping but with the anti-avoidance
rules. The concept of GAAR is not new to India since India already has a judicial anti-
avoidance rule, like some other jurisdictions. Lack of clarity and absence of appropriate
provisions in the statute and/or in the treaty regarding the circumstances in which judicial anti-
avoidance rules would apply has generated litigation in India. Holding Structures are recognized
66

in corporate as well as tax laws. Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) and Holding Companies
have a place in legal structures in India, be it in company law, takeover code under SEBI or
even under the income tax law. When it comes to taxation of a Holding Structure, at the
threshold, the burden is on the Revenue to allege and establish abuse, in the sense of tax
avoidance in the creation and/or use of such structure(s). In the application of a judicial anti-
avoidance rule, the Revenue may invoke the “substance over form” principle or “piercing the
corporate veil” test only after it is able to establish on the basis of the facts and circumstances
surrounding the transaction that the impugned transaction is a sham or tax avoidant. To give
an example, if a structure is used for circular trading or round tripping or to pay bribes then such
transactions, though having a legal form, should be discarded by applying the test of fiscal
nullity. Similarly, in a case where the Revenue finds that in a Holding Structure an entity which
has no commercial/business substance has been interposed only to avoid tax then in such cases
applying the test of fiscal nullity it would be open to the Revenue to discard such inter-
positioning of that entity. However, this has to be done at the threshold. In this connection, we
may reiterate the ―look at‖ principle enunciated in Ramsay (supra) in which it was held that the
Revenue or the Court must look at a document or a transaction in a context to which it properly
belongs to. It is the task of the Revenue/Court to ascertain the legal nature of the transaction
and while doing so it has to look at the entire transaction as a whole and not to adopt a
dissecting approach. The Revenue cannot start with the question as to whether the impugned
transaction is a tax deferment/saving device but that it should apply the “look at” test to
ascertain its true legal nature [Craven v. White (supra) further observed that genuine strategic
tax planning has not been abandoned by any decision of the English Courts till date].
7. Applying the above tests, we are of the view that every strategic foreign direct
investment coming to India, as an investment destination, should be seen in a holistic manner.
While doing so, the Revenue/Courts should keep in mind the following factors: the concept of
participation in investment, the duration of time during which the Holding Structure exists; the
period of business operations in India; the generation of taxable revenues in India; the timing of
the exit; the continuity of business on such exit. In short, the onus will be on the Revenue to
identify the scheme and its dominant purpose. The corporate business purpose of a transaction
is evidence of the fact that the impugned transaction is not undertaken as a colorable or
artificial device. The stronger the evidence of a device, the stronger the corporate business
purpose must exist to overcome the evidence of a device.
8. Whether Section 9 is a ―look through‖ provision as submitted on behalf of the
Revenue? According to the Revenue, if its primary argument (namely, that HTIL has, under the
SPA, directly extinguished its property rights in HEL and its subsidiaries) fails, even then in any
event, income from the sale of CGP share would nonetheless fall within Section 9 of the Income
Tax Act, 1961 as that Section provides for a ―look through‖. In this connection, it was
submitted that the word ―through‖ in Section 9 inter alias means ―in consequence of‖. It was,
therefore, argued that if transfer of a capital asset situate in India happens “in consequence of”
something which has taken place overseas (including transfer of a capital asset), then all
income derived even indirectly from such transfer, even though abroad, becomes taxable in
India. That, even if control over HEL were to get transferred in consequence of transfer of the
CGP Share outside India, it would yet be covered by Section 9.
 67

9. We find no merit in the above submission of the Revenue. At the outset, we quote
herein below the following Sections of the Income Tax Act, 1961:
Scope of total income: Section 5 (2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the total
income of any previous year of a person who is a non resident includes all income from
whatever source derived which - (a)is received or is deemed to be received in India in
such year by or on behalf of such person; or
(b) accrues or arises or is deemed to accrue or arise to him in India during such year.
Income deemed to accrue or arise in India: Section 9 (1) The following incomes
shall be deemed to accrue or arise in India:-
(i) all income accruing or arising, whether directly or indirectly, through or from any
business connection in India, or through or from any property in India, or through or
from any asset or source of income in India, or through the transfer of a capital asset
situate in India.
10. Section 9(1)(i) gathers in one place various types of income and directs that income
falling under each of the sub-clauses shall be deemed to accrue or arise in India. Broadly there
are four items of income. The income dealt with in each sub-clause is distinct and independent
of the other and the requirements to bring income within each sub-clause, are separately noted.
Hence, it is not necessary that income falling in one category under any one of the sub-clauses
should also satisfy the requirements of the other sub-clauses to bring it within the expression
―income deemed to accrue or arise in India‖ in Section 9(1)(i). In this case, we are concerned
with the last sub-clause of Section 9(1)(i) which refers to income arising from ―transfer of a
capital asset situate in India‖. Thus, charge on capital gains arises on transfer of a capital asset
situate in India during the previous year. The said sub-clause consists of three elements,
namely, transfer, existence of a capital asset, and situation of such asset in India. All three
elements should exist in order to make the last sub-clause applicable. Therefore, if such a
transfer does not exist in the previous year no charge is attracted. Further, Section 45 enacts
that such income shall be deemed to be the income of the previous year in which transfer took
place. Consequently, there is no room for doubt that such transfer should exist during the
previous year in order to attract the said sub-clause. The fiction created by Section 9(1)(i)
applies to the assessment of income of non-residents. In the case of a resident, it is immaterial
whether the place of accrual of income is within India or outside India, since, in either event, he
is liable to be charged to tax on such income. But, in the case of a non-resident, unless the place
of accrual of income is within India, he cannot be subjected to tax. In other words, if any
income accrues or arises to a non-resident, directly or indirectly, outside India is fictionally
deemed to accrue or arise in India if such income accrues or arises as a sequel to the transfer of
a capital asset situate in India. Once the factum of such transfer is established by the
Department, then the income of the non-resident arising or accruing from such transfer is made
liable to be taxed by reason of Section 5(2)(b) of the Act. This fiction comes into play only
when the income is not charged to tax on the basis of receipt in India, as receipt of income in
India by itself attracts tax whether the recipient is a resident or non-resident. This fiction is
brought in by the legislature to avoid any possible argument on the part of the non-resident
vendor that profit accrued or arose outside India by reason of the contract to sell having been
68

executed outside India. Thus, income accruing or arising to a non-resident outside India on
transfer of a capital asset situate in India is fictionally deemed to accrue or arise in India, which
income is made liable to be taxed by reason of Section 5(2)(b) of the Act. This is the main
purpose behind enactment of Section 9(1)(i) of the Act. We have to give effect to the language
of the section when it is unambiguous and admits of no doubt regarding its interpretation,
particularly when a legal fiction is embedded in that section. A legal fiction has a limited scope.
A legal fiction cannot be expanded by giving purposive interpretation particularly if the result of
such interpretation is to transform the concept of chargeability which is also there in Section
9(1)(i), particularly when one reads Section 9(1)(i) with Section 5(2)(b) of the Act. What is
contended on behalf of the Revenue is that under Section 9(1)(i) it can ―look through‖ the
transfer of shares of a foreign company holding shares in an Indian company and treat the
transfer of shares of the foreign company as equivalent to the transfer of the shares of the Indian
company on the premise that Section 9(1)(i) covers direct and indirect transfers of capital assets.
For the above reasons, Section 9(1)(i)cannot by a process of interpretation be extended to cover
indirect transfers of capital assets/property situate in India. To do so, would amount to changing
the content and ambit of Section 9(1)(i). We cannot re-write Section 9(1)(i). The legislature has
not used the words indirect transfer in Section 9(1)(i). If the word indirect is read into Section
9(1)(i), it would render the express statutory requirement of the 4th sub-clause in Section 9(1)(i)
nugatory. This is because Section 9(1)(i) applies to transfers of a capital asset situate in India.
This is one of the elements in the 4th sub-clause of Section 9(1)(i) and if indirect transfer of a
capital asset is read into Section 9(1)(i) then the words capital asset situate in India would be
rendered nugatory. Similarly, the words underlying asset do not find place in Section 9(1)(i).
Further, ―transfer‖ should be of an asset in respect of which it is possible to compute a capital
gain in accordance with the provisions of the Act. Moreover, even Section 163(1)(c) is wide
enough to cover the income whether received directly or indirectly. Thus, the words directly or
indirectly in Section 9(1)(i) go with the income and not with the transfer of a capital asset
(property). Lastly, it may be mentioned that the Direct Tax Code (DTC) Bill, 2010 proposes to
tax income from transfer of shares of a foreign company by a non-resident, where at any time
during 12 months preceding the transfer, the fair market value of the assets in India, owned
directly or indirectly, by the company, represents at least 50% of the fair market value of all
assets owned by the company. Thus, the Direct Tax Code Bill, 2010 (herein after referred as
‗DTC, 2010‘) proposes taxation of offshore share transactions. This proposal indicates in a way
that indirect transfers are not covered by the existing Section 9(1)(i) of the Act. In fact, the
Direct Tax Coder Bill, 2009 expressly stated that income accruing even from indirect transfer of
a capital asset situate in India would be deemed to accrue in India. These proposals, therefore,
show that in the existing Section 9(1)(i) the word indirect cannot be read on the basis of
purposive construction. The question of providing ―look through‖ in the statute or in the treaty
is a matter of policy. It is to be expressly provided for in the statute or in the treaty. Similarly,
limitation of benefits has to be expressly provided for in the treaty. Such clauses cannot be read
into the Section by interpretation. For the foregoing reasons, we hold that Section 9(1)(i) is not a
―look through‖ provision.
11. At the outset, we need to reiterate that in this case we are concerned with the sale
of shares and not with the sale of assets, item-wise. The facts of this case show sale of the
entire investment made by HTIL, through a Top company, viz. CGP, in the Hutchison Structure.
 69

In this case we need to apply the ―look at‖ test. In the impugned judgment, the High Court has
rightly observed that the arguments advanced on behalf of the Department vacillated. The
reason for such vacillation was adoption of ―dissecting approach‖ by the Department in the
course of its arguments. Ramsay (supra) enunciated the look at test. According to that test, the
task of the Revenue is to ascertain the legal nature of the transaction and, while doing so, it has
to look at the entire transaction holistically and not to adopt a dissecting approach. One more
aspect needs to be reiterated. There is a conceptual difference between preordained transaction
which is created for tax avoidance purposes, on the one hand, and a transaction which
evidences investment to participate in India. In order to find out whether a given transaction
evidences a preordained transaction in the sense indicated above or investment to participate,
one has to take into account the factors enumerated hereinabove, namely, duration of time
during which the holding structure existed, the period of business operations in India,
generation of taxable revenue in India during the period of business operations in India, the
timing of the exit, the continuity of business on such exit, etc. Applying these tests to the facts of
the present case, we find that the Hutchison structure has been in place since 1994. It operated
during the period 1994 to 11.02.2007. It has paid income tax ranging from 3 crore to 250 crore
per annum during the period 2002-03 to 2006-07. Even after 11.02.2007, taxes are being paid
by VIH ranging from 394 crore to 962 crore per annum during the period 2007-08 to 2010-11
(these figures are apart from indirect taxes which also run in crores). Moreover, the SPA
indicates ―continuity‖ of the telecom business on the exit of its predecessor, namely, HTIL.
Thus, it cannot be said that the structure was created or used as a sham or tax avoidant. It cannot
be said that HTIL or VIH was a ―fly by night‖ operator/ short time investor. If one applies the
look at test discussed hereinabove, without invoking the dissecting approach, then, in our view,
extinguishment took place because of the transfer of the CGP share and not by virtue of various
clauses of SPA. In a case like the present one, where the structure has existed for a considerable
length of time generating taxable revenues right from 1994 and where the court is satisfied that
the transaction satisfies all the parameters of ―participation in investment‖ then in such a case
the court need not go into the questions such as de facto control v. legal control, legal rights v.
practical rights, etc.
12. Be that as it may, did HTIL possess a legal right to appoint directors onto the board of
HEL and as such had some ―property right‖ in HEL? If not, the question of such a right getting
―extinguished‖ will not arise. A legal right is an enforceable right. Enforceable by a legal
process. The question is what is the nature of the ―control‖ that a parent company has over its
subsidiary? It is not suggested that a parent company never has control over the subsidiary. For
example, in a proper case of ―lifting of corporate veil‖, it would be proper to say that the parent
company and the subsidiary form one entity. But barring such cases, the legal position of any
company incorporated abroad is that its powers, functions and responsibilities are governed by
the law of its incorporation. No multinational company can operate in a foreign jurisdiction save
by operating independently as a ―good local citizen‖. A company is a separate legal persona and
the fact that all its shares are owned by one person or by the parent company has nothing to do
with its separate legal existence. If the owned company is wound up, the liquidator, and not its
parent company, would get hold of the assets of the subsidiary. In none of the authorities have
the assets of the subsidiary been held to be those of the parent unless it is acting as an agent.
Thus, even though a subsidiary may normally comply with the request of a parent company it is
70

not just a puppet of the parent company. The difference is between having power or having a
persuasive position. Though it may be advantageous for parent and subsidiary companies to
work as a group, each subsidiary will look to see whether there are separate commercial
interests which should be guarded. When there is a parent company with subsidiaries, is it or is
it not the law that the parent company has the ―power‖ over the subsidiary. It depends on the
facts of each case. For instance, take the case of a one-man company, where only one man is the
shareholder perhaps holding 99% of the shares, his wife holding 1%. In those circumstances, his
control over the company may be so complete that it is his alter ego. But, in case of
multinationals it is important to realize that their subsidiaries have a great deal of autonomy in
the country concerned except where subsidiaries are created or used as a sham. of course, in
many cases the courts do lift up a corner of the veil but that does not mean that they alter the
legal position between the companies. The directors of the subsidiary under their Articles are
the managers of the companies. If new directors are appointed even at the request of the parent
company and even if such directors were removable by the parent company, such directors of
the subsidiary will owe their duty to their companies (subsidiaries). They are not to be dictated
by the parent company if it is not in the interests of those companies (subsidiaries). The fact that
the parent company exercises shareholder‘s influence on its subsidiaries cannot obliterate the
decision-making power or authority of its (subsidiary‘s) directors. They cannot be has such
steering interference with the subsidiary‘s core activities that subsidiary can no reduced to be
puppets. The decisive criteria is whether the parent company‘s management longer be regarded
to perform those activities on the authority of its own executive directors.
13. Before dealing with the submissions advanced on behalf of the Revenue, we need to
appreciate the reason for execution of the Sale and Purchase of Share and Loans (in short
‗SPA‘). Exit is an important right of an investor in every strategic investment. The present case
concerns transfer of investment in entirety. As stated above, exit coupled with continuity of
business is one of the important tell-tale circumstance which indicates the commercial/business
substance of the transaction. Thus, the need for SPA arose to re-adjust the outstanding loans
between the companies; to provide for standstill arrangements in the interregnum between the
date of signing of the SPA on 11.02.2007 and its completion on 8.05.2007; to provide for a
seamless transfer and to provide for fundamental terms of price, indemnities, warranties etc.
That, the entire investment was sold to the VIH through the investment vehicle (CGP).
Consequently, there was no extinguishment of rights as alleged by the Revenue.
14. When a business gets big enough, it does two things. First, it reconfigures itself into
a corporate group by dividing itself into a multitude of commonly owned subsidiaries. Second,
it causes various entities in the said group to guarantee each other‘s debts. A typical large
business corporation consists of sub-incorporates. Such division is legal. It is recognized by
company law, laws of taxation, takeover codes etc. On top is a parent or a holding company.
The parent is the public face of the business. The parent is the only group member that normally
discloses financial results. Below the parent company are the subsidiaries which hold
operational assets of the business and which often have their own subordinate entities that can
extend layers. If large firms are not divided into subsidiaries, creditors would have to monitor
the enterprise in its entirety. Subsidiaries reduce the amount of information that creditors need
to gather. Subsidiaries also promote the benefits of specialization. Subsidiaries permit creditors
 71

to lend against only specified divisions of the firm. These are the efficiencies inbuilt in a
holding structure. Subsidiaries are often created for tax or regulatory reasons. They at times
come into existence from mergers and acquisitions. As group members, subsidiaries work
together to make the same or complementary goods and services and hence they are subject to
the same market supply and demand conditions. They are financially inter-linked. One such
linkage is the intra-group loans and guarantees. Parent entities own equity stakes in their
subsidiaries. Consequently, on many occasions, the parent suffers a loss whenever the rest of the
group experiences a downturn. Such grouping is based on the principle of internal correlation.
Courts have evolved doctrines like piercing the corporate veil, substance over form etc. enabling
taxation of underlying assets in cases of fraud, sham, tax avoidant, etc. However, genuine
strategic tax planning is not ruled out.
15. CGP was incorporated in 1998 in Cayman Islands. It was in the Hutchison structure
from 1998. The transaction in the present case was of divestment and, therefore, the transaction
of sale was structured at an appropriate tier, so that the buyer really acquired the same degree of
control as was hitherto exercised by Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (CI)
[―HTIL‖ for short]. VIH agreed to acquire companies and the companies it acquired controlled
67% interest in HEL. CGP was an investment vehicle. As stated above, it is through the
acquisition of CGP that VIH proposed to indirectly acquire the rights and obligations of Global
Services Private Limited [(―GSPL‖ for short), a subsidiary of HTIL] in the Centrino and ND
Callus Info Services Private Limited [―NDC‖ for short] Framework Agreements. The report of
Ernst & Young dated 11.02.2007 inter alias states that when they were asked to conduct due
diligence by VIH, it was in relation to Array and its subsidiaries. The said report evidences that
at the negotiation stage, parties had in mind the transfer of an upstream company rather than the
transfer of HEL directly. The transfer of Array had the advantage of transferring control over
the entire shareholding held by downstream Mauritius companies (tier I companies), other than
GSPL. On the other hand, the advantage of transferring the CGP share enabled VIH to
indirectly acquire the rights and obligations of GSPL (Indian company) in the Centrino and
NDC Framework agreements. This was the reason for VIH to go by the CGP route. One of the
arguments of the Revenue before us was that the Mauritius route was not available to HTIL for
the reason indicated above. In this connection, it was urged that the legal owner of HEL (Indian
company) was not HTIL. Under the transaction, HTIL alone was the seller of the shares. VIH
wanted to enter into an agreement only with HTIL so that if something goes wrong, VIH could
look solely to HTIL being the group holding company (parent company). Further, funds were
pumped into HEL by HTIL. These funds were to be received back in the shape of a capital gain
which could then be used to declare a special dividend to the shareholders of HTIL. We find no
merit in this argument. Firstly, the tier I (Mauritius companies) were the indirect subsidiaries of
HTIL who could have influenced the former to sell the shares of Indian companies in which
event the gains would have arisen to the Mauritius companies, who are not liable to pay capital
gains tax under the Indo-Mauritius DTAA. That, nothing prevented the Mauritius companies
from declaring dividend on gains made on the sale of shares. There is no tax on dividends in
Mauritius. Thus, the Mauritius route was available but it was not opted for because that route
would not have brought in the control over GSPL. Secondly, if the Mauritius companies had
sold the shares of HEL, then the Mauritius companies would have continued to be the
subsidiaries of HTIL, their accounts would have been consolidated in the hands of HTIL and
72

HTIL would have accounted for the gains in exactly the same way as it has accounted for the
gains in the hands of HTIHL (CI) which was the nominated payee. Thus, in our view, two
routes were available, namely, the CGP route and the Mauritius route. It was open to the parties
to opt for any one of the two routes. Thirdly, as stated above, in the present case, the SPA was
entered into inter alias for a smooth transition of business on divestment by HTIL. As stated,
transfer of the CGP share enabled VIH to indirectly acquire the rights and obligations of GSPL
in the Centrino and NDC Framework Agreements. Apart from the said rights and obligations
under the Framework Agreements, GSPL also had a call centre business. VIH intended to take
over from HTIL the telecom business. It had no intention to acquire the business of call centre.
Moreover, the FDI norms applicable to the telecom business in India were different and distinct
from the FDI norms applicable to the call centre business. Consequently, in order to avoid legal
and regulatory objections from Government of India, the call centre business stood hived off. In
our view, this step was an integral part of transition of business under SPA. The role of CGP in
the transaction, was crucial and it cannot be said that the intervened entity (CGP) had no
business or commercial purpose.
16. According to the Revenue, under the Companies Law of Cayman Islands, an
exempted company was not entitled to conduct business in the Cayman Islands. CGP was an
―exempted company‖. According to the Revenue, since CGP was a mere holding company and
since it could not conduct business in Cayman Islands, the sites of the CGP share existed where
the ―underlying assets are situated‖, that is to say, India. That, since CGP as an exempted
company conducts no business either in the Cayman Islands or elsewhere and since its sole
purpose is to hold shares in a subsidiary company situated outside the Cayman Islands, the sites
of the CGP share, in the present case, existed ―where the underlying assets stood situated‖
(India). We find no merit in these arguments. At the outset, we do not wish to pronounce
authoritatively on the Companies Law of Cayman Islands. Be that as it may, under the Indian
Companies Act, 1956, the sites of the shares would be where the company is incorporated and
where its shares can be transferred. In the present case, it has been asserted by VIH that the
transfer of the CGP share was recorded in the Cayman Islands, where the register of members of
the CGP is maintained. This assertion has neither been rebutted in the impugned order of the
Department dated 31.05.2010 nor traversed in the pleadings filed by the Revenue nor
controverted before us. In the circumstances, we are not inclined to accept the arguments of the
Revenue that the sites of the CGP share was situated in the place (India) where the underlying
assets stood situated.
17. As regards the question as to why VIH should pay consideration to HTIL based on
an enterprise value of 67% of the share capital of HEL is concerned, it is important to note that
valuation cannot be the basis of taxation. The basis of taxation is profits or income or receipt. In
this case, we are not concerned with tax on income/ profit arising from business operations but
with tax on transfer of rights (capital asset) and gains arising there from. In the latter case, we
have to see the conditions on which the tax becomes payable under the Income Tax Act.
Valuation may be a science, not law. In valuation, to arrive at the value one has to take into
consideration the business realities, like the business model, the duration of its operations,
concepts such as cash flow, the discounting factors, assets and liabilities, intangibles, etc. In the
present case, the Revenue cannot invoke Section 9 of the Income Tax Act on the value of the
 73

underlying asset or consequence of acquiring a share of CGP. In the present case, the Valuation
done was on the basis of enterprise value. The price paid as a percentage of the enterprise value
had to be 67% not because the figure of 67% was available in present to VIH, but on account of
the fact that the competing Indian bidders would have had de facto access to the entire 67%, as
they were not subject to the limitation of sectoral cap, and, therefore, would have immediately
encashed the call options. The question still remains as to from where did this figure/ expression
of 67% of equity interest come? The expression ―equity interest‖ came from US Generally
Accepted Accounting Principles (in short ‗GAAP‘). Thus, giving of the Letters of Credit and
placing the shares of Plustech and Scorpios under Options were required to be disclosed to the
US investors under the US GAAP, unlike Indian GAAP. Thus, the difference between the 52%
figure (control) and 67% (equity interest) arose on account of the difference in computation
under the Indian and US GAAP.
18. Applying the ―nature and character of the transaction‖ test, the High Court came
to the conclusion that the transfer of the CGP share was not adequate in itself to achieve the
object of consummating the transaction between HTIL and VIH. That, intrinsic to the
transaction was a transfer of other ―rights and entitlements‖ which rights and entitlements
constituted in themselves ―capital assets‖ within the meaning of Section 2(14) of the Income
Tax Act, 1961. According to the High Court, VIH acquired the CGP share with other rights and
entitlements whereas, according to the Appellant, whatever VIH obtained was through the CGP
share (for short ―High Court Approach‖). At the outset, it needs to be mentioned that the
Revenue has adopted the abovementioned High Court Approach as an alternative contention.
19. We have to view the subject matter of the transaction, in this case, from a
commercial and realistic perspective. The present case concerns an offshore transaction
involving a structured investment. This case concerns “a share sale” and not “an asset sale”. It
concerns sale of an entire investment. A “sale” may take various forms. Accordingly, tax
consequences will vary. The tax consequences of a share sale would be different from the tax
consequences of an asset sale. A slump sale would involve tax consequences which could be
different from the tax consequences of sale of assets on itemized basis. “Control” is a mixed
question of law and fact. Ownership of shares may, in certain situations, result in the
assumption of an interest which has the character of a controlling interest in the management of
the company. A controlling interest is an incident of ownership of shares in a company,
something which flows out of the holding of shares. A controlling interest is, therefore, not an
identifiable or distinct capital asset independent of the holding of shares. The control of a
company resides in the voting power of its shareholders and shares represent an interest of a
shareholder which is made up of various rights contained in the contract embedded in the
Articles of Association. The right of a shareholder may assume the character of a controlling
interest where the extent of the shareholding enables the shareholder to control the management.
Shares, and the rights which emanate from them, flow together and cannot be dissected. In the
felicitous phrase of Lord MacMillan in IRC v. Crossman (1936) 1 All ER 762 , shares in a
company consist of a ―congeries of rights and liabilities‖ which are a creature of the Companies
Acts and the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the company. Thus, control and
management is a facet of the holding of shares. Applying the above principles governing shares
and the rights of the shareholders to the facts of this case, we find that this case concerns a
74

straightforward share sale. VIH acquired Upstream shares with the intention that the congeries
of rights, flowing from the CGP share, would give VIH an indirect control over the three genres
of companies. This case deals with share sale and not asset sale. This case does not involve sale
of assets on itemized basis. The High Court ought to have applied the look at test in which the
entire Hutchison structure, as it existed, ought to have been looked at holistically. This case
concerns investment into India by a holding company (parent company), HTIL through a maze
of subsidiaries. When one applies the ―nature and character of the transaction test‖, confusion
arises if a dissecting approach of examining each individual asset is adopted. As stated, CGP
was treated in the Hutchison structure as an investment vehicle. As a general rule, in a case
where a transaction involves transfer of shares lock, stock and barrel, such a transaction cannot
be broken up into separate individual components, assets or rights such as right to vote, right to
participate in company meetings, management rights, controlling rights, control premium, brand
licenses and so on as shares constitute a bundle of rights. [Charanjit Lal v. Union of India AIR
1951 SC 41, Venkatesh (minor) v. CIT 243 ITR 367 (Mad) and Smt. Maharani Ushadevi v.
CIT 131 ITR 445 (MP)] Further, the High Court has failed to examine the nature of the
following items, namely, non-compete agreement, control premium, call and put options,
consultancy support, customer base, brand licenses etc. On facts, we are of the view that the
High Court, in the present case, ought to have examined the entire transaction holistically. VIH
has rightly contended that the transaction in question should be looked at as an entire package.
The items mentioned hereinabove, like, control premium, non-compete agreement, consultancy
support, customer base, brand licenses, operating licenses etc. were all an integral part of the
Holding Subsidiary Structure which existed for almost 13 years, generating huge revenues, as
indicated above. Merely because at the time of exit capital gains tax becomes not payable or
eligible to tax would not make the entire “share sale” (investment) a sham or a tax avoidant.
The High Court has failed to appreciate that the payment of US$ 11.08 bn was for purchase of
the entire investment made by HTIL in India. The payment was for the entire package. The
parties to the transaction have not agreed upon a separate price for the CGP share and for what
the High Court calls as ―other rights and entitlements‖ (including options, right to non-compete,
control premium, customer base etc.). Thus, it was not open to the Revenue to split the payment
and consider a part of such payments for each of the above items. The essential character of the
transaction as an alienation cannot be altered by the form of the consideration, the payment of
the consideration in installments or on the basis that the payment is related to a contingency
(‗options‘, in this case), particularly when the transaction does not contemplate such a split up.
Where the parties have agreed for a lump sum consideration without placing separate values for
each of the above items which go to make up the entire investment in participation, merely
because certain values are indicated in the correspondence with FIPB which had raised the
query, would not mean that the parties had agreed for the price payable for each of the above
items. The transaction remained a contract of outright sale of the entire investment for a lump
sum consideration. Thus, we need to ―look at‖ the entire Ownership Structure set up by
Hutchison as a single consolidated bargain and interpret the transactional documents, while
examining the Offshore Transaction of the nature involved in this case, in that light.
20. Section 195 casts an obligation on the payer to deduct tax at source (―TAS‖ for
short) from payments made to non-residents which payments are chargeable to tax. Such
payment(s) must have an element of income embedded in it which is chargeable to tax in India.
 75

If the sum paid or credited by the payer is not chargeable to tax then no obligation to deduct the
tax would arise. Shareholding in companies incorporated outside India (CGP) is property
located outside India. Where such shares become subject matter of offshore transfer between
two non-residents, there is no liability for capital gains tax. In such a case, question of deduction
of TAS would not arise. If in law the responsibility for payment is on a non-resident, the fact
that the payment was made, under the instructions of the non-resident, to its Agent/Nominee in
India or its PE/Branch Office will not absolve the payer of his liability under Section 195 to
deduct TAS. Section 195(1) casts a duty upon the payer of any income specified therein to a
non-resident to deduct there from the TAS unless such payer is himself liable to pay income-tax
thereon as an Agent of the payee. Section 201 says that if such person fails to so deduct TAS he
shall be deemed to be an Assessee-in-default in respect of the deductible amount of tax (Section
201). Liability to deduct tax is different from ―assessment‖ under the Act. Thus, the person on
whom the obligation to deduct TAS is cast is not the person who has earned the income.
Assessment has to be done after liability to deduct TAS has arisen. The object of Section 195 is
to ensure that tax due from non-resident persons is secured at the earliest point of time so that
there is no difficulty in collection of tax subsequently at the time of regular assessment. The
present case concerns the transaction of ―outright sale‖ between two non-residents of a capital
asset (share) outside India. Further, the said transaction was entered into on principal to
principal basis. Therefore, no liability to deduct TAS arose. Further, in the case of transfer of the
Structure in its entirety, one has to look at it holistically as one Single Consolidated Bargain
which took place between two foreign companies outside India for which a lump sum price was
paid of US$ 11.08 bn.
21. Applying the look at test in order to ascertain the true nature and character of the
transaction, we hold, that the Offshore Transaction herein is a bonafide structured FDI
investment into India which fell outside India‘s territorial tax jurisdiction, hence not taxable.
The said Offshore Transaction evidences participative investment and not a sham or tax
avoidant preordained transaction. The said Offshore Transaction was between HTIL (a Cayman
Islands company) and VIH (a company incorporated in Netherlands). The subject matter of the
Transaction was the transfer of the CGP (a company incorporated in Cayman Islands).
Consequently, the Indian Tax Authority had no territorial tax jurisdiction to tax the said
Offshore Transaction.
22. FDI flows towards location with a strong governance infrastructure which includes
enactment of laws and how well the legal system works. Certainty is integral to rule of law.
Certainty and stability form the basic foundation of any fiscal system. Tax policy certainty is
crucial for taxpayers (including foreign investors) to make rational economic choices in the
most efficient manner. Legal doctrines like ―Limitation of Benefits‖ and ―look through‖ are
matters of policy. It is for the Government of the day to have them incorporated in the Treaties
and in the laws so as to avoid conflicting views. Investors should know where they stand. It also
helps the tax administration in enforcing the provisions of the taxing laws. As stated above, the
Hutchison structure has existed since 1994. According to the details submitted on behalf of the
Appellant, we find that from 2002-03 to 2010-11 the Group has contributed an amount of
`20,242 crores towards direct and indirect taxes on its business operations in India.
76

23. For the above reasons, we set aside the impugned judgment of the Bombay High
Court dated 8.09.2010 in Writ Petition No. 1325 of 2010. Accordingly, the Civil Appeal stands
allowed with no order as to costs. The Department is hereby directed to return the sum of `2,500
crores, which came to be deposited by the Appellant in terms of our interim order, with interest
at the rate of 4% per annum within two months from today. The interest shall be calculated from
the date of withdrawal by the Department from the Registry of the Supreme Court up to the date
of payment. The Registry is directed to return the Bank Guarantee given by the Appellant within
four weeks.

K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN, J. The question involved in this case is of considerable public

importance, especially on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which is indispensable for a
growing economy like India. Foreign investments in India are generally routed through
Offshore Finance Centers (OFC) also through the countries with whom India has entered into
treaties. Overseas investments in Joint Ventures (JV) and Wholly Owned Subsidiaries (WOS)
have been recognized as important avenues of global business in India. Potential users of off-
shore finance are: international companies, individuals, investors and Ors. and capital flows
through FDI, Portfolio Debt Investment and Foreign Portfolio Equity Investment and so on.
Demand for off-shore facilities has considerably increased owing to high growth rates of cross-
border investments and a number of rich global investors have come forward to use high
technology and communication infrastructures. Removal of barriers to cross-border trade, the
liberalization of financial markets and new communication technologies have had positive
effects on global economic growth and India has also been greatly benefited. Merger,
Amalgamation, Acquisition, Joint Venture, Takeovers and Slump-sale of assets are few methods
of cross-border re-organizations. Under the FDI Scheme, investment can be made by availing
the benefit of treaties, or through tax havens by non-residents in the share/convertible
debentures/ preference shares of an Indian company but the question which looms large is
whether our Company Law, Tax Laws and Regulatory Laws have been updated so that there
can be greater scrutiny of non-resident enterprises, ranging from foreign contractors and service
providers, to finance investors. Case in hand is an eye-opener of what we lack in our regulatory
laws and what measures we have to take to meet the various unprecedented situations, that too
without sacrificing national interest. Certainty in law in dealing with such cross-border
investment issues is of prime importance, which has been felt by many countries around the
world and some have taken adequate regulatory measures so that investors can arrange their
affairs fruitfully and effectively. Steps taken by various countries to meet such situations may
also guide us, a brief reference of which is being made in the later part of this judgment.
25. We are, in the present case, concerned with a matter relating to cross-border
investment and the legal issues emanate from that. Facts have been elaborately dealt with by the
High Court in the impugned judgment and also in the leading judgment of Lord Chief Justice,
but reference to few facts is necessary to address and answer the core issues raised. On all major
issues, I fully concur with the views expressed by the Lord Chief Justice in his erudite and
scholarly judgment. Hutchison Whampoa is a multi-sectional, multi-jurisdictional entity which
consolidates on a group basis telecom operations in various countries.
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26. Shri Harish Salve, learned senior counsel appearing for Vodafone explained in
detail how Hutchison Corporate Structure was built up and the purpose, object and relevance of
such vertical Transnational Structures in the international context. Learned Senior counsel
submitted that complex structures are designed not for avoiding tax but for good commercial
reasons and Indian legal structure and foreign exchange laws recognize Overseas Corporate
Bodies (OCB). Learned senior counsel also submitted that such Transnational Structures also
contain exit option to the investors. Senior counsel also pointed out that where regulatory
provisions mandate investment into corporate structure such structures cannot be disregarded
for tax purposes by lifting the corporate veil especially when there is no motive to avoid tax.
Shri Salve also submitted that Hutchison corporate structure was not designed to avoid tax and
the transaction was not a colorable device to achieve that purpose. Senior counsel also
submitted that source of income lies where the transaction is effected and not where the
underlying asset is situated or economic interest lies. Reference was made to judgment in Seth
Pushalal Mansinghka (P) Ltd. v. CIT (1967) 66 ITR 159 (SC). Learned Counsel also pointed
out that without any express legislation, off-shore transaction cannot be taxed in India.
Reference was made to two judgments of the Calcutta High Court Assam Consolidated Tea
Estates v. Income Tax Officer ‘A’ Ward (1971) 81 ITR 699 Cal. and C.I.T. West Bengal v.
National and Grindlays Bank Ltd. (1969) 72 ITR 121 Cal. Learned senior counsel also
pointed out that when a transaction is between two foreign entities and not with an Indian entity,
source of income cannot be traced back to India and nexus cannot be used to tax under Section 9
of Income Tax Act, 1961. Further, it was also pointed out that language in Section 9 does not
contain ―look through provisions‖ and even the words ―indirectly‖ or ―through‖ appearing in
Section 9 would not make a transaction of a non-resident taxable in India unless there is a
transfer of capital asset situated in India. Learned Senior counsel also submitted that the Income
Tax Department has committed an error in proceeding on a ―moving theory of nexus‖ on the
basis that economic interest and underlying asset are situated in India. It was pointed out that
there cannot be transfer of controlling interest in a Company independent from transfer of shares
and under the provisions of the Company Law. Acquisition of shares in a Company entitles the
Board a right of ―control‖ over the Company. Learned Senior Counsel also pointed out the right
to vote, right to appoint Board of Directors, and other management rights are incidental to the
ownership of shares and there is no change of control in the eye of law but only in commercial
terms. Mr. Salve emphasized that, in absence of the specific legislation, such transactions
should not be taxed. On the sites of shares, learned senior counsel pointed out that the sites is
determined depending upon the place where the asset is situated. Learned senior counsel also
pointed out that on transfer of CGP, Vodafone got control over HEL and merely because
Vodafone has presence or chargeable income in India, it cannot be inferred that it can be taxed
in some other transactions. Learned senior counsel also submitted that the acquisition of
―controlling interest‖ is a commercial concept and tax is levied on transaction and not its effect.
Learned senior counsel pointed out that to lift the corporate veil of a legally recognized
corporate structure time and the stage of the transaction are very important and not the motive to
save the tax. Learned senior counsel point out that Azadi Bachao Andolan broadly reflects
Indian jurisprudence and that generally Indian courts used to follow the principles laid down by
English Courts on the issue of tax avoidance and tax evasion. Learned Senior counsel also
submitted that Tax Residency Certificate (for short TRC) issued by the Mauritian authorities has
78

to be respected and in the absence of any Limitation on Benefit (LOB Clause), the benefit of the
Indo-Mauritian Treaty is available to third parties who invest in India through Mauritius route.
27. Mr. R.F. Nariman, Learned Solicitor General appearing for the Income Tax
Department submitted that the sale of CGP share was nothing but an artificial avoidance scheme
and CGP was fished out of the HTIL legal structure as an artificial tax avoidance contrivance.
Corporate structure created for genuine business purposes are those which are generally created
or acquired: at the time when investment is being made; or further investments are being made;
or the time when the Group is undergoing financial or other overall restructuring; or when
operations, such as consolidation, are carried out, to clean-defused or over-diversified. Sound
commercial reasons like hedging business risk, hedging political risk, mobility of investment,
ability to raise loans from diverse investments, often underlie creation of such structures. In
transnational investments, the use of a tax neutral and investor-friendly countries to establish
SPV is motivated by the need to create a tax efficient structure to eliminate double taxation
wherever possible and also plan their activities attracting no or lesser tax so as to give maximum
benefit to the investors. Certain countries are exempted from capital gain, certain countries are
partially exempted and, in certain countries, there is nil tax on capital gains. Such factors may
go in creating a corporate structure and also restructuring. Corporate structure may also have an
exit route, especially when investment is overseas. For purely commercial reasons, a foreign
group may wind up its activities overseas for better returns, due to disputes between partners,
unfavorable fiscal policies, uncertain political situations, strengthen fiscal loans and its
application, threat to its investment, insecurity, weak and time consuming judicial system etc.,
all can be contributing factors that may drive its exit or restructuring. Clearly, there is a
fundamental difference in transnational investment made overseas and domestic investment.
Domestic investments are made in the home country and meant to stay as it were, but when the
trans-national investment is made overseas away from the natural residence of the investing
company, provisions are usually made for exit route to facilitate an exit as and when necessary
for good business and commercial reasons, which is generally foreign to judicial review.
Revenue/Courts can always examine whether those corporate structures are genuine and set up
legally for a sound and veritable commercial purpose. Burden is entirely on the Revenue to
show that the incorporation, consolidation, restructuring etc. has been effected to achieve a
fraudulent, dishonest purpose, so as to defeat the law.
28. Overseas companies are companies incorporated outside India and neither the
Companies Act nor the Income Tax Act enacted in India has any control over those companies
established overseas and they are governed by the laws in the countries where they are
established. From country to country laws governing incorporation, management, control,
taxation etc. may change. Many developed and wealthy Nations may park their capital in such
off-shore companies to carry on business operations in other countries in the world. Many
countries give facilities for establishing companies in their jurisdiction with minimum control
and maximum freedom. Competition is also there among various countries for setting up such
offshore companies in their jurisdiction. Demand for offshore facilities has considerably
increased, in recent times, owing to high growth rates of cross-border investments and to the
increased number of rich investors who are prepared to use high technology and communication
infrastructures to go offshore. Removal of barriers to cross- border trade, the liberalization of
 79

communication technologies have had positive effects on the developing countries including
India. Investment under foreign Direct Investment Scheme (FDI scheme), investment by
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) under the Portfolio Investment Scheme, investment by
NRIs/OBCs under the Portfolio Investment Scheme and sale of shares by NRIs/OBCs on non-
repatriation basis; Purchase and sale of securities other than shares and convertible debentures
of an Indian company by a non-resident are common. Many of the offshore companies use the
facilities of Offshore Financial Centers (in short ‗OFC‘) situate in Mauritius, Cayman Islands
etc. Many of these offshore holdings and arrangements are undertaken for sound commercial
and legitimate tax planning reasons, without any intent to conceal income or assets from the
home country tax jurisdiction and India has always encouraged such arrangements, unless it is
fraudulent or fictitious.
29. Moving offshore or using an OFC does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that
they involve in the activities of tax evasion or other criminal activities. The multi-national
companies are attracted to offshore financial centers mainly due to the reason of providing
attractive facilities for the investment. Many corporate conglomerates employ a large number of
holding companies and often high-risk assets are parked in separate companies so as to avoid
legal and technical risks to the main group. Instances are also there when individuals form
offshore vehicles to engage in risky investments, through the use of derivatives trading etc.
Many of such companies do, of course, involve in manipulation of the market, money
laundering and also indulge in corrupt activities like round tripping, parking black money or
offering, accepting etc., advantage or prospect thereof.
30. Lifting the corporate veil doctrine is readily applied in the cases coming within the
Company Law, Law of Contract, Law of Taxation. Once the transaction is shown to be
fraudulent, sham, circuitous or a device designed to defeat the interests of the shareholders,
investors, parties to the contract and also for tax evasion, the Court can always lift the corporate
veil and examine the substance of the transaction. Lifting the corporate veil doctrine can,
therefore, be applied in tax matters even in the absence of any statutory authorization to that
effect. Principle is also being applied in cases of holding company - subsidiary relationship-
where in spite of being separate legal personalities, if the facts reveal that they indulge in
dubious methods for tax evasion.
31. Tax avoidance and tax evasion are two expressions which find no definition either
in the Indian Companies Act, 1956 or the Income Tax Act, 1961. But the expressions are being
used in different contexts by our Courts as well as the Courts in England and various other
countries, when a subject is sought to be taxed. One of the earliest decisions which came up
before the House of Lords in England demanding tax on a transaction by the Crown is Duke of
Westminster (supra). In that case, Duke of Westminster had made an arrangement that he would
pay his gardener an annuity, in which case, a tax deduction could be claimed. Wages of
household services were not deductible expenses in computing the taxable income, therefore,
Duke of Westminster was advised by the tax experts that if such an agreement was employed,
Duke would get tax exemption. Under the Tax Legislation then in force, if it was shown as
gardener‘s wages, then the wages paid would not be deductible. Inland Revenue contended that
the form of the transaction was not acceptable to it and the Duke was taxed on the substance of
the transaction, which was that payment of annuity was treated as a payment of salary or wages.
80

Crown‘s claim of substance doctrine was, however, rejected by the House of Lords. Lord
Tomlin‘s celebrated words are quoted below: ―Every man is entitled if he can to order his
affairs so that the tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it otherwise would be. If
he succeeds in ordering them so as to secure this result, then, however unappreciative the
Commissioners of Inland Revenue or his fellow taxpayers may be of his ingenuity, he cannot be
compelled to pay an increased tax. This so called doctrine of „the substance‟ seems to me to be
nothing more than an attempt to make a man pay notwithstanding that he has so ordered his
affairs that the amount of tax sought from him is not legally claimable”.
32. The House of Lords, during 1980‘s, it seems, began to attach a ―purposive
interpretation approach‖ and gradually began to give emphasis on ―economic substance
doctrine‖ as a question of statutory interpretation. In a most celebrated case in Ramsay (supra),
the House of Lords considered this question again. That was a case whereby the taxpayer
entered into a circular series of transactions designed to produce a loss for tax purposes, but
which together produced no commercial result. Viewed that transaction as a whole, the series of
transactions was self-canceling, the taxpayer was in precisely the same commercial position at
the end as at the beginning of the series of transactions. House of Lords ruled that,
notwithstanding the rule in Duke of Westminster‘s case, the series of transactions should be
disregarded for tax purposes and the manufactured loss, therefore, was not available to the
taxpayer. Lord Wilberforce opined as follows:
―While obliging the court to accept documents or transactions, found to be
genuine, as such, it does not compel the court to look at a document or a transaction in
blinkers, isolated from any context to which it properly belongs. If it can be seen that a
document or transaction was intended to have effect as part of a nexus or series of
transactions, or as an ingredient of a wider transaction intended as a whole, there is
nothing in the doctrine to prevent it being so regarded; to do so in not to prefer form to
substance, or substance to form. It is the task of the court to ascertain the legal nature
of any transaction to which it is sought to attach a tax or a tax consequence and if that
emerges from a series or combination of transactions intended to operate as such, it is
that series or combination which may be regarded.‖ (Emphasis supplied).
33. House of Lords, therefore, made the following important remarks concerning what
action the Court should consider in cases that involve tax avoidance:
(a) A taxpayer was only to be taxed if the Legislation clearly indicated that this was the case;
(b) A taxpayer was entitled to manage his or her affairs so as to reduce tax;
(c) Even if the purpose or object of a transaction was to avoid tax this did not invalidate a
transaction unless an anti-avoidance provision applied; and
(d) If a document or transaction was genuine and not a sham in the traditional sense, the Court
had to adhere to the form of the transaction following the Duke Westminster concept.
34. In Ramsay (supra) it may be noted, the taxpayer produced a profit that was liable to
capital gains tax, but a readymade claim was set up to create an allowable loss that was
purchased by the taxpayer with the intention of avoiding the capital gains tax. Basically, the
House of Lords, cautioned that the technique of tax avoidance might progress and technically
 81

improve and Courts are not obliged to be at a standstill. In other words, the view expressed was
that that a subject could be taxed only if there was a clear intendment and the intendment has to
be ascertained on clear principles and the Courts would not approach the issue on a mere literal
interpretation. Ramsay was, therefore, seen as a new approach to artificial tax avoidance
scheme. Ramsay was followed by the House of Lords in another decision in IRC v. Burmah
Oil Co Ltd. (1982) 54 TC 200. This case was also concerned with a self-canceling series of
transactions. Lord Diplock, in that case, confirmed the judicial view that a development of the
jurisprudence was taking place, stating that Ramsay case marked a significant change in the
approach adopted by the House of Lords to a pre-ordained series of transactions. Ramay and
Burmah cases, it may be noted, were against self-canceling artificial tax schemes which were
widespread in England in 1970‘s. Rather than striking down the self-canceling transactions, of
course, few of the speeches of Law Lords gave the impression that the tax effectiveness of a
scheme should be judged by reference to its commercial substance rather than its legal form. On
this, of course, there was some conflict with the principle laid down in Duke of Westminster.
Duke of Westminster was concerned with the ―single tax avoidance step‖. During 1970‘s, the
Courts in England had to deal with several pre-planned avoidance schemes containing a number
of steps. In fact, earlier in IRC v. Plummer (1979) 3 All ER 775 , Lord Wilberforce
commented about a scheme stating that the same was carried out with ―almost military
precision‖ which required the court to look at the scheme as a whole. The scheme in question
was a ―circular annuity‖ plan, in which a charity made a capital payment to the taxpayer in
consideration of his covenant to make annual payments of income over five years. The House of
Lords held that the scheme was valid. Basically, the Ramsay was dealing with ―readymade
schemes‖. The High Court and the Court of Appeal ruled that Ramsay principle applied only
where steps forming part of the scheme were self-canceling and they considered that it did not
allow share exchange and sale agreements to be distributed as steps in the scheme, because they
had an enduring legal effect. The House of Lords, however, held that steps inserted in a
preordained series of transactions with no commercial purpose other than tax avoidance should
be disregarded for tax purposes, notwithstanding that the inserted step (i.e. the introduction of
Greenjacket) had a business effect. Lord Brightman stated that inserted step had no business
purpose apart from the deferment of tax, although it had a business effect. Even though in
Dawson, the House of Lords seems to strike down the transaction by the taxpayer for the
purpose of tax avoidance, House of Lords in Craven (supra) clarified the position further. In
that case, the taxpayers exchanged their shares in a trading company (Q Ltd) for shares in an
Isle of Man holding company (M Ltd), in anticipation of a potential sale or merger of the
business. Taxpayers, in the meanwhile, had abandoned negotiations with one interested party,
and later concluded a sale of Q Ltd‘s shares with another. M Ltd subsequently loaned the entire
sale proceeds to the taxpayers, who appealed against assessments to capital gains tax. The
House of Lords held in favor of the taxpayers, dismissing the crown‘s appeal by a majority of
three to two. House of Lords noticed that when the share exchange took place, there was no
certainty that the shares in Q Ltd would be sold. Lord Oliver, speaking for the majority, opined
that Ramsay, Burmah and Dawson did not produce any legal principle that would nullify any
transaction that has no intention besides tax avoidance and opined as follows:
“My Lords, for my part I find myself unable to accept that Dawson either established or
can properly be used to support a general proposition that any transaction which is
82

effected for avoiding tax on a contemplated subsequent transaction and is therefore

planned, is for that reason, necessarily to be treated as one with that subsequent
transaction and as having no independent effect”.
35. Craven made it clear that: (1) Strategic tax planning undertaken for months or
possible years before the event (of-sale) in anticipation of which it was effected; (2) A series of
transactions undertaken at the time of disposal/sale, including an intermediate transaction
interposed into having no independent life, could under Ramsay principle be looked at and
treated as a composite whole transaction to which the fiscal results of the single composite
whole are to be applied, i.e. that an intermediate transfer which was, at the time when it was
effected, so closely interconnected with the ultimate disposition, could properly be described as
not, in itself, a real transaction at all, but merely an element in some different and larger whole
without independent effect. In House of Lords in Ensign Tankers (Leasing) Ltd. v. Stokes
(1992) 1 AC 655 made a review of the various tax avoidance cases from Floor v. Davis (1978)
2 All ER 1079. In Ensign Tankers, a company became a partner of a limited partnership that
had acquired the right to produce the film ―Escape to Victory‖. 75% of the cost of making the
film was financed by way of a non-recourse loan from the production company, the company
claimed the benefit of depreciation allowances based upon the full amount of the production
cost. The House of Lords disallowed the claim, but allowed depreciation calculated on 25% of
the cost for which the limited partnership was at risk. House of Lords examined the transaction
as a whole and concluded that the limited partnership had only ‗incurred capital expenditure on
the provision of machinery or plant‘ of 25% and no more. Lord Goff explained the meaning of
―unacceptable tax avoidance‖ in Ensign Tankers and held that unacceptable tax avoidance
typically involves the creation of complex artificial structures by which, as though by the wave
of a magic wand, the taxpayer conjures out of the air a loss, or a gain, or expenditure, or
whatever it may be, which otherwise would never have existed. This, of course, led to further
debate as to what is ―unacceptable tax avoidance‖ and ―acceptable tax avoidance‖.
36. The Constitution Bench of this Court in McDowell (supra) examined at length the
concept of tax evasion and tax avoidance in the light of the principles laid down by the House of
Lords in several judgments like Duke of Westminster, Ramsay, Dawson etc. The scope of Indo-
Mauritius DTAA, Circular No. 682 dated 30.3.1994 and Circular No. 789 dated 13.4.2000
issued by CBDT, later came up for consideration before a two Judges Bench of this Court in
Azadi Bachao Andolan. Learned Judges made some observations with regard to the opinion
expressed by Justice Chinnappa Reddy in a Constitution Bench judgment of this Court in
McDowell, which created some confusion with regard to the understanding of the Constitution
Bench judgment, which needs clarification. The scope of the India-Mauritius Treaty was
discussed elaborately above by the Chief Justice. Writ Petitions in public interest were filed
before the Delhi High Court challenging the constitutional validity of the above mentioned
circulars. Delhi High Court quashed Circular No. 789 stating that inasmuch as the circular
directs the Income Tax authorities to accept as a certificate of residence issued by the authorities
of Mauritius as sufficient evidence as regards the status of resident and beneficial ownership,
was ultra vires the powers of CBDT. The Court also held that the Income Tax Office was
entitled to lift the corporate veil in India to see whether a company was a resident of Mauritius
or not and whether the company was paying income tax in Mauritius or not. The Court also held
 83

that the ―Treaty Shopping‖ by which the resident of a third country takes advantage of the
provisions of the agreement was illegal and necessarily to be forbidden. Union of India
preferred appeal against the judgment of the Delhi High Court, before this Court. This Court in
Azadi Bachao Andolan allowed the appeal and Circular No. 789 was declared valid.
37. Mauritius, and India, it is known, has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) whose object and purpose is to track down transactions tainted by fraud and financial
crime, not to target the bona fide legitimate transactions. Mauritius has also enacted stringent
―Know Your Clients‖ (KYC) Regulations and Anti-Money Laundering laws which seek to
avoid abusive use of treaty. Viewed in the above perspective, we also find no reason to import
the ―abuse of rights doctrine‖ (abus de droit) to India.
38. McDowell has emphatically spoken on the principle of Tax Planning. Justice
Ranganath Mishra, on his and on behalf of three other Judges, held “Tax planning may be
legitimate provided it is within the framework of law. Colorable devices cannot be part of tax
planning and it is wrong to encourage or entertain the belief that is honorable to avoid the
payment of tax by resorting to dubious methods. It is the obligation of every citizen to pay the
taxes honestly without resorting to subterfuges.” A five Judges Bench judgment of this Court in
Mathuram Agrawal v. State of Madhya Pradesh (1999) 8 SCC 667, after referring to Lord
Roskill on Duke of Westminster stated that the subject is not to be taxed by inference or
analogy, but only by the plain words of a statute applicable to the facts and circumstances of
each case. Revenue cannot tax a subject without a statute to support and in the course we also
acknowledge that every tax payer is entitled to arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as
low as possible and that he is not bound to choose that pattern which will replenish the treasury.
Revenue‘s stand that the ratio laid down in McDowell is contrary to what has been laid down in
Azadi Bachao Andolan, in our view, is unsustainable and, therefore, calls for no reconsideration
by a larger branch.
39. Revenue argued that HTIL and Vodafone are offshore companies and since the sale
took place outside India, applying the source test, the source is also outside India, unless
legislation ropes in such transactions. Substantial territorial nexus between the income and the
territory which seeks to tax that income, is of prime importance to levy tax. Expression used in
Section 9(1)(i) is ―source of income in India‖ which implies that income arises from that source
and there is no question of income arising indirectly from a source in India. Expression used is
―source of income in India‖ and not ―from a source in India‖. Section 9 contains a ―deeming
provision‖ and in interpreting a provision creating a legal fiction, the Court is to ascertain for
what purpose the fiction is created, but in construing the fiction it is not to be extended beyond
the purpose for which it is created, or beyond the language of section by which it is created. For
the above reasons, we set aside the impugned judgment of the Bombay High Court dated
8.09.2010 in Writ Petition No. 1325 of 2010.

*****
84

Ram Pershad v. C.I.T.

(1972) 2 SCC 696

JAGANMOHAN REDDY, J. - The assessee and his wife owned a large number of shares
in a private limited company engaged in the business of running hotels. By virtue of Article 109
of the Articles of Association of the said company, the assessee became the first Managing
Director on terms and conditions agreed to and embodied in an agreement, dated November 20,
1955, between himself and the company. Under the said agreement, the assessee was ,to receive
Rs 2.000/- per month, fixed sum of Rs 500/-per month as car allowance, 10% of gross profits of
the company and he and his wife were entitled to free board and lodging in the hotel. For the
assessment year 1956-57 for which the accounting year is the year ending September 30, 1955,
the assessee was assessed in respect of Rs.53,913/-payable to him as 10% of the gross profits of
the company which he gave up soon after the accounts were finalised but before they were
passed by the general meeting of the shareholders. The above amount was given up by him
because the company would not be making net profits if the stipulated commission was paid to
him. The assessee claimed that the amount given up by him was not liable to be included in his
total income because the amount had not accrued to him at all, at any rate, in the accounting
year ended March 31, 1956, and that even assuming that it had accrued in the accounting year
ended March 31, 1956, it is not taxable under Section 7 or Section 10 of the Indian Income-tax
Act, 1922. The Income-tax Officer, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, the Tribunal and on
a reference under Section 66(1) the High Court have all held that the 10% commission on gross
profits amounting to Rs 53,913/- was taxable as ‗salary‘ under Section 7 of the Act and that the
income had accrued to the assessee during the previous year. Against the judgment of the High
Court, this appeal is by special leave.
2. The questions of law which were referred to the High Court under Section 66(1) of the
Act are as follows—
(1) Whether the sum of Rs 53,913/- was a revenue receipt of the assessee of the
previous year?
(2) Whether the amount is chargeable under Section 7 or Section 10 of the Income-tax
Act?
(3) If the amount is chargeable under Section 10, is the assessee entitled to a deduction
of Rs 53,913/- under Section 10(1) or Section 10(2)?
The High Court answered the first question in the affirmative and in favour of the revenue,
and on the second question it was of the view that the amount payable as commission was
chargeable under Section 7 as salary and not under Section 10 of the Act. On this view, it did
not think it necessary to answer the third question.
3. When the matter came up earlier, this court on November 9, 1971, considered it
necessary to call for a further statement of the case from the Tribunal on the third question on
the basis of the materials before it and having regard to the decision of Morvi Industries Ltd. v.
Commissioner of Income-tax [AIR 1971 SC 2396]. The Tribunal in its supplementary
statement of case has answered the question against the assessee and in favour of the
 85

Department in holding that the assessee is not entitled to a deduction of the sum of Rs 53,913/-
either under Section 10(1) or 10(2) of the Act.
4. It is not disputed that the commission payable to him would be a revenue receipt nor is it
disputed that if it is chargeable under Section 7 no other question would arise having regard to
the finding based on the decision in Morvi Industries case, that the amount of Rs. 53,913/- had
accrued to the assessee in the year of account. It is therefore necessary for us to consider
whether the 10% gross profits payable to the assessee under the terms of the agreement
appointing him as the Managing Director is liable to be assessed as salary or under the head
‗income from business‘. It may be mentioned that ‗salary‘ under Section 7 of the Act includes
also commission, wages, perquisites, etc.
5. On behalf of the assessee, it was contended that in order to assess the income as salary it
must be held that there was a relationship of master and servant between the company and the
assessee. For such a relationship to exist, it must be shown that the employee must be subject to
the supervision and control of the employer in respect of the work that the employee has to do.
Where, however, there is no such supervision or control it will be a relationship of principal and
agent or an independent contractor. Applying these tests, it is submitted that the appointment of
the assessee as a Managing Director is not that of a servant but as an agent of the company and
accordingly the commission payable to him is income from business and not salary.
6. There is no doubt that for ascertaining whether a person is a servant or an agent, a rough
and ready test is, whether, under the terms of his employment, the employer exercises a
supervisory control in respect of the work entrusted to him. A servant acts under the direct
control and supervision of his master. An agent, on the other hand, in the exercise of his work is
not subject to the direct control or supervision of the principal, though he is bound to exercise
his authority in accordance with all lawful orders and instructions which may be given to him
from time to time by his principal. But this test is not universal in its application and does not
determine in every -case, having regard to the nature of employment, that he is a servant. A
doctor may be employed as a medical officer and though no control is exercised over him in
respect of the manner he should do the work nor in respect of the day to day work, he is
required to do, he may nonetheless be a servant if his employment creates a relationship of
master and servant. Similar is the case of a chauffeur who is employed to drive the car for his
employer. If he is to take the employer or any other person at his request from place ‗A‘ to place
‗B‘ the employer does not supervise the manner in which he drives between those places. Such
examples can be multiplied. A person who is engaged to manage a business may be a servant or
an agent according to the nature of his service and the authority of his employment. Generally it
may be possible to say that the greater the amount of direct control over the person employed,
the stronger the conclusion in favour of his being a servant. Similarly the greater the degree of
independence the greater the possibility of the services rendered being in the nature of principal
and agent. It is not possible to lay down any precise rule of law to distinguish one kind of
employment from the other. The nature of the particular business and the nature of the duties of
the employee will require to be considered in each case in order to arrive at a conclusion as to
whether the person employed is a servant or an agent. In each case the principle for
ascertainment remains the same.
86

7. Though an agent as such is not a servant, a servant is generally for some purposes his
master‘s implied agent, the extent of the agency depending upon the duties or position of the
servant. It is again true that a director of a company is not a servant but an agent inasmuch as
the company cannot act in its own person but has only to act through directors who qua the
company have the relationship of an agent to its principal. A Managing Director may have a
dual capacity. He may both be a Director as well as employee. It is therefore evident that in the
capacity of a Managing Director he may be regarded as having not only the capacity as persona
of a director but also has the persona of an employee, as an agent depending upon the nature of
his work and the terms of his employment. Where he is so employed, the relationship between
him as the Managing Director and the Company may be similar to a person who is employed as
a servant or an agent for the term ‗employed‘ is facile enough to cover any of these
relationships. The nature of his employment may be determined by the articles of association of
a company and/or the agreement if any, under which a contractual relationship between the
Director and the company has been brought about, hereunder the Director is constituted an
employee of the company, if such be the case, his remuneration will be assessable as salary
under Section 7. In other words, whether or not a Managing Director is a servant of the
company apart from his being a Director can only be determined by the article of association
and the terms of his employment. A similar view has been expressed by the Scottish Court of
Session in Anderson v. James Sutherland (Peterhead) Limited [AIR 1941 SC
203, 218] where Lord Normand at p. 218 said:
(T)he managing director has two functions and two capacities. Qua Managing Director
he is a party to a contract with the company, and this contract is a contract of employment;
more specifically I am of opinion that it is a contract of service and not a contract for
service.
8. A number of cases have been referred before us but the conclusion in each of the
decisions turned on the particular nature of employment and the facts disclosed therein. In each
of these decisions the ―context played a vital part in the conclusions arrived at‖. In Piyare Lal
Adishwar Lal v. Commissioner of Income-tax [40 ITR 17], Kapur, J. said (at p. 24) that:
It is difficult to lay down any one test to distinguish the relationship of master and servant
from that of an employer and independent contractor. In many cases the test laid down is that in
the case of master and servant, the master can order or require what is to be done and how it is to
be done but in the case of an independent contractor an employer can only say what is to be
done but not how it shall be done. But this test also does not apply to all cases, e.g. in the case of
ship‘s master, a chauffeur or a reporter of a newspaper .....In certain cases it has been laid down
that the indicia of a contract of service are: (a) the master‘s power of selection of the servant; (b)
the payment of wages or other remunerations; (c) the master‘s right to control the method of
doing the work; and (d) the master‘s right to suspension or dismissal.
10. In Lakshminarayan Ram Gopal v. Government of Hyderabad. [25 ITR 449 (SC)]
Bhagwati, J., speaking for the Court held that the assessee under the managing agency
agreement, having regard to certain indicia discernible from that agreement was an agency. At
p. 458 the functions of the assessee which were inconsistant with his being a servant were
specified. They were:
(1) The power to assign the agreement and the rights of the appellant thereunder;
 87

(2) The right to continue in employment as the agents of the company for a period of
30 years until the appellants of their own will resign;
(3) The remuneration by way of commission of 2% of the amount of sale proceeds of
the produce of the company; and
(4) The power of sub-delegation of functions given to the agent under Article 118.
All these circumstances went to establish that the appellants were the agents of the company
and not merely the servants remunerated by wages or salary.
11. In Commissioner of Income-tax, Bombay v. Armstrong Smith [(1946) 14 ITR 606
(Bom)], Stone, C. J., and Kania, J., had held that under the terms of an agreement the Managing
Director was a servant of the company. There they had to consider a case where the articles of
association of the company provided that the assessee was to be the Chairman and Managing
Director of the Company until he resigned office or died or ceased to hold at least one share in
the capital of the company; that all the other directors were to be under his control and were
bound to conform to his directions in regard to the company‘s business; that his remuneration
was to be voted by the company at its annual general meeting and that the sum received by him
for managing the company‘s business which arose from out of the contractual relationship with
the company provided by the articles for performing the services of managing the company‘s
business. In these circumstances it was held that the remuneration was taxable under Section 7
and not under Section 12 of the Act. It appears that a large number of English cases were cited
but these were not referred to. Stone, G. J., observed (at pp. 609-610):
We have been referred to quite a large number of English cases the effect of which, I think,
be summarised by saying that a director of a company as such is not a servant of the company
and that the fees he receives are by way of gratuity, but that does not prevent .a director or a
managing director from entering into a contractual relationship with the company, so that, quite
apart from his office of director as becomes entitled to remuneration as an employee of the
company. Further that relationship may be created either by a service agreement or by the
articles themselves. Now, in this case there is no question of any service agreement outside the
articles and, therefore, the relationship between the company and the assessee, Mr Smith,
depends upon the articles.
12. In Commissioner of Income-tax v. Negi Reddy, [51 ITR 178 (Mad)], the Madras High
Court was considering the case of a Managing Director of a film company who was also the
Managing Director of another film company on similar terms and remuneration, namely, that he
was to get a monthly remuneration of Rs 500/- and in addition a commission on net profits. The
question there was, whether the remuneration received by him as Managing Director from these
two companies was income from business assessable under Section 10 of the Act.
13. A detailed consideration of all the cases cited and the passages from text-books referred
to before us do not assist us in coming to the conclusion that the test for determining whether
the person employed by a company is a servant or agent is solely dependent on the extent of
supervision and control exercised on him. The real question in this case is one of construction of
the articles of association and the relevant agreement which was entered into between the
company and the assessee. If the company is itself carrying on the business and the assessee is
employed to manage its affairs in terms of its articles and the agreement, he could be dismissed
or his employment can be terminated by the company if his work is not satisfactory, it could
88

hardly be said that he is not a servant of the company. Article 109 of the articles of association
before its amendment and relevant for the period which we are considering provided that he‘
shall be the Managing Director of the company for 20 years on terms and conditions embodied
in the agreement. Article 136 states that subject to the aforesaid agreement, the general
management of the business of the company shall be in the hands of the Managing Director of
the company who shall have power and authority on behalf of the company to do the several
things specified therein which are usually necessary and desirable for the management of the
affairs of the company. Article 137 provides that the receipts signed by the Managing Director
or on his behalf for any moneys or goods or property received in the usual course of business of
the company shall be effectual discharge on behalf of and against the company for moneys,
funds, etc. It further provides that the Managing Director shall also have power to sign cheques
on behalf of the company. Under Article 138 he is authorised to sub-delegate all or any of the
powers. Article 139 enjoins that notwithstanding anything contained in those articles the
Managing Director is expressly allowed generally to work for and contract with the company
and specifically to do the work of agent to and Manager of and also to do any other work for the
company upon such terms and conditions and on such remuneration as may from time to time
be agreed upon between him and the Directors of the Company. Article 140 specifies powers in
addition to the powers conferred on him as the Managing Director. Under Article 141 the
Managing Director shall have charge and custody of all the property, books of account, papers,
documents and effects belonging to the said company wheresoever situate. Article 142 provides
that the Managing Director shall work for the executions of the decisions that may be arrived at
by the Board from time to time and shall be empowered to do all that may be necessary in the
execution of the decisions of the management of the company and shall do all things usual,
necessary or desirable in the management of the affairs of the company or carrying out it
objects. Clause (k) of the agreement, dated November 29, 1955, stipulates:
That the said Ram Pershad said Managing Director is found to be acting otherwise than
in the interests of the company ‗or is found to be not diligent to his duties as a Managing
Director, the company in General Meeting may terminate his services before the expiry of
the said period of 20 years.
The other terms of the agreement enumerate the powers and duties given to him under the
articles of association.
14. A perusal of the articles and terms and conditions of the agreement definitely indicates
that the assessee was appointed to manage the business of the company in terms of the articles
of association and within the powers prescribed therein. Reference may particularly be made to
Articles 139 and 142 to indicate the nature of the control imposed by the company upon the
Managing Director. Under the former the additional work which he can do as an agent or
manager of the company can be done on terms and conditions and on such remuneration as can
be agreed upon between him and the Directors of the Company and under the latter he had to
execute the decisions that may be arrived at by the Board from time to time. The very fact that
apart from his being a Managing Director he is given the liberty to work for the company as an
agent is indicative of his employment as a Managing Director not being that of an agent. Several
of the clauses of Article 140 as pointed out by the High Court specifically empower the Board
of Directors to exercise control over the Managing Director, such for instance to accept the title
 89

of the property to be sold by the company, providing for the welfare of the employees, the
power to appoint attorneys as the Directors think fit, etc. As pointed out earlier under the terms
of‘ the agreement he can be removed within the period of 20 years for not discharging the work
diligently or if he is found not to be acting in the interest of the company as Managing Director.
These terms are inconsistent with the plea that he is an agent of the company and not a servant.
The control which the company exercises over the assessee need not necessarily be one which
tells him what to do from day to day. That would be a too narrow view of the test to determine
the character of the employment. Nor does supervision imply that it should be a continuous
exercise of the power to oversee or superintend the work to be done. The control and
supervision is exercised and is exercisable in terms of the articles of association by the Board of
Directors and the company in its general meeting. As a Managing Director he functions also as
a member of the Board of Directors whose collective decisions he has to carry out in terms of
the articles of association and he can do nothing which he is not permitted to do. Under Section
17 (2) of the Indian Companies Act, 1913, Regulation No. 71 of Table A which enjoins that the
business of the company shall be managed by the directors is deemed to be contained in the
articles of association of the company in identical terms or to the same effect. Since the Board
of Directors are to manage the business of the Company they have every right to control and
supervise the assessee‘s work whenever they deem it necessary. Every power which is given to
the Managing Director therefore emanates from the articles of association which prescribes the
limits of the exercise of that power. The powers of the assessee have to be exercised within the
terms and limitations prescribed thereunder and subject to the control and supervision of the
Directors which in our view is indicative of his being employed as a servant of the company.
15. We would therefore hold that the remuneration payable to him is salary. In this view,
the other questions need not be considered and the appeal is dismissed with costs.
*****
90

C.I.T. v. L.W. Russel

AIR 1965 SC 49

K. SUBBA RAO, J. - This appeal by special leave preferred against the judgment of the High
Court of Kerala at Ernakulam raises the question of the interpretation of Section 7(1) of the
Indian Income Tax Act, 1922.
2. The respondent, L.W. Russel, is an employee of the English and Scottish Joint
Cooperative Wholesale Society Ltd., Kozhikode, hereinafter called ―the Society‖, which was
incorporated in England. The Society established a superannuation scheme for the benefit of the
male European members of the Society‘s staff employed in India, Ceylon and Africa by means
of deferred annuities. The terms of such benefits were incorporated in a trust deed dated July 27,
1934. Every European employee of the Society shall become a member of that scheme as a
condition of employment. Under the terms of the scheme the trustee has to effect a policy of
insurance for the purpose of ensuring an annuity to every member of the Society on his attaining
the age of superannuation or on the happening of a specified contingency. The Society
contributes 1/3 of the premium payable by such employee. During the year 1956-57 the Society
contributed Rs 3333 towards the premium payable by the respondent. The Income Tax Officer,
Kozhikode Circle, included the said amount in the taxable income of the respondent for the year
1956-57 under Section 7(1), Explanation 1 sub-clause (v) of the Act. The appeal preferred by
the respondent against the said inclusion to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner of Income
Tax, Kozhikode, was dismissed. The further appeal preferred to the Income Tax Appellate
Tribunal received the same fate. The assessee thereupon filed an application under Section 66(1)
of the Act to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal for stating a case to the High Court. By its
order dated December 1, 1958, the Tribunal submitted a statement of case referring the
following three questions of law to the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam:
(1) Whether the contributions paid by the employer to the assessee under the terms of a
trust deed in respect of a contract for a deferred annuity on the life of the assessee is a
‗perquisite‘ as contemplated by Section 7(1) of the Indian Income Tax Act?
(2) Whether the said contributions were allowed to or due to the applicant by or from
the employer in the accounting year?
(3) Whether the deferred annuity aforesaid is an annuity hit by Section 7(1) and para of
Explanation 1 thereto?
On the first question the High Court held that the employer‘s contribution under the terms
of the trust deed was not a perquisite as contemplated by Section 7(1) of the Act. On the second
question it came to the conclusion that the employer‘s contributions were not allowed to or due
to the employee in the accounting year. On the third question it expressed the opinion that the
legislature not having used the word ―deferred‖ with annuity in Section 7(1) and the statute
being a taxing one, the deferred annuity would not be hit by para (v) of Explanation 1 to Section
7(1) of the Act. The Commissioner of Income Tax has preferred the present appeal to this Court
questioning the correctness of the said answers.
4. Mr Rajagopal Sastri, learned counsel for the appellant, contends that the amount
contributed by the Society under the scheme towards the insurance premium payable by the
 91

trustees for arranging a deferred annuity on the respondent‘s superannuation is a perquisite

within the meaning of Section 7(1) of the Act and that the fact that the respondent may not have
the benefit of the contributions on the happening of certain contingencies will not make the said
contributions nonetheless a perquisite. The employer‘s share of the contributions to the fund
earmarked for paying premiums of the insurance policy, the argument proceeds, vests in the
respondent as soon as it is paid to the trustee and the happening of a contingency only operates
as a defeasance of the vested right. The respondent is ex parte and, therefore, the Court has not
the benefit of the exposition of the contrary view.
5. Before we attempt to construe the scope of Section 7(1) of the Act it will be convenient
at the outset to notice the provisions of the scheme, for the scope of the respondent‘s right in the
amounts representing the employer‘s contributions thereunder depends upon it. The trust deed
and the rules dated July 27, 1934, embody the superannuation scheme. The scheme is described
as the English and Scottish Joint Cooperative Wholesale Society Limited Overseas European
Employees‘ Superannuation Scheme, hereinafter called ―the Scheme‖. It is established for the
benefit of the male European members of the Society‘s staff employed in India, Ceylon and
Africa by means of deferred annuities. The Society itself is appointed thereunder as the first
trustee. The trustees shall act as agents for and on behalf of the Society and the members
respectively; they shall effect or cause to be effected such policy or policies as may be necessary
to carry out the scheme and shall collect and arrange for the payment of the moneys payable
under such policy or policies and shall hold such moneys as trustees for and on behalf of the
person or persons entitled thereto under the rules of the Scheme. The object of the Scheme is to
provide for pensions by means of deferred annuities for the members upon retirement from
employment on attaining certain age under the conditions mentioned therein, namely, every
European employee of the Society shall be required as a condition of employment to apply to
become a member of the Scheme from the date of his engagement by the Society and no
member shall be entitled to relinquish his membership except on the termination of his
employment with the Society; the pension payable to a member shall be provided by means of a
policy securing a deferred annuity upon the life of such member to be effected by the Trustees
as agents for and on behalf of the Society and the members respectively with the Cooperative
Insurance Society Limited securing the payment to the Trustees of an annuity equivalent to the
pension to which such member shall be entitled under the Scheme and the Rules; the insurers
shall agree that the Trustees shall be entitled to surrender such deferred annuity and that, on
such deferred annuity being so surrendered, the insurers will pay to the Trustees the total
amount of the premiums paid in respect thereof together with compound interest thereon; all
moneys received by the Trustees from the insurers shall be held by them as Trustees for and on
behalf of the person or persons entitled thereto under the Rules of the Scheme; any policy or
policies issued by the insurers in connection with the Scheme shall be deposited with the
Trustees; the Society shall contribute one-third of the premium from time to time payable in
respect of the policy securing the deferred annuity in respect of each member as thereinbefore
provided and the member shall contribute the remaining two-thirds; the age at which a member
shall normally retire from the service of the Society shall be the age of 55 years and on
retirement at such age a member shall be entitled to receive a pension of the amount specified in
Rule 6; a member may also, after following the prescribed procedure, commute the pension to
which he is entitled for a payment in cash in accordance with the fourth column of the Table in
92

the Appendix annexed to the Rules; if a member shall leave or be dismissed from the service of
the Society for any reason whatsoever or shall die while in the service of the Society there shall
be paid to him or his legal personal representatives the total amount of the portions of the
premiums paid by such member and if he shall die whilst in the service of the Society there shall
be paid to him or his legal personal representatives the total amount of the portions of the
premiums paid by such member and if he shall die whilst in the service of the Society or shall
leave or be dismissed from the service of the Society on account of permanent breakdown in
health (as to the bona fides of which the Trustees shall be satisfied) such further proportion (if
any) of the total amount of the portions of the premiums paid by the Society in respect of that
member shall be payable in accordance with Table C in the Appendix to the Rules if the total
amount of the portions of the premiums in respect of such member paid by the Society together
with interest thereon as aforesaid shall not be paid by the Trustees to him or his legal personal
representatives under sub-section (1) of Rule 15 then such proportion or the whole, as the case
may be, of the Society‘s portion of such premiums and interest thereon as aforesaid as shall not
be paid by the Trustees to such member or his legal personal representatives as aforesaid shall
be paid by the Trustees to the Society; the rules may be altered, amended or rescinded and new
rules may be made in accordance with the provisions of the Trust Deed but not otherwise.
6. We have given the relevant part of the Scheme and the Rules. The gist of the Scheme
may be stated thus: The object of the Scheme is to provide for pensions to its employees. It is
achieved by creating a trust. The Trustees appointed thereunder are the agents of the employer
as well as of the employees and hold the moneys received from the employer, the employee and
the insurer in trust for and on behalf of the person or persons entitled thereto under the rules of
the Scheme. The Trustees are enjoined to take out policies of insurance securing a deferred
annuity upon the life of each member, and funds are provided by contributions from the
employer as well as from the employees. The Trustees realise the annuities and pay the pensions
to the employees. Under certain contingencies mentioned above, an employee would be entitled
to the pension only after superannuation. If the employee leaves the service of the Society or is
dismissed from service or dies in the service of the Society, he will be entitled only to get back
the total amount of the portion of the premium paid by him, though the trustees in their
discretion under certain circumstances may give him a proportion of the premiums paid by the
Society. The entire amount representing the contributions made by the Society or part thereof,
as the case may be, will then have to be paid by the Trustees to the Society. Under the scheme
the employee has not acquired any vested right in the contributions made by the Society. Such a
right vests in him only when he attains the age of superannuation. Till that date that amount
vests in the Trustees to be administered in accordance with the rules that is to say, in case the
employee ceases to be a member of the Society by death or otherwise, the amounts contributed
by the employer with interest thereon, subject to the discretionary power exercisable by the
trustees, become payable to the Society. If he reaches the age of superannuation, the said
contributions irrevocably become fixed as part of the funds yielding the pension. To put it in
other words, till a member attains the age of superannuation the employer‘s share of the
contributions towards the premiums does not vest in the employee. At best he has a contingent
right therein. In one contingency the said amount becomes payable to the employer and in
another contingency, to the employee.
 93

7. Now let us look at the provisions of Section 7(1) of the Act in order to ascertain whether
such a contingent right is hit by the said provisions. The material part of the section reads:
7. (1)The tax shall be payable by an assessee under the head ‗salaries‘ in respect of any
salary or wages, any annuity, pension or gratuity, and any fees, commissions, perquisites or
profits in lieu of, or in addition to, any salary or wages, which are allowed to him by or are
due to him, whether paid or not, from, or are paid by or on behalf of, ... a company....
Explanation 1.- For the purpose of this section perquisite includes. * * * * *
(v) any sum payable by the employer, whether directly or through a fund to which the
provisions of Chapters IX-A and IX-B do not apply, to effect an assurance on the life of the
assessee or in respect of a contract of annuity on the life of the assessee.
This section imposes a tax on the remuneration of an employee. It presupposes the
existence of the relationship of employer and employee. The present case is sought to be
brought under the head ―perquisites in lieu of, or in addition to, any salary or wages, which are
allowed to him by or are due to him, whether paid or not, from, or are paid by or on behalf of a
company.‖ The expression ―perquisites‖ is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as ―casual
emolument, fee or profit attached to an office or position in addition to salary or wages‖.
Explanation 1 to Section 7(1) of the Act gives an inclusive definition. Clause (v) thereof
includes within the meaning of ―perquisites‖ any sum payable by the employer, whether directly
or through a fund to which the provisions of Chapters IX-A and IX-B do not apply, to effect an
assurance on the life of the assessee or in respect of a contract for an annuity on the life of the
assessee. A combined reading of the substantive part of Section 7(1) and clause (v) of
Explanation 1 thereto makes it clear that if a sum of money is allowed to the employee by or is
due to him from or is paid to enable the latter to effect an insurance on his life, the said sum
would be a perquisite within the meaning of Section 7(1) of the Act and, therefore, would be
exigible to tax. But before such sum becomes so exigible, it shall either be paid to the employee
or allowed to him by or due to him from the employer. So far as the expression ―paid‖ is
concerned, there is no difficulty, for it takes in every receipt by the employee from the employer
whether it was due to him or not. The expression ―due‖ followed by the qualifying clause
―whether paid or not‖ shows that there shall be an obligation on the part of the employer to pay
that amount and a right on the employee to claim the same. The expression ―allowed‖, it is said,
is of a wider connotation and any credit made in the employer‘s account is covered thereby. The
word ―allowed‖ was introduced in the section by the Finance Act of 1955. The said expression
in the legal terminology is equivalent to ―fixed, taken into account, set apart, granted‖. It takes
in perquisites given in cash or in kind or in money or money‘s worth and also amenities which
are not convertible into money. It implies that a right is conferred on the employee in respect of
those perquisites. One cannot be said to allow a perquisite to an employee if the employee has
no right to the same. It cannot apply to contingent payments to which the employee has no right
till the contingency occurs. In short, the employee must have a vested right therein.
8. If that be the interpretation of Section 7(1) of the Act, it is not possible to hold that the
amounts paid by the Society to the Trustees to be administered by them in accordance with the
rules framed under the Scheme are perquisites allowed to the respondent or due to him. Till he
reaches the age of superannuation, the amounts vest in the Trustees and the beneficiary under
94

the trust can be ascertained only on the happening of one or other of the contingencies provided
for under the trust deed. On the happening of one contingency, the employer becomes the
beneficiary, and on the happening of another contingency, the employee becomes the
beneficiary.
The principle that unless a vested interest in the sum accrues to an employee it is not
taxable, applies to the present case. As we have pointed out earlier, no interest in the sum
contributed by the employer under the scheme vested in the employee as it was only a
contingent interest depending upon his reaching the age of superannuation. It is not a perquisite
allowed to him by the employer or an amount due to him from the employer within the meaning
of Section 7(1) of the Act. We, therefore, hold that the High Court has given correct answers to
the questions of law submitted to it by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
9. In the result, the appeal fails and is dismissed.

*****
 95

C.I.T., West Bengal v. Biman Behari Shaw Shebait

(1968) 68 ITR 815

BANERJEE, J. – The assessment years with which we are concerned are years 1957-58 and
1958-59. One Banku Behari Saha executed a will on November 24, 1925, and thereby intended
to found a debutter estate. He dedicated several properties to two deities installed by him,
namely, Sri Sri Iswar Benode Behari Jew and Sri Sri Iswar Benodeswar Mahadev. In this
reference we are concerned with two of the dedicated properties, namely, No. 12, Benode
Behari Saha Lane and No. 122A, Manicktola Street, both in the town of Calcutta. It is
necessary for us to consider the following clauses in the will, in order to understand the question
referred to this court. The dedication opens with the following paragraph:
According to the wishes of my revered father I have built the edifice of a temple, a
Thakurbari at premises No. 12, Benode Behari Saha Lane, in close proximity to our said
family dwelling house and have installed therein the deity of Sri Sri Iswar Benode Behari (an
image of Sri Sri Iswar Radha Krishna) and Sri Sri Iswar Bendeswari Sina (possibly a
misprint for Sri Sri Iswar Benodeswar Mahadev) and have been performing the Puja worship
and seva, etc. of the same.
The list of all the immovable properties included in this will is given in the schedules
Ka, Kha and Ga written below. This property is my estate long enjoyed and possessed.
Clause (11). By this instrument of Will I dedicate to the deity Sri Sri Iswar Benode
Behari and Sri Sri Iswar Benodeswar Mahadev established by me the properties as included
in the schedule (Ga) of this will and all such properties that will be included in the schedule
(Ga) in future according to the provisions of this Will from and out of the schedule ‗Ka‘ and
‗Kha‘. From the time of my death the aforesaid properties shall be used in the aforesaid Dev
Seva and for pious acts as mentioned below and shall not at any time be transferred in any
manner such as gift, sale, etc., save and except for reasons stated here below....
Clause (17). Nobody save and except the Brahmin performing the Worship of the deity
and servants shall ever be competent to reside in the Thakurbati at No. 12, Benode Behari
Saha Lane and the said Thakurbati shall never be used as a place of agitation and meeting for
the sake of interiors (sic – invitation) or for any public functions.
In schedule ―Ga‖ premises No. 122, Manicktola Street is not descried either as a temple or a
Thakurbati but the area of the land only, included in the premises, is given. Premises No. 12,
Benode Behari Saha Lane, however, is described in the schedule as ―Thakurbati and temple.‖
There is no dispute that 122, Manicktola Street, later on was subdivided or renumbered as
premises No. 122A, Manicktola Street and a temple was actually constructed on the site.
For the assessment years with which we are concerned, the Income-tax Officer computed
the bona fide annual value of the premises No. 12, Benode Behari Saha Lane and 122A,
Manicktola Street, at the amounts which they were likely to fetch if let out in the open market.
The assessee objected to the assessment of an annual value of the two premises and appealed
before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. The reasons which appealed to the Appellate
Assistant Commissioner were:
96

As regards the second ground, No. 122A, Manicktola Street, Calcutta, and No. 12,
Benode Behari Saha Lane, Calcutta are the temples of the two deities mentioned above.
These premises have not been let out and no income accrues therefrom. The Income-tax
Officer therefore was not justified in adding any income on account of these premises. In
the earlier assessment no such addition has been made. The addition of Rs. 3,334 (Rs.4,000
less Rs. 666 for repairs) would be therefore deleted in each of the two assessments under
appeal.
In the above view the Appellate Assistant Commissioner allowed the objection of the
assessee.
Against the order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, the revenue appealed before the
Appellate Tribunal. We are not concerned with the other grounds involved in the appeal. The
Appellate Tribunal agreed with the order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner deleting the
bona fide income from two debutter premises mentioned above with the following observations:
The Income-tax Officer computed the bona fide annual value of the house at the
amount which they are likely to fetch if let out in the open market. The Appellate Assistant
Commissioner has, however, found that these premises were not let out and no income
accrued therefrom to the assessee. In fact, clause (17) of the Will aforesaid says that
nobody save and except the priest performing the worship of the deity and its servants shall
ever be competent to reside in the temple and it shall never be used as a place of agitation or
meeting or for the sake of any public function. In view of the injunctions contained in the
will against the residence of any body in the premises apart from the priest performing the
worship of the deity and its servants, it is quite obvious that these premises have no letting
value and the Appellate Assistant Commissioner was, therefore, justified in excluding from
the assessment the annual value thereof.
Thereupon, the Commissioner of Income-tax, at first tried to induce the Appellate Tribunal
to refer certain questions of law to this court and therein failing, induced this court to call for a
statement of case from the Tribunal on the following point of law:
Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal misdirected
itself in law in holding that premises No. 12, Benode Behari Shaw Lane, Calcutta and No.
122A, Manicktola Street, Calcutta, had no bona fide annual value within the meaning of
section 9(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1922?
In order to answer the question, it is necessary for us to remind ourselves of the provisions
of sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 9 of the Income-tax Act, which are couched in the
following language:
9. (1) The tax shall be payable by the assessee under the head ‗income from property‘
in respect of the bona fide annual value of property consisting of any buildings or lands
appurtenant thereto of which he is the owner, other than such portions of such property as
he may occupy for the purposes of any business, profession or vocation carried on by him
the profits of which are assessable to tax, subject to the following allowances, namely, …
(2) For the purpose of the section, the annual value of any property shall be deemed to
be the sum for which the property might reasonably be expected to let from year to year.
 97

It is apparent from the section quoted above that even where a property is not let and even
where it does not produce any income, the Income-tax Officer is to proceed on the basis of a
notional income, which the property might reasonably be expected to yield from year to year.
Now, where a property is not actually let, even then there ought to be included in the annual
income of the owner a notional income from the property. The letting value of a property,
whether let or not, can be objectively ascertained on reasonable basis. If there be restrictions on
the letting of the premises, that may merely reduce the letting value but it cannot be said,
without more, that because of the existence of a restrictive clause there can be no notional
annual income deemed to arise from the premises. For this proposition we find ample support
from two decisions of the Bombay High Court, namely, D.M. Vakil v. Commissioner of
Income-tax [(1946) 14 I.T.R. 298, 302] and Sir Currimbhoy Ebrahim Baronetcy Trust v.
Commissioner of Income-tax [(1963) 48 I.T.R. 507]. In the first mentioned case Kania, C.J.
observed:
The legislature has therefore expressly provided that the tax shall be payable by the
assessee in respect of the bona fide annual value irrespective of the question whether he
receives the value or not. Section 9(2) provides that for the purposes of this section, the
expression ‗annual value‘ shall be deemed to mean the sum for which the property might
reasonably be expected to let from year to year. It is again significant to note that the word
used is ‗might‘ and not ‗can‘ or ‗is.‘ Reading these two paragraphs of section 9 together, it
is clear that the income from property is thus an artificially defined income and the liability
arises from the fact that the assessee is the owner of the property. It is further provided in
the section that if the owner occupies the property he has to pay tax calculated in the manner
provided therein. Therefore, by reason of the fact that the property is not let out, the
assessee does not escape taxation.
On behalf of the trustees it was urged that in the present case the trustees are prevented
from letting out the property to any one by virtue of clause 5 of the will itself. That,
however, in my opinion, makes no difference. The liability to tax does not depend on the
power of the owner to let the property as it also does not depend on the capacity of the
owner to receive the bona fide annual value of the property. The law has laid down an
artificial rule by which the amount is to be considered the income of the assessee from
immovable property and provided that he should be taxed on that footing. In my opinion
the argument of the Commissioner on this point is correct.
In that view of the law, we have to uphold the contention of Mr. Pal, appearing for the
revenue, that the Tribunal was not correct in holding that, in view of the injunction contained in
the will against the residence of any body in the premises (apart form the priest performing the
worship of the deity and its servants), the premises have no letting value. That injunction will
be of relevant consideration in finding out the bona fide value and the weight of the injunction
may very much reduce the bona fide letting value of the house. But because of the existence of
the injunction, the premises cannot be said to have no letting value, notional or otherwise. In
the view that we take, we have to answer the question referred to us in the affirmative and in
favour of the revenue. We, however, make one position clear. We are not sure that a temple,
which is wholly and exclusively occupied by a deity or for use of the deity, comes within the
mischief of section 9(2). We do not express any opinion on that point.
98

East India Housing & Land Deveopment Trust Ltd. v. C.I.T.

(1961) 42 ITR 49

SHAH, J. - This is an appeal with special leave against the Judgment of the Income Tax
Appellate Tribunal, Calcutta Bench, Calcutta. The appellant is a private company registered
under the Indian Companies Act incorporated with the objects amongst others, (1) to buy and
develop landed properties, and (2) to promote and develop markets. In 1946, the appellant
purchased ten bighas of land in the town of Calcutta and set up a market therein. The appellant
constructed shops, and stalls on platforms on that land. For Assessment Year 1953-54, the
appellant received Rs 53,145 as income from the tenants of shops and Rs 29,721 from the
tenants or occupants of stalls. The Income Tax Officer assessed the income derived from shops
and stalls under Section 9 of the Income Tax Act. The order of assessment was confirmed in
appeal by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner and by the Tribunal. The appellant has
obtained special leave to appeal against the order of the Tribunal.
2. The appellant contends that because it is a company formed with the object of promoting
and developing markets, its income derived from the shops and stalls is liable to be taxed under
Section 10 of the Income Tax Act as ―profits or gains of business‖ and that the income is not
liable to be taxed as ―income from property‖ under Section 9 of the Act. The appellant is
undoubtedly under the provisions of the Calcutta Municipal Act, 1951, required to obtain a
licence from the Corporation of Calcutta and to maintain sanitary and other services in
conformity with the provisions of that Act and for that purpose has to maintain a staff and to
incur expenditure. But on that account, the income derived from letting out property belonging
to the appellant does not become ―profits or gains‖ from business within the meaning of
Sections 6 and 10 of the Income Tax Act. By Section 6 of the Income Tax Act, the following six
different heads of income are made chargeable, (1) salaries, (2) interest on securities, (3) income
from property, (4) profits and gains of business, profession or vocation, (5) income from other
sources and (6) capital gains. This classification under distinct heads of income, profit and gain
is made having regard to the sources from which income is derived. Income Tax is undoubtedly
levied on the total taxable income of the tax payer and the tax levied is a single tax on the
aggregate taxable receipts from all the sources: it is not a collection of taxes separately levied on
distinct heads of income. But the distinct heads specified in Section 6 indicating the sources are
mutually exclusive and income derived from different sources falling under specific heads has
to be computed for the purpose of taxation in the manner provided by the appropriate section. If
the income from a source falls within a specific head set out in Section 6, the fact that it may
indirectly be covered by another head will not make the income taxable under the latter head.
3. The income derived by the company from shops and stalls is income received from
property and falls under the specific head described in Section 9. The character of that income is
not altered because it is received by a company formed with the object of developing and setting
up markets. In the United Commercial Bank Ltd., Calcutta v. CIT [(1958) SCR 79] this Court
explained after an exhaustive review of the authorities that under the scheme of the Income Tax
Act, 1922, the heads of income, profits and gains enumerated in the different clauses of Section
6 are mutually exclusive, each specific head covering items of income arising from a particular
source.
 99

4. In Fry v. Salisbury House Estate Ltd. [LR (1930) AC 432] a company formed to
acquire, manage and deal with a block of buildings having let out the rooms as unfurnished
offices to tenants was held chargeable to tax under Schedule A to the Income Tax Act, 1918 and
not Schedule D. The company provided a staff to operate the lifts and to act as porters and
watch and protect the building and also provided certain services, such as heating and cleaning
to the tenants at an additional charge. The taxing authorities sought to charge the income from
letting out of the rooms as receipts of trade chargeable under Schedule D, but that claim was
negatived by the House of Lords holding that the rents were profits arising from the ownership
of land assessable under Schedule A and that the same could not be included in the assessment
under Schedule D as trade receipts.
5. In Commercial Properties Ltd. v. CIT [(1928) 3 ITC 23] income derived from rents by a
company whose sole object was to acquire lands, build houses and let them to tenants and
whose sole business was management and collection of rents from the said properties, was held
assessable under Section 9 and not under Section 10 of the Income Tax Act. It was observed in
that case that merely because the owner of the property was a company incorporated with the
object of owning property, the incidence of income derived from the property owned could not
be regarded as altered; the income came more directly and specifically under the head property
than income from business.
6. The income received by the appellant from shops is indisputably income from property:
so is the income from stalls from occupants. The character of the income is not altered merely
because some stalls remain occupied by the same occupants and the remaining stalls are
occupied by a shifting class of occupants. The primary source of income from the stalls is
occupation of the stalls, and it is a matter of little moment that the occupation which is the
source of the income is temporary. The Income Tax Authorities were, in our judgment, right in
holding that the income received by the appellant was assessable under Section 9 of the Income
Tax Act.
7. The appeal therefore fails and is dismissed with costs.

*****
100

R.B. Jodha Mal Kuthiala v. C.I.T.

(1971) 3 SCC 369

K.S. HEGDE, J. - In these appeals by certificate, the only question arising for decision is:
―whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the assessee continued to be the
owner of the property for the purposes of computation of income under Section 9 of the Income-
tax Act, 1922‖. A Full Bench of the Delhi High Court speaking through S. K. Kapur, J.,
answered that question in the negative. Being dissatisfied with that decision the assessee has
brought these appeals.
2. Now turning to the facts of the case, the concerned assessment years are 1952-53, 1955-
56 and 1956-57, the relevant accounting periods being financial years ending March 31, 1952,
March 31, 1955 and March 31, 1956. The assessee is a registered firm deriving income from
interest on securities, property, business and other sources. Sometime in the year 1946 it
purchased the Nedous Hotel in Lahore for a sum of Rs 46 lakhs. For that purpose it raised a loan
of Rs 30 lakhs from M/s Bharat Bank Ltd., Lahore and a loan of Rs 18 lakhs from the Raja of
Jubbal. The loan taken from the bank was partly repaid but as regards the loan taken from the
Raja, the assessee came to an agreement with the Raja under which the Raja accepted a half
share in the said property in lieu of the loan advanced and also 1/3rd of the outstanding liability
of the bank. This arrangement came into effect on November 1, 1951. After the creation of
Pakistan, Lahore became a part of Pakistan. The Nedous Hotel was declared an evacuee
property and consequently vested in the Custodian in the Pakistan.
3. In its return for the relevant assessment years, the assessee claimed losses of Rs 1,00,723,
Rs. 1,16.599 and Rs 1,16,599 respectively but showed the gross annual letting value from the
said property at Nil. The loss claimed was stated to be on account of interest payable to the
bank. Since the property in question had vested in the Custodian of Evacuee Property, in
Pakistan, the Income-tax Officer held that no income or loss from that property can be
considered in the assessee‘s case. He accordingly disallowed the assessee‘s claim in respect of
the interest paid to the bank. The Appellate Assistant Commissioner confirmed the order of the
Income-tax Officer. In second appeal the Tribunal came to the conclusion that the assessee still
continued to be the owner of the property for the purpose of computation of loss. The Tribunal
held that the interest paid is a deductible allowance under Section 9(l)(iv) of the Act. In arriving
at that conclusion, the Tribunal relied on its earlier decision in the case of the assessee in respect
of the assessment year 1951-52. Thereafter at the instance of the assessee, the Tribunal
submitted the question set out earlier. The High Court on an analysis of the various provisions
of the Pakistan (Administration of Evacuee Property) Ordinance, 1949 came to the conclusion
that for the purpose of Section 9 of the Act, the assessee cannot be considered as the owner of
that property.
4. It was urged by Mr V. C. Mahajan, learned Counsel for the assessee that the High Court
erred in opining that the assessee was not the owner of the property, for the purpose of Section 9
of the Act. According to him the property vested in the Custodian only for the purpose of
administration and the assesse still continued to be its owner. He contended that the expression
―owner‖ means the person having the ultimate right to the property. He further contended that
so long as the assessee had a right to that property in whatever manner that right might have
 101

been hedged in or restricted, he still continued to be the owner. On the other hand, it was
contended on behalf of the Revenue that the income-tax is concerned with income, gains and
profits. Therefore for the purpose of that Act, the owner is that person who is entitled to the
income. According to the Revenue the word ―owner‖ in Section 9 refers to the legal ownership
and not to any beneficial interest in the property.
5. For deciding the question whether the assessee was the owner of the property for the
purpose of Section 9 of the Act during the relevant accounting years, we have to look to the
provisions of the Ordinance. Let us first take a survey of the relevant provisions of the
Ordinance and thereafter analyse the effect of those provisions.
6. The long title of the Ordinance says that it is an Ordinance to provide for the
administration of the evacuee property in Pakistan and for certain matters incidental thereto. The
preamble says that ―whereas an emergency has arisen which renders it necessary to provide for
the administration of evacuee property in Pakistan and for certain matters incidental thereto‖.
Section 6(1) provides that all evacuee property shall vest and shall be deemed always to have
vested in the Custodian with effect from the 1st day of March, 1947. Section 9 gives power to
the Custodian to take possession of the evacuee property. Section 11 provides that any amount
due to an evacuee or payable in respect of any evacuee property shall be paid to the Custodian
by the person liable to pay the same and the payment to the Custodian discharges the debtor‘s
liability to the extent of the payment made. Section 12 prescribes that the property which has
vested in or of which possession has been taken by the Custodian shall be exempt from all legal
process, including seizure, distress, ejectment, attachment or sale by any officer of a Court or
any other authority and no injunction or other order of whatever kind in respect of such property
shall be granted or made by any Court or any other authority. Section 14(1) permits the
Rehabilitation Authority to allot evacuee property to the refugees. Section 16(1) says that no
creation or transfer of any right or interest in or encumbrance upon any property made in any
manner whatsoever on or after the first day of March, 1947 by or on behalf of an evacuee or by
or on behalf of a person who has or may become an evacuee after the date of such creation or
transfer, shall be effective so as to confer any right of remedy on any party thereto or on any
person claiming under any such party, unless it is confirmed by the Custodian. Section 19
empowers the Custodian to restore the evacuee property to the lawful owner subject to such
conditions as he may, be pleased to impose. Section 20(1) stipulates that the Custodian may take
such measures as he considers necessary or expedient for the purpose of administering,
preserving and managing any evacuee property which has vested in him and may for any such
purpose as aforesaid, do all acts and incur all expenses necessary or incidental thereto. Sub-
section (2) of that section provides that ―without prejudice to the generality of the provisions
contained in sub-section (l), the Custodian may.. ..
(m) sell any evacuee property, notwithstanding anything contained in any law or
agreement to the contrary relating thereto:
Provided that the Custodian shall not under this clause or the next succeeding clause
sell any immovable evacuee property or any business or undertaking which is evacuee
property, except with the previous approval of the Central Government‖.
7. Clause (n) of that sub-section empowers the Custodian to demolish or dismantle any
evacuee property which in his opinion cannot be repaired, or sell the site of such property and
102

the materials thereof. The Custodian can recoup all the expenses incurred by him in the
administration of the evacuee property from out of the receipts in his hand in respect of that
property. Section 22(1) requires the Custodian to maintain separate account of the property of
each evacuee of which he has taken possession and shall cause to be made therein entries of all
receipts and expenditure in respect thereof.
8. The Ordinance starts by saying that it is an Ordinance to provide for the administration of
evacuee property and not management of evacuee property. The expression ―administration‖ in
relation to an estate, in law means management and settling of that estate. It is a power to deal
with the estate. The evacuee could not take possession of his property. He could not lease that
property. He could not sell that property without the consent of the Custodian. He could not
mortgage that property. He could not realise the income of the property. On the other hand, the
Custodian could take possession of that property. He could realise its income. He could alienate
the property and he could under certain circumstances demolish the property. All the rights that
the evacuee had in the property he left in Pakistan were exercisable by the Custodian excepting
that he could not appropriate the proceeds for his own use. The evacuee could not exercise any
rights in that property except with the consent of the Custodian. He merely had some beneficial
interest in that property. No doubt that residual interest in a sense is ownership. The property
having vested in the Custodian, who had all the powers of the owner, he was the legal owner of
the property. In the eye of the law, the Custodian was the owner of that property. The position
of the Custodian was no less than that of a Trustee. Section 9(1) says:
The tax shall be payable by an assessee under the head ‗Income From Property‘ in
respect of the bona fide annual value of property consisting of any buildings or lands
apurtenant thereto of which he is the owner, other than such portions of such property as he
may occupy for the purposes of any business, profession or vocation carried on by him the
profits of which are assessable to tax subject to the following allowances namely: * * *
9. The question is who is the ―owner‖ referred to in this .section? Is it the person in whom
the property vests or is it he who is entitled to some beneficial interest in the property? It must
be remembered that Section 9 brings to tax the ‗income from property and not the interest of a
person in the property. A property cannot be owned by two persons, each one having
independent and exclusive right over it. Hence for the purpose of Section 9, the owner must be
that person who can exercise the rights of the owner, not on behalf of the owner but in his own
right.
10. For a minute, let us look at things from the practical point of view. If the thousands of
evacuees who left practically all their properties as well as businesses in Pakistan had been
considered as the owners of those properties and businesses as long as the ‗Ordinance‘ was in
force then those unfortunate persons would have had to pay income-tax on the basis of the
annual letting value of their properties and on the income, gains and profits of the businesses
left by them in Pakistan though they did not get a paisa out of those properties and businesses.
Fortunately no one in the past interpreted the law in the manner Mr. Mahajan wants us to
interpret. It is true that equitable considerations are irrelevant in interpreting tax laws. But those
laws, like all other laws have to be interpreted reasonably and in consonance with justice.
 103

11. The question as to who is the owner of a house property under Section 9 of the Act in
circumstances similar to those before us came up for consideration before the Calcutta High
Court in the matter of The Official Assignee for Bengal (Estate of Jnanendra Nath Pramanik)
[5 ITR 233 (HC)]. In that case on the adjudication of a person as insolvent under the Presidency
Towns Insolvency Act, 1909, certain house property of the insolvent vested in the Official
Assignee. The question arose whether the Official Assignee could be taxed in respect of the
income of the property under Section 9. The High Court held that the property did not by reason
of the adjudication of the debtor cease to be a subject fit for taxation and in view of the
provisions of Section 17 of the Presidency Towns Insolvency Act, the Official Assignee was the
―owner‖ of the property and he could rightly be assessed in respect of the income from that
property under Section 9. Section 17 of the Presidency Towns Insolvency Act, reads:
On the making of an order of adjudication, the property of the insolvent wherever
situate shall vest in the official assignee and shall become divisible among his creditors, and
thereafter, except as directed by this Act, no creditor to whom the insolvent is indebted in
respect of any debt provable in insolvency shall, during the pendency of the insolvency
proceedings, have any remedy against the property of the insolvent in respect of the debt or
shall commence any suit or other legal proceedings except with the leave of the Court and
on such terms as the Court may impose:
Provided that this section shall not affect the power of any secured creditor to realize or
otherwise deal with his security in the same manner as he would have been entitled to
realize or deal with it if this section had not been passed.
12. We may note that the powers of the Custodian are no less than that of the Official
Assignee under the Preridency Towns Insolvency Act, 1909. Delivering the judgment of the
Court in the Official Assignee case, Costello, J., observed:
With regard to the first point, Mr Page argued that although by Section 17 of the
Presidency Towns Insolvency Act these properties vested in the Official Assignee he did
not thereby or thereupon become the owner of those properties within the meaning properly
ascribable to that word for the purposes of the applicability of Section 9. What Mr Page
really invited us to do was to restrict the meaning of the word by putting before it the
qualifying adjective ―beneficial‖. That was argued by Mr Page was that the Official
assignee had no legal interest in the properties themselves, they were merely vested in him
for the purposes of the administration of them in the interest of the creditors of the
insolvent. I am unable to accept Mr Page‘s contention. In this country there is no difference
between ―legal estate‖ and ―equitable estate‖. In this connection the case of Sir Currimbhoy
Ebrahim Baronetcy Trust v. Commissioner of Income-tax, Bombay [61 IA 209] is of
assistance. At page 217 Sir Sydney Rowlatt when giving the judgment of the Privy Council
made this observation: ―In their Lordships‘ opinion the effect of the Act creating these trusts
is not to give the baronet for the time being any right to any part of the interest or property
specifically or any right which, even granting that the legal title is not the only thing that
can ever be looked at, would make it true to say that any proportion of the interest is not
‗receivable‘ or any proportion of the property is not ‗owned‘ by the incorporated trustees.
13. The learned judges of the Calcutta High Court in reaching that conclusion relied on the
decision in The Commissioner of Inland Revenue v. Fleming [14 TC 78]. That appeal related
104

to a claim for repayment of income-tax to which the respondent claimed to be entitled in respect
of ―personal allowance‖ introduced into the Income-tax system by Section 18 of the Finance
Act, 1920. The claim arose in the following circumstances:
The respondent was declared insolvent in 1921. He was then the owner of heritable
properties. His insolvency lasted till May 10, 1926. When he received his discharge on payment
of composition and was reinvested in his estate. At that time his estate consisted of, (1) Two of
the original heritable properties which had not been realised by the trustee in the insolvency and
(2) a balance in cash of £53 odd. During the insolvency, the trustee paid income-tax on the full
annual value of the two properties in question. The contention of the respondent was that the
radical right to these properties was in him all the time, and that, in paying the tax, the trustee
was really paying it on his behalf - that is on his income - and that consequently there arose in
each of the years in which the payment was made a right to deduct his ―personal allowance‖
from the annual value of the properties. The right to this abatement is said to have passed to the
Respondent himself in virtue of the reinvestment in his estate which occurred upon his
discharge on composition. Rejecting this contention Lord Presided observed:
It is obvious that, unless during the years in question the annual value of the properties
was income of the Respondent, he cannot have any claim to abatement of it for income-tax
purposes; and accordingly everything depends upon the soundness of the proposition that
the income consisting in the annual value of those properties was truly income of the
Respondent. I do not see how it can possibly be so described. It was part of the income
arising from the sequestrated estates vested in the trustee for the Respondent‘s creditors.
Any income that did arise from those estates was income of the trustee as such, and he (and
he alone) had the right to put it into his pocket as income. It was not income that went or
could go into the pocket of the Respondent as income in any of the years in question. How
then can it be said to have reached his pocket as income on his subsequent reinvestiture.
14. For determining the person liable to pay tax, the test laid down by the court was to find
out the person entitled to that income. An attempt was made by Mr Mahajan to distinguish this
case on the ground that under the corresponding English statute the liability to tax in respect of
income from property is not laid on the owner of the property. It is true that Section 82 of the
English Income-tax Act, 1952, is worded differently. But the principles underlying the two
statutes are identical. This is clear from the various provisions in that Act.
15. The conclusion reached by Costello, J., in Official Assignee case receives support from
the decision of the Privy Council in Trustees of Sir Currimbhqy Ibrahim Baronetcy Trust v.
Commissioner of Income-tax, Bombay [2 ITR 148 (PC)]. The Counsel for the appellant was
unable to point out to us any decision which has taken a view contrary to that taken in Official
Assignee case.
16. The learned judges of the High Court in reaching their conclusion that the assessee was
not the owner of the property in the relevant assessment years, took assistance from the
decisions of English Courts dealing with the question of levy of income-tax on the income from
enemy properties taken possession of by the Custodian, during war. In those cases the English
judges have enunciated the theory, of suspended ownership. We do not think that we need call
assistance‘ from those decisions. Mr Mahajan contended that despite the fact the evacuee
 105

property was taken over by the Custodian and that he had been conferred with large powers to
deal with it, an evacuee from Pakistan who owned that property before he migrated to India still
continued to be the owner of the property. For this contention of his he placed reliance on some
of the observations of this Court in Amur Singh v. Custodian, Evacuee Property, Punjab [AIR
1957 SC 599]. Therein, delivering judgment of the Court Jagannadhadas, J., observed (at p. 815
of the report):
Stopping here it will be seen that the position, in its general aspect, is that all evacuee
property is vested in the Custodian. But the evacuee has not lost his ownership in it. The law
recognised his ultimate ownership subject to certain limitations. The evacuee may come
back and obtain return of his property, as also an account of the management thereof by the
Custodian.
17. Those observations have to be understood in the context in which they were made.
Therein, their Lordships were considering whether the right of an evacuee in respect of the
property left by him in the country from which he migrated was property right for the purpose
of Article 19(1)(/) of the Constitution. No one denies that an evacuee from Pakistan has a
residual right in the property that he left in Pakistan. But the real question is, can that right be
considered as ownership within the meaning of Section 9 of the Act. As mentioned earlier that
section seeks to bring to tax income of the property in the hands of the owner. Hence the focus
of that section is on the receipt of the income. The word ―owner‖ has different meanings in
different contexts. Under certain circumstances a lessee may be considered as the owner of the
property leased to him. In Stroud’s Judicial Dictionary (3rd Edn.), various meanings of the
word ―owner‖ are given. It is not .necessary for our present purpose to examine what the word
―owner‖ means in different contexts. The meaning that we give to the word ―owner‖ in Section
9 must not be such as to make that provision capable of being made an instrument of
oppression. It must be in consonance with the principles underlying the Act.
18. Mr Mahajan next invited our attention to the observations in Pollock on Jurisprudence
(6th Edn. 1929) 178-80: ―Ownership may be described as the entirety of the powers of use and
disposal allowed by law.... The owner of a thing is not necessarily the person who at a given
time has the whole power of use and disposal; very often there is no such person. We must look
for the person having the residue of all such power when we have accounted for every detached
and limited portion of it; and he will be the owner even if the immediate power of control and
use is elsewhere‖.
20. Mr Mahajan in support of his contention next placed reliance on the decision of the
Patna High Court in Raja P. C. Lal Choudhary v. Commissioner of Income-tax [16 ITR 123].
Therein the question was whether the receiver of a property appointed by court was the owner
of the property for the purpose of Section 9 of the Act. The court came to the conclusion that he
was not the owner as the property did not vest in him. In fact in the course of the judgment, the
court made a distinction between a receiver and a trustee and an official assignee. In our opinion
this decision instead of supporting the case of the appellant may lend some support to the
contention of the Revenue.
106

21. Reliance was next placed on the decision of the Calcutta High Court in Nawab Bahadur
of Murshidabad v. Commissioner of Income-tax, West Bengal [28 ITR 510]. The facts of that
case were:
Properties which belonged to the ancestors of the Nawab of Murshidabad as Rulers,
were, some time after the territories had been conquered by the British, settled by the
Secretary of State for India in the year 1891 on the then Nawab of Murshidabad under a
deed of settlement which provided that such properties ―shall henceforth and for ever be
held and enjoyed by the said Nawab Bahadur and such one among his lineal male heirs as
may be successively entitled to hold the said title in perpetuity, with and subject to the
incidents, powers, limitations and conditions as to the inalienability and otherwise
hereinafter contained‖. One of the conditions was that he was not entitled to sell or alienate
the properties except with the approval of the Governor of Bengal. The Settlement deed was
confirmed by Act XV of 1891. The question arose whether Nawab of Murshidabad was
liable to pay tax in respect of the income of those properties under Section 9 of the Act. The
Court held that whatever might have been the original nature of the ―State properties‖, after
the deed of settlement and the Act of 1891, as the dual status of the Nawab as the bolder of
the state and as an individual ceased, it could not be said that the Nawab for the time being
was not the ―owner‖ of such properties for the purposes of Section 9 of the Act and the
Nawab was therefore liable to be assessed to income-tax on the income of such properties.
The Court further held that the word ―owner‖ in Section £9 of the Act applies to owners of
the whole income, even though they are under certain restrictions with regard to the
alienation of the properties. We are unable to see how this decision gives any support to the
contentions advanced on behalf of the assessee.
22. After giving our careful consideration to the question of law under consideration, we
have come to the conclusion that the assessee was not the owner of Nedous Hotel during the
relevant assessment years for the purpose of Section 9 of the Act. Hence these appeals fail and
they are dismissed. In the circumstances of the case we make no order as to costs in these
appeals.
*****
 107

B.D. Bharucha v. C.I.T.

(1967) 3 SCR 238

V. RAMASWAMI, J. - This appeal is brought, by special leave, from the judgment of the
High Court of Bombay dated August 27, 1962 in Income Tax Reference No. 18 of 1961.
2. The appellant is an individual having income from House Property, Government
Securities, Cinema Exhibition and financing film producers and distributors. During the period
from March 3, 1952 to November 5, 1952 the appellant advanced a sum of Rs 40,000 to a Firm
of film distributors known as Tarachand Pictures. The appellant thereafter entered into an
agreement dated January 5, 1953 with Tarachand Pictures under which the appellant advanced a
further sum of Rs 60,000 in respect of the distribution, exploitation and exhibition of a picture
called ―Shabab‖. According to clause 2 of the agreement the distributors were to pay a lumpsum
of Rs 1750 by way of interest on the initial advance of Rs 40,000. Clause 3 of the agreement
read as follows:
No interest will run henceforth on this sum of Rs 40,000 as also on the advances to be made
as provided hereinabove but in lieu of interest it is agreed that the Distributors will share with
the Financier profit and loss of the distribution, exploitation and exhibition of the picture
SHABAB in the Bombay Circuit, two-third going to the Financier and one-third to the
Distributors.
Clauses 4 and 5 were to the following effect:
4. The Distributors shall on or before the 15th of every month submit to the Financier a
Statement of Account of the business done during the previous month in respect of the
picture ‗SHABAB‘ in the territories of Bombay Circuit.
5. The Distributors shall keep the proper accounts of the business of the picture
‗SHABAB‘ and the same as well as all documents, reports and contracts will be available to
the Financier or his agent for inspection.
Clause 7 read as follows:
In case the picture is not released in Bombay within 15 months from the date hereof the
Distributors shall be bound to immediately return all the moneys so far advanced to the
Distributors by the Financier. In that event the Distributors shall be bound to return all the
moneys together with interest thereon @ 9% per annum.
Clause 8 stated:
In case of any breach being committed by the Distributors of any of the terms herein
provided this agreement shall at once terminate and the moneys paid by the Financier shall
be at once repaid by the Distributors to the Financier with interest @ 9% per annum.
It appears that the distributors were not in a position to exhibit the film in Bombay within
the stipulated time. When the film was ultimately released for exhibition it proved to be
unsuccessful. The matter was taken to the City Civil Court and ultimately a consent decree was
obtained in Suit No. 2061 of 1954 in the Bombay City Civil Court. In the end the appellant
found that there was a balance of Rs 80,759 which was irrecoverable and he accordingly wrote
108

it off as a bad debt on December 31, 1955 in the ledger account. For the Assessment Year 1956-
57, the corresponding previous year being the calendar year 1955, the appellant claimed a loss
of Rs 80,759 which he had written off as bad debt, under Section 10(2)(xi) of the Income Tax
Act. By his assessment order dated July 31, 1957, the Income Tax Officer disallowed the claim
on the ground that the moneys advanced by the appellant under the agreement could not be
regarded as a dealing in the course of his financing business, but the true nature of the
transaction, as evidenced by the agreement, was a venture in the nature of a trade. The Income
Tax Officer accordingly held that the loss was a capital loss and it could not be allowed as a bad
debt under Section 10(2)(xi) of the Income Tax Act. The appellant took the matter in appeal to
the Appellate Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax who dismissed the appeal. The appellant
preferred a second appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal which by its order dated
February 19, 1960 rejected the appeal, holding that the loss of Rs 80,759 was a capital loss and
not a loss of stock-in-trade. The Tribunal took the view that the transaction was not a joint
venture with the distributors or any partnership business and that it was also not a mere
financing deal or a part of the moneylending activities of the appellant. According to the
Appellate Tribunal, the true nature of the transaction was an investment of the capital for a
return in the shape of share of profits, and the loss suffered by the appellant was therefore a
capital loss and not a revenue loss. As required by the appellant, the Tribunal stated a case to the
High Court under Section 66(1) of the Income Tax Act on the following question of law:
Whether the aforesaid loss of Rs 80,759 is deductible under any of the provisions of the
Act?
By its judgment between the parties that the moneylender will share the loss of the business
for which the money is lent. In other words, it was argued that no moneylending transaction can
have the attribute of the moneylender sharing the risk of the loss of the business for which the
money is lent, nor could it be a feature of any purely financial deal. We are unable to accept the
argument of the respondent that the transaction between the parties under the agreement dated
January 5, 1953 was not a moneylending transaction or a transaction in the nature of a financial
deal in the course of the appellant‘s business. If clause 3 of the agreement is taken in isolation
there may be some force in the contention of the respondent that the term under which the
appellant undertook to share the loss took the transaction out of the category of a moneylending
transaction and the loss suffered by the appellant was therefore a capital loss. In the present
case, however, clause 3 of the agreement dated January 5, 1953 cannot be read in isolation but it
must be construed in the context of clause 7 which provides that in case the picture was not
released in Bombay within 15 months from the date of the agreement, the distributors will
return all the moneys so far advanced to them by the appellant together with interest thereon at
9% per annum. It is the admitted position in the present case that the picture was not released by
the distributors till the stipulated date, namely, April 4, 1954 but it was released on May 28,
1954 and clause 7 of the agreement therefore came into operation. The result therefore is that on
and from April 4, 1954 there was a contract of loan between the parties in terms of clause 7 of
the agreement and the principal amount became repayable from that date to the appellant with
interest thereon at 9% per annum. It follows therefore that the appellant is entitled to claim the
amount of Rs 80,759 as a bad debt under Section 10(2)(xi) of the Income Tax Act and the loss
suffered by the appellant was not a loss of capital bat a revenue loss.
 109

4. To find out whether an expenditure is on the capital account or on revenue account, one
must consider the expenditure in relation to the business. Since all payments reduce capital in
the ultimate analysis, one is apt to consider a loss as amounting to a loss of capital. But it is not
true of all losses, because losses in the running of the business cannot be said to be of capital.
The distinction is brought out for example, in Reid’s Brewery Co. Ltd. v. Male [(1891) 3 Tax
Cas 279]. In that case, the brewery company carried on, in addition to the business of a brewery,
a business of bankers and moneylenders making loans and advances to their customers. This
helped the customers in pushing sales of the product of the brewery company. Certain sums had
to be written off and the amount was held to be deductible. In the course of his judgment
Pollock B. said:
Of course, if it be capital invested, then it comes within the express provision of the Income Tax
Act, that no deduction is to be made on that account.
but held that:
[N]o person who is acquainted with the habits of business can doubt that this is not capital
invested. What it is is this. It is capital used by the Appellants but used only in the sense that all
money which is laid out by persons who are traders, whether it be in the purchase of goods be
they traders alone, whether it be in the purchase of raw material be they manufacturers, or in the
case of money-lenders, be they pawnbrokers or moneylenders, whether it be money lent in the
course of their trade, it is used and it comes out of capital, but it is not an investment in the
ordinary sense of the word.
In the present case, the conditions for the grant of the allowance under Section 10(2)(xi) of
the Income Tax Act are satisfied. In the first place, the debt is in respect of the business which is
carried on by the appellant in the relevant accounting year and accounts of the business are
admittedly kept on mercantile basis. In the second place, the debt is in respect of and incidental
to the business of the appellant. It has also been found that the debt had become irrecoverable in
the relevant accounting year and the amount had been actually written off as irrecoverable in the
books of the appellant.
5. For these reasons, we hold that the judgment of the Bombay High Court dated August 27,
1962 should be set aside and the question referred to the High Court must be answered in the
affirmative and in favour of the appellant. We accordingly allow this appeal with costs here and
in the High Court.

*****
110

C.I.T. v. Mysore Sugar Co. Ltd., Bangalore

AIR 1967 SC 723

M. HIDAYATULLAH, J. – This appeal by the Commissioner of Income-tax, Mysore on a

certificate granted under S. 66A of the Indian Income-tax Act, is directed against a judgment of
the High Court of Mysore, dated September 7, 1959, by which the following question referred
by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Madras Bench, was answered in favour of the
respondent:
Whether there are materials for the tribunal to hold that the sum of Rs.2,87,422
aforesaid represents a loss of capital.
(2) The assessee Company purchases sugarcane from the sugarcane growers, and crushes
them in its factory to prepare sugar. As a part of its business operations, it enters into
agreements with the sugarcane growers, who are known locally as ―Oppigedars,‖ and advances
them sugarcane seedlings, fertilizers and also cash. The Oppigedars enter into a written
agreement called the ―Oppige,‖ by which they agree to sell sugarcane exclusively to the
assessee Company at current market rates and to have the advances adjusted towards the price
of sugarcane, agreeing to pay interest in the meantime. For this purpose, an account of each
Oppigedar is opened by the assessee Company. A crop of sugarcane takes about 18 months to
mature and these agreements take place at the harvest season each year, in preparation for the
next crop.
(3) In the year 1948-49 due to drought, the assessee Company could not work its sugar
mills and the Oppigedars could not grow or deliver the sugarcane. The advances made in 1948-
49 thus remained unrecovered, because they could only be recovered by the supply of sugarcane
to the assessee Company. The Mysore Government realising the hardship appointed a
Committee to investigate the matter and to make a report and recommendations. This report
was made by the Committee on July 27, 1950 and the whole of the report has been printed in the
record of this case. The Oppige bond is not printed, perhaps because it was in Kannada; but the
substance of the terms is given by the Committee and the above description fairly represents its
nature. The Committee recommended that the assessee Company should ex-gratia forego some
of its dues, and in the year of account ending June 30, 1952, the Company waived its rights in
respect of Rs. 2,87,422. The Company claimed this as a deduction under Ss. 10(2)(xi) and
10(2)(xv) of the Indian Income-tax Act. The Income-tax Officer declined to make the
deduction, because, in his opinion, this was neither a trade debt nor even a bad debt but an ex-
gratia payment almost like a gift. An appeal to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner also
failed. Before the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Madras Bench, these two arguments were
again raised, but were rejected, the Tribunal holding that the payments were not with an eye to
any commercial profit and could not thus be said to have been made out of commercial
expediency, so as to attract Section 10(2)(xv) of the Act. The Tribunal also held that these were
not bad debts, because they were ―advances, pure and simple, not arising out of sales‖ and did
not contribute to the profits of the businesses. From the order of reference, it appears that the
Appellate Tribunal was also of the opinion that these advances were made to ensure a steady
supply of quality sugarcane, and that the loss, if any, must be taken to represent a capital loss
and not a trading loss.
 111

(4) The Appellate Tribunal, however, referred the question for the opinion of the High
Court and the High Court held that the expenditure was not in the nature of a capital
expenditure, and was deductible as a revenue expenditure. It relied upon a passage from
Sampath Ayyangar‘s Book on the Indian Income-tax Law and on the decision of this Court in
Badridas Daga v. Commissioner of Income-tax [(1959) SCR 6 90 : AIR 1958 SC 783], to hold
that this amount was deductible in computing the profits of the business for the year in question
under S. 10(1) of the Income-tax Act.
(5) The case has been argued before us both under S. 10(1) and S. 10(2)(xv), though it
appears that the case of the assessee Company has changed from S. 10(1) to S. 10(2)(xi) and S.
10(2)(xv) from time to time. The question, as propounded, seems to refer to Ss. 10(2)(xv) and
10(1) and not to S. 10(2)(xi). We, however, do not wish to emphasise the nature of the question
posed, because, in our opinion, the central point to decide is whether the money which was
given up, represented a loss of capital, or must be treated as a revenue expenditure.
(6) The tax under the head ―Business‖ is payable under S. 10 of the Income-tax Act. That
section provides by sub-s. (1) that the tax shall be payable by an assessee under the head
―Profits and gains of business, etc.‖ in respect of the profits or gains of any business etc. carried
on by him. Under sub-s. (2), these profits or gains are computed after making certain
allowances. Clause (xi) allows deduction of bad and doubtful business debts. It provides that
when the assessee‘s accounts in respect of any part of his business are not kept on the cash
basis, such sum, in respect of bad and doubtful debts, due to the assessee in respect of that part
of his business is deductible but not exceeding the amount actually written off as irrecoverable
in the books of the assessee. Clause (xv) allows any expenditure not included in Cls. (i) to
(xiv), which is not in the nature of capital expenditure or personal expenses of the assessee, to
be deducted, if laid out or expended wholly and exclusively for the purpose of such business,
etc. The clauses expressly provide what can be deducted; but the general scheme of the section
is that profits or gains must be calculated after deducting outgoings reasonably attributable as
business expenditure but so as not to deduct any portion of an expenditure of a capital nature. If
an expenditure comes within any of the enumerated classes of allowances, the case can be
considered under the appropriate class; but there may be an expenditure which, though not
exactly covered by any of the enumerated classes, may have to be considered in finding out the
true assessable profits or gains. This was laid down by the Privy Council in Commissioner of
Income-tax C.P. and Berar v. S.M. Chitnavis [AIR 1932 PC 178], and has been accepted by
this Court. In other words, S. 10(2) does not deal exhaustively with the deductions, which must
be made to arrive at the true profits and gains.
(7) To find out whether an expenditure is on the capital account or on revenue, one must
consider the expenditure in relation to the business. Since all payments reduce capital in the
ultimate analysis, one is apt to consider a loss as amounting to a loss of capital. But this is not
true of all losses, because losses in the running of the business cannot be said to be of capital.
The questions to consider in this connection are: for what was the money laid out? Was it to
acquire an asset of an enduring nature for the benefit of the business, or was it an out-going in
the doing of the business? If money be lost in the first circumstance, it is a loss of capital, but if
lost in the second circumstance, it is a revenue loss. In the first, it bears the character of an
112

investment, but in the second, to use a commonly understood phrase, it bears the character of
current expenses.
(8) This distinction is admirably brought out in some English cases, which were cited at the
Bar. We shall refer only to three of them. In English Crown Spelter Co., Ltd. v. Baker [(1908)
5 Tax Cas 327], the English Crown Spelter Co. carried on the business of zinc smelting for
which it required large quantities of ‗blende.‘ To get supplies of blende, a new Company called
the Welsh Crown Spelter Company was formed, which received assistance from the English
Company in the shape of advances on loan. Later, the English Company was required to write
off £ 38,000 odd. The question arose whether the advance could be said to be an investment of
capital, because if they were, the English Company would have no right to deduct the amount.
If, on the other hand, it was money employed for the business, it could be deducted. Bray, J.
who considered these questions, observed:
If this were an ordinary business transaction of a contract by which the Welsh Company
were to deliver certain blende, it may be at prices to be settled hereafter, and that this was
really nothing more than an advance on account of the price of that blende, there would be a
great deal to be said in favour of the Appellants.... It is impossible to look upon this as an
ordinary business transaction of an advance against goods to be delivered ... I can come to
no other conclusion but that this was an investment of capital in the Welsh Company and
was not an ordinary trade transaction of an advance against goods.
(9) The second case, Charles Marsden and Sons Ltd. v. Commissioner of Inland Revenue
[(1919) 12 Tax Cas 217], is under the Excess Profits Duty in England, and the question arose in
the following circumstances: An English Company carried on the business of paper making. To
arrange for supplies of wood pulp, it entered into an agreement with a Canadian Company for
supply of 3,000 tons per year between 1917-1927. The English Company made an advance of £
30,000 against future deliveries to be recouped at the rate of £ 1 per ton delivered. The
Canadian Company was to pay interest in the meantime. Later, the importation of wood pulp
was stopped, and the Canadian Company (appropriately called the Ha! Ha! Company) neither
delivered the pulp nor returned the money. Rowlatt, J. held this to be a capital expenditure not
admissible as a deduction. He was of opinion that the payment was not an advance payment for
goods, observing that no one pays for goods ten years in advance, and that it was a venture to
establish a source and money was adventured as capital.
(10) The last case, to which we need refer to illustrate the distinction made in such cases is
Reid’s Brewery Co. Ltd. v. Male [(1891) 3 Tax Cas 279]. The Brewery Company there carried
on, in addition to the business of a brewery, a business of bankers and money-lenders making
loans and advances to their customers. This helped the customers in pushing sales of the
product of the Brewery Company. Certain sums had to be written off, and the amount was held
to be deductible. Pollock, B. said:
Of course, if it be capital invested then it comes within the express provision of the
Income-tax Act, that no deduction is to be made on that account‖;
but held that:
[N]o person who is acquainted with the habits of business can doubt that this is not
capital invested. What is this? It is capital used by the Appellants but used only in the
 113

sense that all money which is laid out by persons who are traders, whether it be in the
purchase of goods be they traders alone, whether it be in the purchase of raw material be
they manufacturers, or in the case of money lenders, be they pawn-brokers or money-
lenders, whether it be money lent in the course of their trade, it is used and it comes out of
capital, but it is not an investment in the ordinary sense of the word.
It was thus held to be a use of money in the course of the Company‘s business, and not an
investment of capital at all.
(11) These cases illustrate the distinction between an expenditure by way of investment and
an expenditure in the course of business, which we have described as current expenditure. The
first may truly be regarded as on the capital side but not the second. Applying this test to this
simple case, it is quite obvious which it is. The amount was an advance against price of one
crop. The Oppigedars were to get the assistance not as an investment by the assessee Company
in its agriculture, but only as an advance payment of price. The amount, so far as the assessee
Company was concerned, represented the current expenditure towards the purchase of
sugarcane, and it makes no difference that the sugarcane thus purchased was grown by the
Oppigedars with the seedlings, fertilizer and money taken on account from the assessee
Company. In so far as the assessee Company was concerned, it was doing no more than making
a forward arrangement for the next year‘s crop and paying an amount in advance out of the
price, so that the growing of the crop may not suffer due to want of funds in the hands of the
growers. There was hardly any element of investment which contemplates more than payment
of advance price. The resulting loss to the assessee Company was just as much a loss on the
revenue side as would have been, if it had paid for the ready crop which was not delivered.
(12) In our judgment, the decision of the High Court is right. The appeal fails, and is
dismissed with costs.
*****
114

Empire Jute Co. Ltd. v. C.I.T.

(1980) 4 SCC 25

P.N. BHAGWATI, J. - This appeal by special leave raises the vexed question whether a
particular expenditure incurred by the assessee is of a capital or revenue nature.
2. The assessee is a limited company carrying on business of manufacture of jute. It has a
factory with a certain number of looms situate in West Bengal. It is a member of the Indian Jute
Mills Association. The Association consists of various jute manufacturing mills as its members
and it has been formed with a view to protecting the interests of the members. The objects of the
Association, inter alia, are (i) to protect, forward and defend the trade of members; (ii) to
impose restrictive conditions on the conduct of the trade; and (iii) to adjust the production of the
mills in the membership of the Association to the demand in the world market. It appears that
right from 1939, the demand of jute in the world market was rather lean and with a view to
adjusting the production of the mills to the demand in the world market, a working time
agreement was entered into between the members of the Association restricting the number of
working hours per week, for which the mills shall be entitled to work their looms. The first
working time agreement was entered into on January 9, 19.39 and it was for a duration of five
years and on its expiration, the second and thereafter the third working time agreements, each
for a period of five years and in more or less similar terms, were entered into on June 12, 1944
and November 25, 1949 respectively. The third working time agreement was about to expire on
December 11, 1954 and since it was felt that the necessity to restrict the number of working
hours per week still continued, a fourth working time agreement was entered into between the
members of the Association on December 9, 1954 and it was to remain in force for a period of
five years from December 12, 1954. We are concerned in this appeal with the fourth working
time agreement and since the decision of the controversy before us turns upon the interpretation
of its true nature and effect, we shall refer to some of its relevant provisions.
3. The first clause of fourth working time agreement to which we must refer is Clause 4
which provided that, subject to the provisions of Clauses 11 and 12,
[N]o signatory shall work more than forty-five hours of work per week and such
restriction of hours of work per week shall continue in force until the number of working
hours allowed shall be altered in accordance with the provisions of Clauses 7(1),(2) and (3).
Clause 5 then proceeded to explain that the number of working hours per week mentioned
in the working time agreement represented the extent of hours to which signatories were in all
entitled in each week to work their registered complement of looms as determined under Clause
13 on the basis that they used the full complement of their loomage as registered with and
certified by the committee. This clause also contained a provision for increase of the number of
working hours per week allowed to a signatory in the event of any reduction in his loomage. It
was also stipulated in this clause that the hours of work allowed to be utilised in each week shall
cease at the end of that week and shall not be allowed to be carried forward. The number of
working hours per week prescribed by Clause 4 was, as indicated in the opening part of that
clause, subject inter alia to the provision of Clause 10 and under that clause, a joint and several
agreement could be made providing that throughout the duration of the working time agreement,
 115

members with registered complements of looms not exceeding 220 shall be entitled to work up
to 72 hours per week. Clause 6(a) enabled members to be registered as a ―Group of Mills‖ if
they happened to. be under the control of the same managing agents or were combined by any
arrangement or agreement and it was open to any member of the Group of Mills so registered to
utilise the allotment of hours of work per week of other members in the same group who were
not fully utilising the hours of work allowable to them under the working time agreement,
provided that such transfer of hours of work was for a period of not less than six months Then
followed Clause 6(b) which is very material and it provided, inter alia, as follows:
Subject to the provisions of sub-clauses (i) to (ii) …signatories to this agreement shall
be entitled to transfer in part or wholly their allotment of hours of work per week to any one
or more of the other signatories; and upon such transfer being duly effected and registered
and a certificate issued by the committee, the signatories to whom the allotment of working
hours has been transferred shall be entitled to utilise the allotment of hours of work per
week so transferred.
There were four conditions precedent subject to which the allotment of hours of work
transferred by one member to another could be utilised by the latter and three of them were as
under:
(i) No hours of work shall be transferred unless the transfer covers hours of work per
week for a period of not less than six months;
(ii) All agreements to transfer shall, as a condition precedent to any rights being
obtained by transferees, be submitted with an explanation to the committee and the
committee‘s decision.... whether the transfer shall be allowed shall be final and conclusive.
(iii) If the committee sanctions the transfer, it shall be a condition precedent to its
utilisation that a certificate be issued and the transfer registered.
This transaction of transfer of allotment of hours of work per week was commonly referred
to as sale of loom hours by one member to another. The consequence of such transfer was that
the hours of work per week transferred by a member were liable to be deducted from the
working hours per week allowed to such member under the working time agreement and the
member in whose favour such transfer was made was entitled to utilise the number of working
hours per week transferred to him in addition to the working hours per week allowed to him
under the working time agreement. It was under this clause that the assessee purchased loom
hours from four different jute manufacturing concerns which were signatories to the working
time agreement, for the aggregate sum of Rs 2,03,255 during the year August 1, 1958 to July 31,
1959. In the course of assessment for the ―assessment year 1960-61 for which the relevant
accounting year was the previous year August 1, 1958 to July 31, 1959, the assessee claimed to
deduct this amount of Rs 2,03,255 as revenue expenditure on the ground that it was part of the
cost of operating the looms which constituted the profit-making apparatus of the assessee. The
claim was disallowed by the Income Tax Officer but on appeal, the Appellate Assistant
Commissioner accepted the claim and allowed the deduction on the view that the assessee did
not acquire ‗any capital asset when it purchased the loom hours and the amount spent by it was
incurred for running the business or working it with a view to producing day-to-day profits and
it was part of operating cost or revenue cost of production. The Revenue preferred an appeal to
116

the Tribunal but the appeal was unsuccessful and the Tribunal taking the same view as the
Appellate Assistant Commissioner, held that the expenditure incurred by the assessee was in the
nature of revenue expenditure and hence deductible in computing the profits and gains of
business of the assessee. This view taken by the Tribunal was challenged in a reference made to
the High Court at the instance of the revenue. The High Court too was inclined to take the same
view as the Tribunal, but it felt compelled by the decision of this Court in C. I. T. v.
Maheshwari Devi Jute Mills Ltd. [(1965) 57 ITR 36] to decide in favour of the revenue and on
that view it overturned the decision of the tribunal and held that the amount paid by the assessee
for purchase of the loom hours was in the nature of capital expenditure and was, therefore, not
deductible under Section 10(2) (xv) of the Act. The assessee thereupon preferred the present
appeal by special leave obtained from this Court.
4. Now an expenditure incurred by an assessee can qualify for deduction under Section 10
(2)(xv) only if it is incurred wholly and exclusively for the purpose of his business, but even if it
fulfils this requirement, it is not enough; it must further be of revenue as distinguished from
capital nature. Here in the present case it was not contended on behalf of the Revenue that the
sum of Rs. 2,03,255 was not laid out wholly and exclusively for the purpose of the assessee‘s
business but the only argument was and this argument found favour with the High Court, that it
represented capital expenditure and was hence not deductible under Section 10(2) (xv). The sole
question which therefore arises for determination in the appeal is whether the sum of Rs.
2,03,255 paid by the assessee represented capital expenditure or revenue expenditure. We shall
have to examine this question on principle but before we do so, we must refer to the decision of
this Court in Maheshwari Devi Juts Mills case since that is the decision which weighed heavily
with the High Court, in fact, compelled it to negative the claim of the assessee and hold the
expenditure to be on capital account. That was a converse case where the question was whether
an amount received by the assessee for sale of loom hours was in the nature of capital receipt or
revenue receipt. The view taken by this Court was that it was in the nature of capital receipt and
hence not taxable. It was contended on behalf of the Revenue, relying on this decision, that just
as the amount realised for sale of loom hours was held to be capital receipt, so also the amount
paid for purchase of loom hours must be held to be of capital nature. But this argument suffers
from a double fallacy.
5. In the first place it is not a universally true proposition that what may be capital receipt in
the hands of the payee must necessarily be capital expenditure in relation to the payer. The fact
that a certain payment constitutes income or capital receipt in the hands of the recipient is not
material in determining whether the payment is revenue or capital disbursement qua the payer.
It was felicitously pointed out by Macnaghten, J. in Racecourse Betting Control Board v. Wild
(1938) 4 All ER 487 that a ―payment may be a revenue payment from the point of view of the
payer and a capital payment from the point of view of the receiver and vice versa‖. Therefore,
the decision in Maheshwari Devi Jute Mills case cannot be regarded as an authority for the
proposition that payment made by an assessee for purchase of loom hours would be capital
expenditure. Whether it is capital expenditure or revenue expenditure would have to be
determined having regard to the nature of the transaction and other relevant factors.
6. But, more importantly, it may be pointed out that Maheshwari Devi Jute Mills case
proceeded on the basis that loom hours were a capital asset and the case was decided on that
 117

basis. It was common ground between the parties throughout the proceedings, right from the
stage of the Income Tax Officer up to the High Court, that the right to work the looms for the
allotted hours of work was an asset capable of being transferred and this Court therefore did not
allow counsel on behalf of the Revenue to raise a contention that loom hours were in the nature
of a privilege and were not an asset at all. Since it was a commonly accepted basis that loom
hours were an asset of the assessee, the only argument which could be advanced on behalf of the
Revenue was that when the assessee transferred a part of its hours of work per week to another
member, the transaction did not amount to sale of an asset belonging to the assessee, but it was
merely the turning of an asset to account by permitting the transferee to use that asset and hence
the amount received by the assessee was income from business. The Revenue submitted that:
Where it is a part of the normal activity of the assessee‘s business to earn profit by
making use of its asset by either employing it in its own manufacturing concern or by letting
it out to others, consideration received for allowing the transferee to use that asset is income
received from business and chargeable to income tax.
The principle invoked by the Revenue was that:
Receipt by the exploitation of a commercial asset is the profit of the business,
irrespective of the manner in which the asset is exploited by the owner m the business, for
the owner is entitled to exploit it to his best advantage either by using it himself personally
or by letting it out to somebody else.
This principle, supported as it was by numerous decisions, was accepted by the court as a
valid principle, but it was pointed out that it had no application in the case before the court,
because though loom hours were an asset, they could not from their very nature be let out while
retaining property in them and there could be no grant of temporary right to use them. The court
therefore concluded that this was really a case of sale of loom hours and not of exploitation of
loom hours by permitting user while retaining ownership and, in the circumstances, the amount
received by the assessee from sale of loom hours was liable to be regarded as capital receipt and
not income. It will thus be seen that the entire case proceeded on the commonly accepted basis
that loom hours were an asset and the only issue debated was whether the transaction in
question constituted sale of this asset or it represented merely exploitation of the asset by
permitting if user by another while retaining ownership. No question was raised before the court
as to whether loom hours were an asset at all nor was any argument advanced as to what was the
true nature of the transaction. It is quite possible that if the question had been examined fully on
principle, unhampered by any predetermined hypothesis, the court might have come to a
different conclusion. This decision cannot, therefore, be regarded as an authority compelling us
to take the view that the amount paid for purchase of loom hours was capital and not revenue
expenditure. The question is res Integra and we must proceed to examine it on first principle.
7. It is quite clear from the terms of the working time agreement that the allotment of loom
hours to different mills constituted merely a contractual restriction on the right of every mill
under the general law to work its looms to their full capacity. If there had been no working time
agreement, each mill would have been entitled to work its looms uninterruptedly for twenty-four
hours a day throughout the week, but that would have resulted in production of jute very much
in excess of the demand in the world market, leading to unfair competition and precipitous fall
118

in jute price and in the process, prejudicially affecting all the mills and therefore with a view to
protecting the interest of the mills who were members of the Association the working time
agreement was entered into restricting the number of working hours per week for which each
mill could work its looms. The allotment of working hours per week under the working time
agreement was clearly not a right conferred on a mill, signatory to the working time agreement.
It was rather a restriction voluntarily accepted by each mill with a view to adjusting the
production to the demand in the world market and this restriction could not possibly be regarded
as an asset of such mill. This restriction necessarily had the effect of limiting the production of
the mill and consequentially also the profit which the mill could otherwise make by working full
loom hours. But a provision was made in Clause 6(i) of the working time agreement that the
whole or a part of the working hours per week could be transferred by one mill to another for a
period of not less than six months and if such transfer was approved and registered by the
Committee of the Association, the transferee mill would be entitled to utilise the number of
working hours per week transferred to it in addition to the working hours per week allowed to it
under the working time agreement, while the transferor mill could cease to be entitled to avail of
the number of working hours per week so transferred and these would be liable to be deducted
from the number of working hours per week otherwise allotted to it. The purchase of loom
hours by a mill had therefore the effect of relaxing the restriction on the operation of looms to
the extent of the number of working hours per week transferred to it, so that the transferee mill
could work its looms for longer hours than permitted under the working time agreement and
increase its profitability. The amount spent on purchase of loom hours thus represented
consideration paid for being able to work the looms for a longer number of hours. It is difficult
to see how such payment could possibly be regarded as expenditure on capital account.
8. The decided cases have, from time to time, evolved various tests for distinguishing
between capital and revenue expenditure but no test is paramount or conclusive. There is no all
embracing formula which can provide a ready solution to the problem; no touchstone has been
devised. Every case has to be decided on its own facts keeping in mind the broad picture of the
whole operation in respect of which the expenditure has been incurred. But a few tests
formulated by the courts may be referred to as they might help to arrive at a correct decision of
the controversy between the parties. One celebrated test is that laid down by Lord Gave, L. C.,
in Atherton v. British Insulated and Halsby Cables Ltd. [1926 AC 205] where the learned law
Lord stated:
When an expenditure is made, not only once and for all, but with a view to bringing
into existence an asset or an advantage for the enduring benefit of a trade, there is very good
reason (in the absence of special circumstances leading to an opposite conclusion) for
treating such an expenditure as properly attributable not to revenue but to capital.
This test, as the parenthetical clause shows, must yield where there are special
circumstances leading to a contrary conclusion and, as pointed out by Lord Radcliffe in
Commissioner of Taxes v. Nchanga Consolidated Copper Mines Ltd, [1964 AC 948], it would
be misleading to suppose that in all cases, securing a benefit for the business would be prima
facie capital expenditure ―so long as the benefit is not so transitory as to have no endurance at
all‖. There may be cases where expenditure, even if incurred for obtaining advantage of
enduring benefit, may, nonetheless, be on revenue account and the test of enduring benefit may
 119

break down. It -is not every advantage of enduring nature, acquired by an assessee that brings
the case within the principle laid down in this test. What is material to consider is the nature of
the advantage in a commercial sense and it is only where the advantage is in the capital field
that the expenditure would be disallowable on an application of this test. If the advantage
consists merely in facilitating the assessee‘s trading operations or enabling the management and
conduct of the assessee‘s business to be carried on more efficiently or more profitably while
leaving the fixed capital untouched, the expenditure would be on revenue account, even though
the advantage may endure for an indefinite future. The test of enduring benefit is therefore not a
certain or conclusive test and it cannot be applied blindly and mechanically without regard to
the particular facts and circumstances of a given case. But even if this test were applied in the
present case, it does not yield a conclusion in favour of the Revenue. Here, by purchase of loom
hours no new asset has been created. There is no addition to or expansion of the profit-making
apparatus of the assessee. The income-earning machine remains what it was prior to the
purchase of loom hours. The assessee is merely enabled to operate the profit-making structure
for a longer number of hours. And this advantage is clearly not of an enduring nature. It is
limited in its duration to six months and, moreover, the additional working hours per week
transferred to the assessee have to be utilised during the week and cannot be carried forward to
the next week. It is, therefore, not possible to say that any advantage of enduring benefit in the
capital field was acquired by the assessee in purchasing loom hours and the test of enduring
benefit cannot help the Revenue.
9. Another test which is often applied is the one based on distinction between fixed and
circulating capital. This test was applied by Lord Haldane in the leading case of John Smith &
Son v. Moore [(1921) 2 AC 13] where the learned law Lord drew the distinction between fixed
capital and circulating capital in words which have almost acquired the status of a definition. He
said:
Fixed capital (is) what the owner turns to profit by keeping it in his own possession;
circulating capital (is) what he makes profit of by parting with it and letting it change
masters.
Now so long as the expenditure in question can be clearly referred to the acquisition of an
asset which falls within one or the other of these two categories, such a test would be a critical
one. But this test also sometimes breake down because there are many forms of expenditure
which do not fall easily within these two categories and not infrequently, as pointed out by Lord
Radcliffe in Commissioner of Taxes v. Nchanga Consolidated Copper Mines Ltd., the line of
demarcation is difficult to draw and leads to subtle distinctions between profit that is made ―out
of‖ assets and profit that is made ―upon‖ assets or ―with‖ assets. Moreover, there may be cases
where expenditure, though referable to or in connection with fixed capital, is nevertheless
allowable as revenue expenditure. An illustrative example would be of expenditure incurred in
preserving or maintaining capital assets. This test is therefore clearly not one of universal
application. But even if we were to apply this test, it would not be possible to characterise the
amount paid for purchase of loom hours as capital expenditure, because acquisition of additional
loom hours does not add at all to the fixed capital of the assessee. The permanent structure of
which the income is to be the produce or fruit remains the same; it is not enlarged. We are not
sure whether loom hours can be regarded as part of circulating capital like labour, raw material,
120

power etc., but it is clear beyond doubt that they are not part of fixed capital and hence even the
application of this test does not compel the conclusion that the payment for purchase of loom
hours was in the nature of capital expenditure.
10. The Revenue however contended that by purchase of loom hours the assessee acquired
a right to produce more than what it otherwise would have been entitled to do and this right to
produce additional quantity of goods constituted addition to or augmentation of its profit-
making structure. The assessee acquired the right to produce a larger quantity of goods and to
earn more income and this, according to the Revenue, amounted to acquisition of a source of
profit or income which though intangible was nevertheless a source or ‗spinner‘ of income and
the amount spent on purchase of this source of profit or income therefore represented
expenditure of capital nature. Now It ‗is true that if disbursement is made for acquisition of a
source of profit or Income, it would ordinarily, in the absence of any other countervailing
circumstances, be in the nature of capital expenditure. But we fail to see how it can at all be said
in the present case that the assessee acquired a source of profit or income when it purchased
loom hours. The source of profit or income was the profit-making apparatus and this remained
untouched and unaltered. There was no enlargement of the permanent structure of which the
income would be the produce or fruit. What the assessee acquired was merely an advantage in
the nature of relaxation of restriction on working hours imposed by the working time agreement,
so that the assessee could operate its profit-earning structure for a longer number of hours.
Undoubtedly, the profit-earning structure of the assessee was enabled to produce more goods,
but that was not because of any addition or augmentation in the profit-making structure, but
because the profit-making structure could be operated for longer working hours. The
expenditure incurred for this purpose was primarily and essentially related to the operation or
working of the looms which constituted the profit-making apparatus of the assessee. It was an
expenditure for operating or working the looms for longer working hours with a view to
producing a larger quantity of goods and earning more income and was therefore in the nature
of revenue expenditure. We are conscious that in law as in life, and particularly in the field of
taxation law, analogies are apt to be deceptive and misleading, but in the present context, the
analogy of quota right may not be inappropriate. Take a case where acquisition of raw material
is regulated by quota system and in order to obtain more raw material, the assessee purchases
quota right of another. Now it is obvious that by purchase of such quota right, the assessee
would be able to acquire more raw material and that would increase the profitability of his
profit-making apparatus, but the amount paid for purchase of such quota right would indubitably
be revenue expenditure, since it is incurred for acquiring raw material and is part of the
operating cost. Similarly, if payment has to be made for securing additional power every week,
such payment would also be part of the cost of operating the profit-making structure and hence
in the nature of revenue expenditure, even though the effect of acquiring additional power
would be to augment the productivity of the profit-making structure. On the same analogy
payment made for purchase of loom hours which would enable the assessee to operate the
profit-making structure for a longer number of hours than those permitted under the working
time agreement would also be part of the cost of performing the income-earning operations and
hence revenue in character.
 121

11. When dealing with cases of this kind where the question is whether expenditure
incurred by an assessee is capital or revenue expenditure, it is necessary to bear in mind what
Dixon, J said in Hallstrom’s Property Ltd. v. Federal Commissioner of Taxation, [72 CLR
634]:
What is an outgoing of capital and what is an outgoing on account of revenue depends
on what the expenditure is calculated to effect from a practical and business point of view
rather than upon the juristic classification of the legal rights, if any, secured, employed or
exhausted is the process.
The question must be viewed in the larger context of business necessity or expendiency. If
the outgoing expenditure is so related to the carrying on or the conduct of the business that it
may be regarded as an integral part of the profit-earning process and not for acquisition of an
asset or a right of a permanent character, the possession of which is a condition of the carrying
on of the business, the expenditure may be regarded as revenue expenditure. The same test was
formulated by Lord Clyde in Robert Addie and Son’s Collieries Ltd. v. I. R, [(1924) SC 231] in
these words:
Is it part of the company‘s working expenses, is it expenditure laid out as part of the
process of profit-earning? - or, on-the other hand, is it a capital outlay, is it expenditure
necessary for the acquisition of property or of rights of a permanent- character, the
possession of which is a condition of carrying on its trade at all?
It is clear from the above discussion that the payment made by the assessee for purchase of
loom hours was expenditure laid out as part of the process of profit-earning. It was, to use Lord
Soumnar‘s words, an outlay of a business ―in order to carry it on and to earn a profit out of this
expense as an expense of carrying it on‖. It was part of the cost of operating the profit-earning
apparatus and was clearly in the nature of revenue expenditure.
12. It was pointed out by Lord Radcliffe in Commissioner of Taxes v. Nchanga
Consolidated Copper Mines Ltd. that ―in ‗considering allocation of expenditure between the
capital and income accounts, it is almost unavoidable to argue from analogy‖. There are always
cases falling indisputably on one or the other side of the line and it is a familiar argument in tax
courts that the case under review bears close analogy to a case falling on the right side of the
line and must therefore be decided in the same manner. If we apply this method, the case closest
to the present one that we can find is Nchanga Consolidated Copper Mines case. The facts of
this case were that three companies which were engaged in the business of copper mining
formed a group and consequent on a steep fall in the price of copper in the world market, this
group decided voluntarily to cut its production by 10 per cent which for the three companies
together meant a cut of 27,000 tons for the year in question. It was agreed between the three
companies that for the purpose of giving effect to this cut, company B should cease production
for one year and that the assessee-company and company B should undertake between them the
whole group programme for the year reduced by the overall cut of 27,000 tons and should pay
compensation to company B for the abandonment of its production for the year. Pursuant to this
agreement the assessee paid to company B £ 1,384,569 by way of its proportionate share of the
compensation and the question arose whether this payment was in the nature of capital
expenditure or revenue expenditure. The Privy Council, held that the compensation paid by the
122

assessee to company B in consideration of the latter agreeing to cease production for one year
was in the nature of revenue expenditure and was allowable as a deduction in computing the
taxable income of the assessee. Lord Radcliffe delivering the opinion of the Privy Council
observed that the assessee‘s arrangement with companies R and B ―out of which the expenditure
arose, made it a cost incidental to the production and sale of the output of the mine and as such
its true analogy was with an operating cost. The payment of compensation represented
expenditure incurred by the assessee for enabling it to produce more goods despite the cut of 10
per cent and it was plainly part of the cost of performing the income-earning operation. This
decision bears a very close analogy to the present case and if payment made by the assessee-
company to company B for acquiring an advantage by way of entitlement to produce more
goods notwithstanding the cut of 10 per cent was regarded by the Privy Council as revenue
expenditure, a fortiorari, expenditure incurred by the assessee in the present case for purchase of
loom hours so as to enable the assessee to work the profit-making apparatus for a longer number
of hours and produce more goods than what the assessee would otherwise be entitled to do,
must be held to be of revenue character.
13. The decision in Commissioner of Taxes v. Canon Company [45 TC 10] also bears
comparison with the present case. There certain expenditure was incurred by the assessee-
company for the purpose of obtaining a supplementary charter altering its constitution, so that
the management of the company could be placed on a sound commercial footing and restrictions
on the borrowing powers of the assessee-company could be removed. The old charter contained
certain antiquated provisions and also restricted the borrowing powers of the assessee-company
and these features severely handicapped the assessee-company in the development of its trading
activities. The House of Lords held that the expenditure incurred for obtaining the revised
charter eliminating these features which operated as impediments to the profitable development
of the assessee-company‘s business was in the nature of revenue expenditure since it was
incurred for facilitating the day-to-day trading operations of the assessee-company and enabling
the management and conduct of the assessee-company‘s business to be carried on more
efficiently. Lord Reid emphasised in the course of his speech that the expenditure was incurred
by the assessee-company ―to remove antiquated restrictions which were preventing profits from
being earned‖ and on that account held the expenditure to be of revenue character. It must
follow on an analogical reasoning that expenditure incurred by the assessee in the present case
for the purpose of removing a restriction on the number of working hours for which it could
operate the looms, with a view to increasing its profits, would also be in the nature of revenue
expenditure.
14. We are therefore of the view that the payment of Rs 2,03,255 made by the assessee for
purchase of loom hours represented revenue expenditure and was allowable as a deduction
under Section 10(2) (xv) of the Act. We accordingly allow the appeal and answer the question
referred by the Tribunal in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue.

*****
 123

L.B. Sugar Factory & Oil Mills (P) Ltd., Pilibhit v. C.I.T.
AIR 1981 SC 395

P.N. BHAGWATI, J. - The dispute in this appeal by certificate relates to two items of
expenditure incurred by the assessee during the assessment year 1956-57 for which the relevant
accounting year was the year ending on 30th September, 1955. The assessee is a private limited
company carrying on business of manufacture and sale of crystal sugar in a factory situated in
Pilibhit in the State of Uttar Pradesh. In the year 1952-53, a dam was constructed by the State
of Uttar Pradesh at a place called Deoni and a road Deoni Dam-Majhala was constructed
connecting the Deoni Dam with Majhala. It seems that the Collector requested the assessee to
make some contribution towards the construction of the Deoni Dam and the Deoni Dam-
Majhala Road and pursuant to this request of the Collector, the assessee contributed a sum of
Rs. 22,332/- during the accounting year ending 30th September, 1955. The assessee also
contributed a sum of Rs. 50,000/- to the State of Uttar Pradesh during the same accounting year
towards meeting the cost of construction of roads in the area around its factory under a Sugar-
cane Development Scheme promoted by the Uttar Pradesh Government as part of the Second
Five Year Plan. It was provided under the Sugar-cane Development Scheme that one third of
the cost of construction of roads would be met by the Central Government, one third by the
State Government and the remaining one third by Sugar factories and sugar-cane growers and it
was under this scheme that the sum of Rs. 50,000/- was contributed by the assessee. In the
course of its assessment to Income-tax for the assessment year 1956-57, the assessee claimed to
deduct these two amounts of Rs. 22,332/- and Rs. 50,000/- as deductible expenditure under
Section 10(2)(xv) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922. The Income-tax Officer disallowed the
claim for deduction on the ground that the expenditure incurred was of capital nature and was
not allowable as a deduction under Section 10(2)(xv). The assessee preferred an appeal to the
Appellate Assistant Commissioner but the appeal failed and this led to the filing of a further
appeal before the Tribunal. The appeal was heard by a Bench of two members of the Tribunal
and there was a difference of opinion between them. The Judicial Member took the view that
the expenditure of both the amounts of Rs. 22,332/- and Rs. 50,000/- was in the nature of
revenue expenditure and was therefore allowable as a deduction while the Accountant Member
held that this expenditure was on capital account and could not be allowed as revenue
expenditure. Since there was a difference of opinion between the two members, the question
which formed the subject matter of difference was referred for consideration to a third member.
The third member did not go into the question whether the expenditure incurred by the assessee
was in the nature of capital or revenue expenditure but took a totally different line and held that
the contributions were made by the assessee as a good citizen just as any other person would
and it could not be said that the expenditure was laid out wholly and exclusively for the purpose
of the business of the assessee. The third member in this view agreed with the conclusion
reached by the Accountant Member and held that both the amounts of Rs. 22,332/- and Rs.
50,000/- were not allowable as deductible expenditure under Section 10(2)(xv). The appeal of
the assessee was accordingly rejected by the Tribunal so far as this point was concerned. The
assessee thereupon sought a reference to the High Court and on the application of the assessee,
the following question of law was referred for the opinion of the High Court:
124

Whether on the facts and circumstances of the case the sums of Rs. 22,332/- and Rs.
50,000/- were admissible deduction in computing the taxable profits and gains of the
company‘s business.
The High Court observed that ―On the finding recorded by the third member of the Tribunal
and on the view expressed by the Accountant Member,‖ the expenditure could not be said to
have been incurred by the assessee in the ordinary course of its business and it could not be
―classified as revenue expenditure on the ground of commercial expediency.‖ The view taken
by the High Court was that since ―the expenditure was not related to the business activity of the
assessee as such, the Tribunal was justified in concluding that it was not wholly and exclusively
laid out for the business and that the deduction claimed by the assessee therefore did not come
within the ambit of Section 10(2)(xv).‖ The High Court accordingly answered the question
referred to it in favour of the revenue and against the assessee. The assessee thereupon preferred
the present appeal in this Court after obtaining the necessary certificate from the High Court.
(2) Now an expenditure incurred by an assessee can qualify for deduction under Section
10(2)(xv) only if it is incurred wholly and exclusively for the purpose of his business, but even
if it fulfils this requirement, it is not enough; it must further be of revenue as distinct from
capital nature. Two questions therefore arise for consideration in the present appeal: one is
whether the sums of Rs. 22,332/- and Rs. 50,000/- contributed by the assessee represented
expenditure incurred wholly and exclusively for the purpose of the business of the assessee and
the other is whether this expenditure was in the nature of capital or revenue expenditure. So far
as the first item of expenditure of Rs. 22,332/- is concerned, the case does not present any
difficulty at all, because it was common ground between the parties that this amount was
contributed by the assessee long after the Deoni Dam and the Deoni Dam-Majhala Road were
constructed and there is absolutely nothing to show that the contribution of this amount had
anything to do with the business of the assessee or that the construction of the Deoni Dam or the
Deoni Dam-Majhala Road was in any way advantageous to the assessee‘s business. The amount
of Rs. 22,332/- was apparently contributed by the assessee without any legal obligation to do so,
purely as an act of good citizenship, and it could not be said to have been laid out wholly and
exclusively for the purpose of the business of the assessee. The expenditure of the amount of Rs.
22,332/- was therefore rightly disallowed as deductible expenditure under Section 10(2)(xv).
(3) But the position is different when we come to the second item of expenditure of Rs.
50,000/-. There the assessee is clearly on firmer ground. The amount of Rs. 50,000/- was
contributed by the assessee under the Sugar-cane Development Scheme towards meeting the
cost of construction of roads in the area around the factory. Now there can be no doubt that the
construction of roads in the area around the factory was considerably advantageous to the
business of the assessee, because it facilitated the running of its motor vehicles for
transportation of sugarcane so necessary for its manufacturing activity. It is not as if the amount
of Rs. 50,000/- was contributed by the assessee generally for the purpose of construction of
roads in the State of Uttar Pradesh, but it was for the construction of roads in the area around the
factory that the contribution was made and it cannot be disputed that if the roads are constructed
around the factory area, they would facilitate the transport of sugar-cane to the factory and the
flow of manufactured sugar out of the factory. The construction of roads was therefore clearly
and indubitably connected with the business activity of the assessee and it is difficult to resist
 125

the conclusion that the amount of Rs. 50,000/- contributed by the assessee towards meeting the
cost of construction of the roads under the Sugar-cane Development Scheme was laid out
wholly and exclusively for the purpose of the business of the assessee. This conclusion was
indeed not seriously disputed on behalf of the Revenue but the principal contention urged on its
behalf was that the expenditure of the amount of Rs. 50,000/- incurred by the assessee was in
the nature of capital expenditure, since it was incurred for the purpose of bringing into existence
an advantage for the enduring benefit of the assessee‘s business. The argument of the Revenue
was that the newly constructed roads though not belonging to the assessee brought to the
assessee an enduring advantage for the benefit of its business and the expenditure incurred by it
was therefore in the nature of capital expenditure. The Revenue relied on the celebrated test laid
down by Lord Cave, L.C. in British Insulated and Helsby Cables Ltd. v. Atherton [(1926) 10
Tax Cas 155] at p. 189 where the learned Law Lord stated:
When an expenditure is made, not only once and for all, but with a view to bringing into
existence an asset or an advantage for the enduring benefit of a trade, there is very good reason
(in the absence of special circumstances leading to an opposite conclusion) for treating such an
expenditure as properly attributable not to revenue but to capital.
This test enunciated by Lord Cave L.C. is undoubtedly a well known test for distinguishing
between capital and revenue expenditure, but it must be remembered that this test is not of
universal application and, as the parenthetical clause shows, it must yield where there are
special circumstances leading to a contrary conclusion. The non-universality of this test was
emphasised by Lord Radcliffe in Commissioner of Taxes v. Nchanga Consolidated Copper
Mines Ltd. [(1965) 58 ITR 241 (PC)] where the learned Law Lord said in his highly felicitous
language that it would be misleading to suppose that in all cases securing a benefit for the
business would be prima facie capital expenditure ―so long as the benefit is not so transitory as
to have no endurance at all.‖ It was also pointed out by this Court in Empire Jute Co. Ltd. v.
C.I.T. [AIR 1980 SC 1946] that
(T)here may be cases where expenditure, even if incurred for obtaining advantage of
enduring benefit, may, nonetheless, be on revenue account and the test of enduring benefit may
break down. It is not every advantage of enduring nature acquired by an assessee that brings the
case within the principle laid down in this test. What is material to consider is the nature of the
advantage in a commercial sense and it is only where the advantage is in the capital field that the
expenditure would be disallowable on an application of this test.
If the advantage consists merely in facilitating the assessee‘s business operations or
enabling management and conduct of the assessee‘s business to be carried on more efficiently or
more profitably while leaving the fixed capital untouched the expenditure would be on revenue
account, even though the advantage may endure for an indefinite future.
(4) Now it is clear on the facts of the present case that by spending the amount of
Rs.50,000/-, the assessee did not acquire any asset of an enduring nature. The roads which were
constructed around the factory with the help of the amount of Rs. 50,000/- contributed by the
assessee belonged to the Government of Uttar Pradesh and not to the assessee. Moreover, it was
only a part of the cost of construction of these roads that was contributed by the assessee, since
under the Sugar-cane Development Scheme one third of the cost of construction was to be borne
by the Central Government, one third by the State Government and only the remaining one third
126

was to be divided between the sugar-cane factories and sugar-cane growers. These roads were
undoubtedly advantageous to the business of the assessee as they facilitated the transport of
sugar-cane to the factory and the outflow of manufactured sugar from the factory to the market
centres. There can be no doubt that the construction of these roads facilitated the business
operations of the assessee and enabled the management and conduct of the assessee‘s business
to be carried on more efficiently and profitably. It is no doubt true that the advantage secured for
the business of the assessee was of a long duration inasmuch as it would last so long as the
roads continued to be in motorable condition, but it was not an advantage in the capital field,
because no tangible or intangible asset was acquired by the assessee nor was there any addition
to or expansion of the profit making apparatus of the assessee. The amount of Rs. 50,000/- was
contributed by the assessee for the purpose of facilitating the conduct of the business of the
assessee and making it more efficient and profitable and it was clearly an expenditure on
revenue account.
(5) It was pointed out by Lord Radcliffe in Commissioner of Taxes v. Nchanga
Consolidated Copper Mines Ltd. [(1965) 58 ITR 241 (PC)] that ―in considering allocation of
expenditure between the capital and income accounts, it is almost unavoidable to argue from
analogy.‖ There are always cases falling indisputably on one or the other side of the line and it
is a familiar argument in tax courts that the case under review bears close analogy to a case
falling in the right side of the line and must, therefore, be decided in the same manner. If we
apply this method, the case closest to the present one is that in Lakshmiji Sugar Mills Co. P.
Ltd. v. C.I.T. [AIR 1972 SC 159]. The facts of this case were very similar to the facts of the
present case. The assessee in this case was also a limited company carrying on business of
manufacture and sale of sugar in the State of Uttar Pradesh and it paid to the Cane Development
Council certain amounts by way of contribution for the construction and development of roads
between sugarcane producing centres and the sugar factory of the assessee and the question
arose whether this expenditure was allowable as revenue expenditure under Section 10(2)(xv).
No doubt, in this case, there was a statutory obligation under which the amount in question was
contributed by the assessee, but this Court did not rest its decision on the circumstance that the
expenditure was incurred under statutory obligation. This Court analysed the object and
purpose of the expenditure and its true nature and held that it was a revenue and not capital
nature. This Court observed:
In the present case, apart from the element of compulsion, the roads which were constructed
and developed were not the property of the assessee nor is it the case of the revenue that the
entire cost of development of those roads was defrayed by the assessee. It only made certain
contribution for road development between the various cane producing centres and the mills.
The apparent object and purpose was to facilitate the running of its motor vehicles or other
means employed for transportation of sugarcane to the factory. From the business point of view
and on a fair appreciation of the whole situation the assessee considered that the development of
the roads in question could greatly facilitate the transportation of sugarcane. This was essential
for the benefit of its business which was of manufacturing sugar in which the main raw material
admittedly consisted of sugarcane. These facts would bring it within the second part of the
principle mentioned before, namely, that the expenditure was incurred for running the business
or working it with a view to produce the profits without the assessee getting any advantage of an
enduring benefit to itself.
 127

These observations are directly applicable in the present case and we must hold on the
analogy of this decision that the amount of Rs. 50,000 was contributed by the assessee ―for
running the business or working it with a view to produce the profits without the assessee
getting any advantage of an enduring benefit to itself.‖ This decision fully supports the view that
the expenditure of the amount of Rs. 50,000 incurred by the assessee was on revenue account.
(6) We must also refer to the decision of this Court in Travancore-Cochin Chemicals Ltd.
v. C.I.T. [AIR 1977 SC 991] on which strong reliance was placed on behalf of the Revenue.
The facts of this case are undoubtedly to some extent comparable with the facts of the present
case. But ultimately in case of this kind, where the question is whether a particular expenditure
incurred by an assessee is on capital account or revenue account, the decision must ultimately
depend on the facts of each case. No two cases are alike and quite often emphasis on one aspect
or the other may tilt the balance in favour of capital expenditure or revenue expenditure. This
Court in fact in the course of its judgment in Travancore-Cochin Chemicals Ltd. case
distinguished the decision in Lakshmiji Sugar Mills case on the ground that ―on the facts of the
case, this court was satisfied that the development of the roads was meant for facilitating the
carrying on of the assessee‘s business. Lakshmiji Sugar Mills’ case is quite different on facts
from the one before us and must be confined to the peculiar facts of that case.‖ We would make
the same observation in regard to the decision in Travancore Cochin Chemicals’ case and say
that the decision must be confined to the peculiar facts of that case, because Lakshmiji Sugar
Mills’ case admittedly bears a closer analogy to the present case than the Travancore-Cochin
Chemicals’ case and if at all we apply the method of arguing by analogy, the decision in
Lakshmiji Sugar Mills case must be regarded as affording us greater guidance in the decision in
the present case than the decision in Travancore-Cochin Chemicals case. Moreover, we find
that the parenthetical clause in the test formulated by Lord Cave L.C. in Atherton case [(1926)
10 Tax Cas 155] was not brought to the attention of this Court in Travancore-Cochin Chemical
case with the result that this Court was persuaded to apply that test as if it were an absolute and
universal test regardless of the question applicable in all cases irrespective whether the
advantage secured for the business was in the capital field or not. We would therefore prefer to
follow the decision in Lakshmiji Sugar Mills case and hold on the analogy of that decision that
the amount of Rs. 50,000 contributed by the assessee represented expenditure on the revenue
account.
(7) We accordingly dismiss the appeal in so far as the expenditure of the sum of
Rs.22,332/- is concerned. But, so far as the expenditure of the sum of Rs. 50,000/- is concerned
we hold that it was in the nature of revenue expenditure laid down wholly and exclusively for
the purpose of the assessee‘s business and was, therefore, allowable as a deduction under
Section 10(2)(xv) of the Act and allow the appeal to this limited extent.
128

Bikaner Gypsums Ltd. v. C.I.T.

(1991) 1 SCC 328

K.N. SINGH, J. - This appeal is directed against the judgment and order of the High Court of
Rajasthan answering the question referred to it by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in the
negative, in favour of the revenue and against the assessee. The question referred to the High
Court was as under:
Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was right in holding
that the payment of Rs 3 lakhs to the Northern Railway was a revenue expenditure and was
a deduction allowable under the Income Tax Act, 1961?
The circumstances leading to the reference and the appeal are necessary to be stated. The
Natural Science (India) Ltd. predecessor-in-interest of the assessee acquired a lease from the
Maharaja of the erstwhile Bikaner State on September 29, 1948 for mining of gypsum for a
period of 20 years over an area of 4.27 square miles at Jamsar. The lease was liable to be
renewed after expiring of 20 years. The Natural Science (India) Ltd. by a deed of assignment
dated December 11, 1948 assigned the rights under the lease to the Bikaner Gypsums Ltd., a
company wherein the State Government owned 45 per cent share. The Bikaner Gypsums Ltd.
(‗the assessee‘) carried on the business of mining gypsum in accordance with the terms and
conditions stated in the lease. The assessee entered into an agreement with Sindri Fertilizers, a
Government of India Public Undertaking for the supply of gypsum of minimum of 83.5 per cent
quality. Under the lease, the assessee was conferred the liberties and powers to enter upon the
entire leased land and to search for, win, work, get, raise, convert and carry away the gypsum
for its own benefits in the most economic, convenient and beneficial manner and to treat the
same by calcination and other processes. Clause 2 of Part II of the lease authorised the lessee to
sink, dig, drive, quarry, make, erect, maintain and use in the said lands any borings, pits, shafts,
inclines, drifts, tunnels, trenches, levels, waterways, airways and other works and to use,
maintain, deepen or extend any existing works of the like nature in the demised land for the
purposes of winning and mining of the mineral. Clause 3 granted liberty to erect, construct,
maintain and use on or under the land any engines, machinery, plant, dressing, floors, furnaces,
brick kilns, lime kilns, plaster kilns etc. Clause 4 conferred liberty on the lessee to make roads
and ways and use existing roads and ways. Clause 7 granted liberty to the assessee to enter upon
and use any part of parts of the surface of the said lands for the purpose of stacking, heaping or
depositing thereon any produce of the mines or works carried on and any earth materials and
substance dug or raised under the liberties and powers. Clause 8 conferred liberty on the lessee
to enter upon and occupy any of the surface lands within the demised lands other than such as
are occupied by dwelling houses or farms and the offices, gardens and yards. Clause 9 conferred
power on the lessee to acquire, take up and occupy such surface lands in the demised lands as
were then in the occupation of anybody other than the government on payment of compensation
and rent to such occupiers, and if the lessee is unable to acquire such land from the tenants and
occupiers, the government undertook to acquire such surface land for the lessee at the lessee‘s
cost. Clause 15 of Part II conferred liberty and power on the lessee to do all things which may
be necessary for winning, working, getting the said minerals and also for calcining, smelting,
manufacturing, converting and making merchantable.
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2. Part III of the lease contained restrictions and conditions to the exercise of the liberties
and powers and privileges as contained in Part II of the lease. Clause 2 of Part III provided that
the lessee shall not enter upon or occupy surface of any land in the occupation of any tenant or
occupier without making reasonable compensation to such tenant or occupier. Clause 3
prescribed restriction on mining operation within 100 yards from any railway, reservoir, canal
or other public works. It reads as under:
3. No mining operations or working shall be carried on or permitted to be carried on by
the lessee in or under the said lands at or to any point within a distance of 100 yards from
any railway, reservoir, canal or other public works or any buildings or inhabited site shown
on the plan hereto annexed except with the previous permission in writing of the Minister,
or some officer authorised by him in that behalf or otherwise than in accordance with such
instructions, restrictions and conditions either general or special which may be attached to
such permission. The said distance of 100 yards shall be measured in the case of a Railway
Reservoir or canal horizontally from the outer of the bank or of outer edge of the cutting as
the case may be and in the case of a building horizontally from the plinth thereof.
The above clause had been incorporated in the lease to protect the railway track and railway
station which was situated within the area demised to the lessee. Clause 5 of Part VIII of the
agreement stated as under:
5. If any underground or mineral rights in any lands or mines covered and leased to the
lessee in accordance with the provisions of those presents be claimed by any ‗Jagirdar‘,
‗Pattedar‘, ‗Talukdar‘, tenant or other person then and in all such cases the government shall
upon notice from the lessee forthwith put the lessee in possession of all such lands and
mines free of all costs and charges to the lessee and any compensation required to be paid to
any such ‗Jagirdar‘, ‗Pattedar‘, ‗Talukdar‘, tenant or other person claiming to have any
underground or mineral rights shall be paid by the government.
3. The assessee company exclusively carried on the mining of gypsum in the entire area
demised to it. The railway authorities extended the railway area by laying down fresh track,
providing for railway siding. The railways further constructed quarters in the lease area without
the permission of the assessee company. The assessee company filed a suit in civil court for
ejecting the railways from the encroached area but it failed in the suit. The assessee company,
thereupon, approached the Government of Rajasthan which had 45 per cent share of it and the
Railway Board for negotiation to remove the railway station and track enabling the assessee to
carry out the mining operation under the land occupied by the railways. Since, on research and
survey the assessee company found that under the Railway Area a high quality of gypsum was
available, which was required as raw material by the Sindri Fertilizers, all the four parties
namely, Sindri Fertilizers, Government of Rajasthan, Railway Board and the assessee company
negotiated the matter and ultimately the Railway Board agreed to shift the railway station, track
and yards to another place or area offered by the assessee. Under the agreement the railway
authorities agreed to shift the station and all its establishments to the alternative site offered by
the assessee company and it was further agreed that all the four parties, namely, Sindri
Fertilizers, Government of Rajasthan, Indian Railways and the assessee company shall equally
bear the total expenses of Rs 12 lakhs incurred by the railways in shifting the railway station,
yards and the quarters. Pursuant to the agreement, the assessee company paid a sum of Rs 3
130

lakhs as its share to the Northern Railway towards the cost of shifting of the railway station and
other constructions. In addition to that the assessee company further paid a sum of Rs 7300 to
the railways as compensation for the surface rights of the leased land. On the shifting of the
railway track and station the assessee carried out mining in the erstwhile Railway Area and it
raised gypsum to the extent of 6,30,390 tons and supplied the same to Sindri Fertilizers.
4. The assessee company claimed deduction of Rs 3 lakhs paid to the Northern Railway for
the shifting of the railway station for the assessment year 1964-65. The Income Tax Officer
rejected the assessee‘s claim on the ground that it was a capital expenditure. On appeal by the
assessee, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner confirmed the order of the Income Tax Officer.
On further appeal by the assessee the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal held that the payment of
Rs 3 lakhs by the assessee company was not a capital expenditure, instead it was a revenue
expenditure. On an application made by the revenue the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal referred
the question as aforesaid to the High Court under Section 256 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The
High Court held that since on payment of Rs 3 lakhs to the railways the assessee acquired a new
asset which was attributable to capital of enduring nature, the sum of Rs 3 lakhs was a capital
expenditure and it could not be a revenue expenditure. On these findings the High Court
answered the question in the negative in favour of the revenue against the assessee and it set
aside the order of the Tribunal by the impugned order.
5. Learned counsel for the appellant contended that since the entire area had been leased out
to the assessee for carrying out mining operations, the assessee had right to win the minerals
which lay under the Railway Area as that land had also been demised to the assessee. Since the
existence of railway station, building and yard obstructed the mining operations, the assessee
paid the amount of Rs 3 lakhs for removal of the same with a view to carry on its business
profitably. The assessee did not acquire any new asset, instead, it merely spent money in
removing the obstruction to facilitate the mining in a profitable manner. On the other hand,
learned counsel for the revenue urged that in view of the restriction imposed by clause 3 of Part
III of the lease, the assessee had no right to the surface of the land occupied by the railways. The
assessee acquired that right by paying Rs 3 lakhs which resulted into an enduring benefit to it. It
was a capital expenditure. Both the counsel referred to a number of decisions in support of their
submissions.
6. The question whether a particular expenditure incurred by the assessee is of capital or
revenue nature is a vexed question which has always presented difficulty before the courts.
There are a number of decisions of this Court and other courts formulating tests for
distinguishing the capital from revenue expenditure. But the tests so laid down are not
exhaustive and it is not possible to reconcile the reasons given in all of them, as each decision is
founded on its own facts and circumstances. Since, in the instant case the facts are clear, it is not
necessary to consider each and every case in detail or to analyse the tests laid down in various
decisions. However, before we consider the facts and circumstances of the case, it is necessary
to refer to some of the leading cases laying down guidelines for determining the question. In
Assam Bengal Cement Co. Ltd. v. CIT [(1955) 1 SCR 972], this Court observed that in the
great diversity of human affairs and the complicated nature of business operation, it is difficult
to lay down a test which would apply to all situations. One has, therefore, to apply the criteria
from the business point of view in order to determine whether on fair appreciation of the whole
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situation the expenditure incurred for a particular matter is of the nature of capital expenditure
or a revenue expenditure. The court laid down a simple test for determining the nature of the
expenditure. It observed : (SCR pp. 986-87)
If the expenditure is made for acquiring or bringing into existence in asset or advantage for the
enduring benefit of the business it is properly attributable to capital and is of the nature of
capital expenditure. If on the other hand it is made not for the purpose of bringing into existence
any such asset or advantage but for running the business or working it with a view to produce
the profits it is a revenue expenditure. If any such asset or advantage for the enduring benefit of
the business is thus acquired or brought into existence it would be immaterial whether the source
of the payment was the capital or the income of the concern or whether the payment was made
once and for all or was made periodically. The aim and object of the expenditure would
determine the character of the expenditure whether it is a capital expenditure or a revenue
expenditure.
7. In K.T.M.T.M. Abdul Kayoom v. CIT [(1962) 44 ITR 589] this Court after considering a
number of English and Indian authorities held that each case depends on its own facts, and a
close similarity between one case and another is not enough, because even a single significant
detail may alter the entire aspect. The court observed that what is decisive is the nature of the
business, the nature of the expenditure, the nature of the right acquired, and their relation inter
se, and this is the only key to resolve the issue in the light of the general principles, which are
followed in such cases. In that case the assessee claimed deduction of Rs 6111 paid by it to the
government as lease money for the grant of exclusive rights, liberty and authority to fish and
carry away all chank shells in the sea off the coast line of a certain area specified in the lease for
a period of three years. The court held that the amount of Rs 6111 was paid to obtain an
enduring benefit in the shape of an exclusive right to fish; the payment was not related to the
chanks, instead it was an amount spent in acquiring an asset from which it may collect its stock-
in-trade. It was, therefore, an expenditure of a capital nature.
8. In Bombay Steam Navigation Co. Pvt. Ltd. v. CIT [(1965) 1 SCR 770] the assessee
purchased the assets of another company for purposes of carrying on passenger and ferry
services, it paid part of the consideration leaving the balance unpaid. Under the agreement of
sale the assessee had to pay interest on the unpaid balance of money. The assessee claimed
deduction of the amount of interest paid by it under the contract of purchase from its income.
The court held that the claim for deduction of amount of interest as revenue expenditure was not
admissible. The court observed that while considering the question the court should consider the
nature and ordinary course of business and the object for which the expenditure is incurred. If
the outgoing or expenditure is so related to the carrying on or conduct of the business, that it
may be regarded as an integral part of the profit-earning process and not for acquisition of an
asset or a right of a permanent character, the possession of which is a condition for the carrying
on of the business, the expenditure may be regarded as revenue expenditure. But, on the facts of
the case, the court held that the assessee‘s claim was not admissible, as the expenditure was
related to the acquisition of an asset or a right of a permanent character, the possession of which
was a condition for carrying on the business.
9. The High Court has relied upon the decision of this Court in R.B. Seth Moolchand
Suganchand v. CIT [(1972) 86 ITR 647] in rejecting the assessee‘s contention. In Suganchand
132

case the assessee was carrying on a mining business, he had paid a sum of Rs 1,53,800 to
acquire lease of certain areas of land bearing mica for a period of 20 years. Those areas had
already been worked for 15 years by other lessees. The assessee had paid a sum of Rs 3200 as
fee for a licence for prospecting for emerald for a period of one year. In addition to the fee, the
assessee had to pay royalty on the emerald excavated and sold. The assessee claimed the
expenditure of Rs 3200 paid by it as fee to the government for prospecting licence as revenue
expenditure. The assessee further claimed that the appropriate part of Rs 1,53,800 paid by it as
lease money was allowable as revenue expenditure. The court held that while considering the
question in relation to the mining leases an empirical test is that where minerals have to be won,
extracted and brought to surface by mining operations, the expenditure incurred for acquiring
such a right would be of a capital nature. But, where the mineral has already been gotten and is
on the surface, then the expenditure incurred for obtaining the right to acquire the raw material
would be a revenue expenditure. The court held that since the payment of tender money was for
acquisition of capital asset, the same could not be treated as a revenue expenditure. As regards
the claim relating to the prospecting licence fee of Rs 3200 the court held that since the licence
was for prospecting only and as the assessee had not started working a mine, the payment was
made to the government with the object of initiating the business. The court held that even
though the amount of prospecting licence fee was for a period of one year, it did not make any
difference as the fee was paid to obtain a licence to investigate, search and find the mineral with
the object of conducting the business, extracting ore from the earth necessary for initiating the
business. The facts involved in that case are totally different from the instant case. The assessee
in the instant case never claimed any deduction with regard to the licence fee or royalty paid by
it, instead, the claim relates to the amount spent on the removal of a restriction which obstructed
the carrying of the business of mining within a particular area in respect of which the assessee
had already acquired mining rights. The payment of Rs 3 lakhs for shifting of the railway track
and railway station was not made for initiating the business of mining operations or for
acquiring any right, instead the payment was made to remove obstruction to facilitate the
business of mining. The principles laid down in Suganchand case do not apply to the instant
case.
10. In British Insulated and Helsby Cables Ltd. v. Atherton [1926 AC 205], Lord Cave
laid down a test which has almost universally been accepted. Lord Cave observed:
(W)hen an expenditure is made, not only once and for all, but with a view to bringing into
existence an asset or an advantage for the enduring benefit of a trade, I think that there is very
good reason (in the absence of special circumstances leading to an opposite conclusion) for
treating such an expenditure as properly attributable not to revenue but to capital.
This dictum has been followed and approved by this Court in the cases of Assam Bengal
Cement Co. Ltd., Abdul Kayoom and Seth Suganchand and several other decisions of this
Court. But, the test laid down by Lord Cave has been explained in a number of cases which
show that the tests for considering the expenditure for the purposes of bringing into existence, as
an asset or an advantage for the enduring benefit of a trade is not always true and perhaps Lord
Cave himself had in mind that the test of enduring benefit of a trade would be a good test in the
absence of special circumstances leading to an opposite conclusion. Therefore, the test laid
down by Lord Cave was not a conclusive one as Lord Cave himself did not regard his test as a
 133

conclusive one and he recognised that special circumstances might very well lead to an opposite
conclusion.
11. In Gotan Lime Syndicate v. CIT [(1966) 59 ITR 718] the assessee which carried on the
business of manufacturing lime from limestone, was granted the right to excavate limestone in
certain areas under a lease. Under the lease the assessee had to pay royalty of Rs 96,000 per
annum. The assessee claimed the payment of Rs 96,000 to the government as a revenue
expenditure. This Court after considering its earlier decision in Abdul Kayoom case and also the
decision of Lord Cave in British Insulated held that the royalty paid by the assessee has to be
allowed as revenue expenditure as it had relation to the raw materials to be excavated and
extracted. The court observed that the royalty payment including the dead rent had relation to
the lime deposits. The court observed although the assessee did derive an advantage and further
even though the advantage lasted at least for a period of five years there was no payment made
once for all. No lump sum payment was ever settled, instead, only an annual royalty and dead
rent was paid. The court held that the royalty was not a direct payment for securing an enduring
benefit, instead it had relation to the raw materials to be obtained. In this decision expenditure
for securing an advantage which was to last at least for a period of five years was not treated to
have enduring benefit. In M.A. Jabbar v. CIT [(1968) 2 SCR 413], the assessee was carrying
on the business of supplying lime and sand, and for the purposes of acquiring sand he had
obtained a lease of a river bed from the State Government for a period of 11 months. Under the
lease he had to pay large amount of lease money for the grant of an exclusive right to carry
away sand within, under or upon the land. The assessee in proceedings for assessment of
income tax claimed deduction with regard to the amount paid as lease money. The court held
that the expenditure incurred by the assessee was not related to the acquisition of an asset or a
right of permanent character instead the expenditure was for a specific object of enabling the
assessee to remove the sand lying on the surface of the land which was stock-in-trade of the
business, therefore, the expenditure was a revenue expenditure.
12. Whether payments made by an assessee for removal of any restriction or obstacle to its
business would be in the nature of capital or revenue expenditure, has been considered by
courts. In Commissioner of Inland Revenue v. Carron Company [(1966-69) 45 Tax Cas 18]
the assessee carried on the business of iron founders which was incorporated by a Charter
granted to it in 1773. By passage of time many of its features had become archaic and unsuited
to modern conditions and the company‘s commercial performance was suffering a progressive
decline. The Charter of the company placed restriction on the company‘s borrowing powers and
it placed restriction on voting rights of certain members. The company decided to petition for a
supplementary Charter providing for the vesting of the management in Board of Directors and
for the removal of the limitation on company‘s borrowing powers and restrictions on the issue
and transfer of shares. The company‘s petition was contested by dissenting shareholders in
court. The company settled the litigation under which it had to pay the cost of legal action and
buy out the holdings of the dissenting shareholders and in pursuance thereof a supplementary
Charter was granted. In assessment proceedings, the company claimed deduction of payments
made by it towards the cost of obtaining the Charter, the amounts paid to the dissenting
shareholders and expenses in the action. The Special Commissioner held that the company was
entitled to the deductions. On appeal the House of Lords held that since the object of the new
134

Charter was to remove obstacle to profitable trading, and the engagement of a competent
Manager and the removal of restrictions on borrowing facilitated the day-to-day trading
operation of the company, the expenditure was on income account. The House of Lords
considered the test laid down by Lord Cave L.C. in British Insulated Company case and held
that the payments made by the company, were for the purpose of removing of disability of the
company‘s trading operation which prejudiced its operation. This was achieved without
acquisition of any tangible or intangible asset or without creation of any new branch of trading
activity. From a commercial and business point of view nothing in the nature of additional fixed
capital was thereby achieved. The court pointed out that there is a sharp distinction between the
removal of a disability on one hand payment for which is a revenue payment, and the bringing
into existence of an advantage, payment for which may be a capital payment. Since, in the case
before the court, the company had made payments for removal of disabilities which confined
their business under the out of date Charter of 1773, the expenditure was on revenue account. In
Empire Jute Company v. CIT [(1980) 124 ITR 1], this Court held that expenditure made by an
assessee for the purpose of removing the restriction on the number of working hours with a view
to increase its profits, was in the nature of revenue expenditure. The court observed that if the
advantage consists merely in facilitating the assessee‘s trading operations or enabling the
management and conduct of the assessee‘s business to be carried on more efficiently or more
profitably while leaving the fixed capital untouched, the expenditure would be on revenue
account even though the advantage may endure for an indefinite future. We agree with the view
taken in the aforesaid two decisions. In our opinion where the assessee has an existing right to
carry on a business, any expenditure made by it during the course of business for the purpose of
removal of any restriction or obstruction or disability would be on revenue account, provided
the expenditure does not acquire any capital asset. Payments made for removal of restriction,
obstruction or disability may result in acquiring benefits to the business, but that by itself would
not acquire any capital asset.
13. In the instant case the assessee had been granted mining lease in respect of 4.27 square
miles at Jamsar under which he had right to sink, dig, drive, quarry and extract mineral i.e. the
gypsum and in that process he had right to dig the surface of the entire area leased out to him.
Clause 3 of Part III of the lease, however, placed a restriction on his right to mining operations
from the Railway Area, but that area could also be operated by it for mining purposes with the
permission of the authorities. The assessee had under the lease acquired full right to carry on
mining operations in the entire area including the Railway Area. Under clause 3 he could carry
on mining operations only after obtaining the permission of the authorities which had been
granted by the railway authorities. The payment of Rs 3 lakhs was not made by the assessee for
the grant of permission to carry on mining operations within the Railway Area, instead the
payment was made towards the cost of removing the construction which obstructed the mining
operations. The presence of the railway station and railway track was operating as an obstacle to
the assessee‘s business of mining, the assessee made the payment to remove that obstruction to
facilitate the mining operations. On the payment made to the railway authorities the assessee did
not acquire any fresh right to any mineral nor he acquired any capital asset instead the payment
was made by it for shifting the railway station and track which operated as hindrance and
obstruction to the business or mining in a profitable manner. The assessee had already paid
tender money, licence fee and other charges for securing the right of mining in respect of the
 135

entire area of 4.27 square miles including the right to the minerals under the Railway Area. The
High Court has held that on payment of Rs 3 lakhs, the assessee acquired capital asset of an
enduring nature. The High Court failed to appreciate that clause 3 was only restrictive in nature,
it did not destroy the assessee‘s right to the minerals found under the Railway Area. The
restriction operated as an obstacle to the assessee‘s right to carry on business in a profitable
manner. The assessee paid a sum of Rs 3 lakhs towards the cost of removal of the obstructions
which enabled the assessee to carry on its business of mining in an area which had already been
leased out to it for that purpose. There was, therefore, no acquisition of any capital asset. There
is no dispute that the assessee completed mining operations on the released land (Railway Area)
within a period of 2 years, in the circumstances the High Court‘s view that the benefit acquired
by the assessee on the payment of the disputed amount was a benefit of an enduring nature is
not sustainable in law. As already observed, there may be circumstances where expenditure,
even if incurred for obtaining advantage of enduring benefit may not amount to acquisition of
asset. The facts of each case have to be borne in mind in considering the question having regard
to the nature of business its requirement and the nature of the advantage in commercial sense.
14. In considering the cases of mining business the nature of the lease the purpose for which
expenditure is made, its relation to the carrying on of the business in a profitable manner should
be considered. In the instant case existence of railway station, yard and buildings on the surface
of the demised land operated as an obstruction to the assessee‘s business of mining. The railway
authorities agreed to shift the railway establishment to facilitate the assessee to carry on his
business in a profitable manner and for that purpose the assessee paid a sum of Rs 3 lakhs
towards the cost of shifting the railway construction. The payment made by the assessee was for
removal of disability and obstacle and it did not bring into existence any advantage of an
enduring nature. The Tribunal rightly allowed the expenditure on revenue account. The High
Court in our opinion failed to appreciate the true nature of the expenditure.
15. We are, therefore, of the opinion that the High Court committed error in interfering with
the findings recorded by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. We, accordingly, allow the appeal,
set aside the order of the High Court and restore the order of the Tribunal.
*****
136

C.I.T. v. General Insurance Corporation

2007 (1) SCJ 800

ASHOK BHAN, J. The question which arises for consideration in this appeal is, as to
whether the expenditure incurred in connection with the issuance of bonus shares is a capital
expenditure or revenue expenditure. The question of law framed in the High Court was:
(i) Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law the Tribunal
was right in holding that the expenditure incurred on account of share issue is allowable
expenditure?
2. The assessee is an Insurance Company which has four subsidiaries. For Assessment Year
1991-92 the assessee filed a return of income of Rs. 58,52,80,850 along with the audit report.
The assessing officer disallowed a few expenses incurred as revenue expenditure, one of them
being in the sum of Rs. 1,04,28,500 incurred towards the stamp duty and registration fees paid
in connection with the increase in authorised share capital. The respondent assessee had during
the accounting year, incurred expenditure separately for: (i) the increase of its authorised share
capital, and (ii) the issue of bonus shares.
3. The assessing officer disallowed both the items of expenditure as revenue expenditure.
According to him, the expenses incurred were towards a capital asset of a durable nature for the
acquisition of a capital asset and, therefore, the expenses could only be attributable towards the
capital expenditure.
4. The assessee being aggrieved filed an appeal under Section 143(3) before CIT (Appeals).
Disallowance of Rs 1,04,28,500 in respect of stamp duty and registration fees incurred in
connection with the increase in the authorised share capital were bifurcated by CIT (Appeals)
into two categories, one relating to the increase in authorised share capital from Rs 75 crores to
Rs 250 crores and second relating to issue of bonus shares. In respect of the first category of
expenditure it was held that the same was not allowable in terms of the judgments of the
Bombay High Court in Bombay Burmah Trading Corpn. Ltd. v. CIT [(1984) 145 ITR 793
(Bom)] and Richardson Hindustan Ltd. v. CIT [(1988) 169 ITR 516 (Bom)]. The expenditure
falling under second category was allowed as revenue expenditure being directly covered by the
decision in Bombay Burmah Trading Corpn. case.
5. The Revenue being aggrieved challenged the order passed by CIT (Appeals) before the
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. The Tribunal upheld the decision of CIT (Appeals) treating the
expenses incurred towards the issue of bonus shares as revenue expenditure by observing inter
alia as under:
―We have carefully considered the rival submissions. The basis for the judgment by the
Hon‘ble Supreme Court in Brooke Bond India Ltd. v. CIT [(1997) 10 SCC 362] has been that
the expenditure was connected with the expansion of the capital base of the Company and
therefore such expenditure was capital expenditure. However, in the case of issue of bonus
shares there does not take place an expansion of the capital base of the Company but only
reallocation of the existing funds. We, therefore, hold that the learned CIT (Appeals) rightly
decided this issue in favour of the assessee. This ground of appeal is therefore rejected.‖
 137

6. The Revenue thereafter filed an appeal under Section 260-A of the Income Tax Act
before the High Court of Bombay, raising two questions of law. The High Court in its judgment
has affirmed the Tribunal‘s judgment by following its earlier decision in Bombay Burmah
Trading Corpn. This Court granted leave qua the question of law as reproduced in para 1 of this
judgment.
7. On the question, as to whether the expenses incurred in connection with the issue of
bonus shares is a revenue expenditure or a capital expenditure, there is a conflict of opinion
between the High Courts of Bombay and Calcutta on the one hand and Gujarat and Andhra
Pradesh on the other. The Bombay and the Calcutta High Courts have taken the view that the
expenses incurred in connection with the issue of bonus shares is a revenue expenditure whereas
the Gujarat and the Andhra Pradesh High Courts have taken the view that the expenses incurred
in connection with the bonus shares is in the nature of capital expenditure.
8. Learned counsel for the appellant relying upon the judgments of the Gujarat High Court
in Ahmedabad Mfg. and Calico (P) Ltd. v. CIT [(1986) 162 ITR 800 (Guj)], CIT v. Mihir
Textiles Ltd. [(1994) 206 ITR 112 (Guj)], Gujarat Steel Tubes Ltd. v. CIT [(1994) 210 ITR 358
(Guj)], CIT v. Ajit Mills Ltd. [(1994) 210 ITR 658 (Guj)] and the two judgments of the Andhra
Pradesh High Court in Vazir Sultan Tobacco Co. Ltd. v. CIT [(1990) 184 ITR 70 (AP)] and
Vazir Sultan Tobacco Co. Ltd. v. CIT [(1988) 174 ITR 689 (AP)] wherein it has been held that
the issuance of bonus shares increases the issued and paid-up capital of the company and the
bonus shares of the company are directly connected with the acquisition of capital and an
advantage of enduring nature. CONTENDS that the expenses incurred towards issue of bonus
shares confer an enduring benefit to the company which has a resultant impact on the capital
structure of the company and, therefore, it should be regarded as the capital expenditure.
Reliance has also been placed upon the judgments of this Court in Punjab State Industrial
Development Corpn. Ltd. v. CIT [(1997) 10 SCC 184] and Brooke Bond India Ltd. v. CIT. He
also relied upon CIT v. Motor Industries Co. Ltd. (No. 2) [(1998) 229 ITR 137 (Kant)] of the
Karnataka High Court and CIT v. Ajit Mills Ltd., Gujarat Steel Tubes Ltd. v. CIT of the
Gujarat High Court and Union Carbide India Ltd. v. CIT [(1993) 203 ITR 584 (Cal)] of the
Calcutta High Court.
9. As against this, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the respondent contends that
undoubtedly increase in share capital by the issue of fresh shares leads to an inflow of fresh
funds into the company which expands or adds to its capital employed resulting in expansion of
its profit-making apparatus, but the issue of bonus shares by capitalisation of reserves is merely
a reallocation of a company‘s funds. There is no inflow of fresh funds or increase in the capital
employed, which remains the same. The issue of bonus shares leaves the capital employed
unchanged and, therefore, does not result in conferring an enduring benefit to the company and
the same has to be regarded as revenue expenditure. He has relied upon the judgment of this
Court in CIT v. Dalmia Investment Co. Ltd. [AIR 1964 SC 1464], Bombay Burmah Trading
Corpn. Ltd. v. CIT, Richardson Hindustan Ltd. v. CIT and the subsequent judgments of the
same Court taking the same view and the judgment of the Calcutta High Court in Wood Craft
Products Ltd. v. CIT [(1993) 204 ITR 545 (Cal)].
138

10. We may at the outset indicate that this Court has laid down the test for determining
whether a particular expenditure is revenue or capital expenditure in Empire Jute Co. Ltd. v.
CIT [(1980) 4 SCC 25].
11. In short, what has been held in this case is that if the expenditure is made once and for
all with a view to bringing into existence an asset or an advantage for the enduring benefit of a
trade then there is a good reason for treating such an expenditure as properly attributable not to
revenue but to capital. This is so, in the absence of special circumstances leading to an opposite
conclusion.
12. Decisions of this Court in Punjab State Industrial Development Corpn. Ltd. and
Brooke Bond India Ltd. and CIT v. Motor Industries Co. Ltd. (No. 2) of the Karnataka High
Court, CIT v. Ajit Mills Ltd., Gujarat Steel Tubes Ltd. v. CIT and Union Carbide India Ltd. v.
CIT of the Calcutta High Court are of not much assistance to us. All these cases relate to the
issue of fresh shares which lead to an inflow of fresh funds into the company which expands or
adds to its capital employed in the company resulting in the expansion of its profit-making
apparatus. Expenditure incurred for the purpose of increasing company‘s share capital by the
issue of fresh shares would certainly be a capital expenditure as has been held by this Court in
the cases cited above.
13. Effect of issuance of bonus share has been explained by this Court in Dalmia
Investment Co. Ltd. where the question of valuation of bonus share was considered. After
quoting the decision in Eisner v. Macomber, [252 US 189 : 64 L Ed 521 (1920)] of the
Supreme Court of United States of America, Hidayatullah, J. explained the consequences of
issue of bonus shares by observing thus: (ITR p. 579)
―In other words, by the issue of bonus shares pro rata, which ranked pari passu with the existing
shares, the market price was exactly halved, and divided between the old and the bonus shares.
This will ordinarily be the case but not when the shares do not rank pari passu and we shall deal
with that case separately. When the shares rank pari passu the result may be stated by saying that
what the shareholder held as a whole rupee coin is held by him, after the issue of bonus shares,
in two 50 np. coins. The total value remains the same, but the evidence of that value is not in
one certificate but in two.‖
14. It was further observed at ITR pp. 577-78:
―It follows that though profits are profits in the hands of the company, when they are
disposed of by converting them into capital instead of paying them over to the shareholders, no
income can be said to accrue to the shareholder because the new shares confer a title to a larger
proportion of the surplus assets at a general distribution. The floating capital used in the
company which formerly consisted of subscribed capital and the reserves now becomes the
subscribed capital.‖
15. The Gujarat High Court in Ahmedabad Mfg. and Calico (P) Ltd. v. CIT has held, that
the expenses incurred towards the issuance of bonus shares is a capital expenditure. Bonus
shares issued by the assessee company also constitute its capital. Bonus shares, as rights shares
are an integral part of the permanent structure of the company and are not in any way connected
with the working capital of the company which is utilised to carry on day-to-day operations of
the business. Negativing the contention of the assessee that no benefit whatsoever is derived by
 139

the assessee company when its profits and/or reserves are converted into paid-up shares, it was
held that as a result of the increase in the paid-up share capital the creditworthiness of the
assessee company would increase which would be a benefit or advantage of enduring nature.
That the bonus shares are an integral part of the permanent structure of the assessee company.
The bonus shares are not different from rights shares as, according to it, in the case of bonus
shares a bonus is first paid to the shareholders who pay it back to the company to get their bonus
shares. This reasoning of the Gujarat High Court was evident from the following extracts from
its judgment at ITR p. 808:
―It is clear that when bonus shares are issued, two things take place: (i) bonus is paid to
the shareholders; and (ii) wholly or partly paid-up shares are issued against the bonus
payable to the shareholders. The shareholders invest the bonus paid to them in the shares
and that is how the bonus shares are issued to them.
In our opinion, therefore, it would not make any difference whether paid-up share
capital is augmented by issuance of right shares or bonus shares to the shareholders. … As
already pointed out above, bonus shares are not different from rights shares.‖
16. The above observation is completely contrary to the observation of this Court in Dalmia
Investment Co. Ltd. which judgment had not been referred to by the Gujarat High Court. In
Dalmia Investment Co. Ltd. this Court has held that floating capital used in the company which
formerly consisted of subscribed capital and the reserves now becomes the subscribed capital.
The conversion of the reserves into capital did not involve the release of the profits to the
shareholder; the money remains where it was, that is to say, employed in the business. In the
face of these observations the reasoning given by the Gujarat High Court cannot be upheld.
17. We do not agree with the view taken by the Gujarat High Court that increase in the paid-
up share capital by issuing bonus shares may increase the creditworthiness of the company but
that does not mean that increase in the creditworthiness would be a benefit or advantage of
enduring nature resulting in creating a capital asset.
18. The Andhra Pradesh High Court has in Vazir Sultan Tobacco Co. Ltd. v. CIT taken the
view that the expenditure incurred on the issue of bonus shares was capital in nature because the
issue of bonus shares led to an increase in the company‘s capital base.
19. The observations and conclusions are erroneous as they run contrary to the observation
made by this Court in Dalmia Investment Co. Ltd. The capital base of the company prior to or
after the issuance of bonus shares remains unchanged.
20. Issuance of bonus shares does not result in any inflow of fresh funds or increase in the
capital employed, the capital employed remains the same. Issuance of bonus shares by
capitalisation of reserves is merely a reallocation of the company‘s fund. This is illustrated by
the following hypothetical tabulation which establishes that bonus shares leaves the capital
employed untouched, because in the hypothetical example, the capital employed remains the
same (i.e. Rs. 600) both pre and post issuance of bonus shares:

S. No. Particulars Pre-Bonus Issue On Bonus Issue Post Bonus Shares

140

Rs. Rs. Rs.

1. Pre-paid share capital 100 100+100 = 200 200
2. Reserve 500 500-100=400 400
Total 600 600 600

21. As observed earlier, the issue of bonus shares by capitalisation of reserves is merely a
reallocation of the company‘s funds. There is no inflow of fresh funds or increase in the capital
employed, which remains the same. If that be so, then it cannot be held that the company has
acquired a benefit or advantage of enduring nature. The total funds available with the company
will remain the same and the issue of bonus shares will not result in any change in the capital
structure of the company. Issue of bonus shares does not result in the expansion of capital base
of the company.
22. The case Wood Craft Products Ltd. of the Calcutta High Court is similar to the case of
the respondent. In that case as well there was increase of authorised share capital by the issue of
fresh shares and a separate issue of bonus shares. The Calcutta High Court drew a distinction
between the raising of fresh capital and the issue of bonus shares and held that expenditure on
the former was capital in nature as it changed the capital base. On the other hand, in the case of
bonus shares, was held to be revenue expenditure following the decision of the Supreme Court
in Dalmia Investment Co. Ltd. on the ground that there was no change in the capital structure at
all.
23. In our considered opinion, the view taken by the Bombay and the Calcutta High Courts
is correct to the effect that the expenditure on issuance of bonus shares is revenue expenditure.
The contrary judgments of the Gujarat and the Andhra Pradesh High Courts are erroneous and
do not lay down the correct law.
24. For the reasons stated above, the question referred to us, is answered in the affirmative
i.e. in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue.

*****
 141

N. Bagavathy Ammal v. C.I.T.

JT 2003(1) SC 363

RUMA PAL, J. - The question to be decided in these appeals is whether the word ‗assets‘ in
section 46(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 must be understood and construed according to the
definition of the word ‗capital assets‘ in section 2(14) of the Act.
2. The issue arises in respect of the assessment year 1970-71. The appellants in the two
appeals which are disposed of by this judgment are sisters. They were share holders in M/s.
Palkulam Estate (Private) Ltd., Nagercoil. The company went into liquidation in 1964. Pursuant
to a compromise decree dated 22nd December 1969 in litigation between the assessees and their
brother (who was also a share holder in the company), and the company represented by the
liquidator, the assets of the company which included agricultural lands were distributed to the
appellants and eight others. The compromise decree stated:
This Court further order and decree that as far as liabilities of Palkulam Estate Private
Limited is concerned, the immovable properties be and hereby are distributed as indicated in
schedule ‗A‘ of the compromise. The respondents 1 to 5 and respondents 9 and 11 do get leased
portions as shown in the plans, signed by liquidator Mr. K.M. Boothalingam Pillai and handed
over to the appellant this day.
3. The appellants thereby received 479.89 acres of the agricultural lands prior to the end of
the relevant accounting year that was 31.3.70. The assessment in respect of the year 1970-71
had been completed on 27.2.71. The Income Tax Officer reopened the assessments under
section 148 of the Act. The appellants filed their returns in respect of the two notices under
section 148. The contention of the appellants that in terms of the definition of ‗assets‘ in section
2(14), agricultural lands were entitled to be excluded while computing capital gains on assets
received by the shareholder from a company in liquidation under section 46(2) was not
accepted. According to the assessing officer, section 46(2) refers only to money received on
liquidation or the market value of the assets on the date of distribution and it was immaterial
whether the asset was agricultural lands or otherwise. The value of the share of agricultural
lands transferred to each appellant was, therefore, included as income subject to capital gains
and subjected to tax. The assessees‘ appeals before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)
were allowed by holding that the scope of section 46(2) would have to be read in the light of the
definition of the word ‗capital asset‘ in section 2(14) and that ―having exempted agricultural
lands from capital gains under the general provision, it was difficult to interpret section 46(2) as
including agricultural land.‖ The action of the Income Tax Officer in charging the income of
the distribution of agricultural lands as capital gains under section 46(2) of the Act was
accordingly set aside.
4. The revenue appealed before the tribunal. The tribunal dismissing the revenue‘s appeal
held:
On a combined reading of section 45, 46(2) and 48 it will be clear, according to our
opinion, that assets mentioned in section 46(2) would mean capital assets. In as much as
section 47(viii) exempts transfer of agricultural land from capital gain tax under section 45,
we agree with the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) in coming to the conclusion that
142

it is difficult to interpret section 46(2) as including agricultural lands which is outside the
scope of the Income Tax.
5. Of the two questions referred to the High Court by the tribunal under section 256(1) at
the instance of the revenue only one survives for our decision. The second question was not
pressed before the High Court. The first question which was:
Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the appellate tribunal is right
in law in holding that the assets mentioned in section 46(2) would mean ‗capital asset‘ as
defined in section 2(14) and that consequently, the value of agricultural lands received by
the assessee on the liquidation of Palkulam Estate (P) Ltd. cannot be charged to be tax
under section 46(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961?
was answered by the High Court against the assessees and in favour of the revenue. The High
Court construed the provisions of section 46(2) and held, reversing the decision of the CIT(A)
and the tribunal, that the definition of ‗capital assets‘ under section 2(14) of the Act is not of any
relevance for the purpose of construing section 46(2) of the Act, and the fact that agricultural
lands to the extent provided in section 2(14)(c) of the Act are excluded from the definition did
not have any impact on the taxability of the market value of the agricultural land received by the
assessee on the distribution of the assets of a company in liquidation.
6. Before considering the correctness of the decision of the High Court the context in which
section 46(2) came to be part of the Act needs to be considered.
7. Section 12-B of the Income Tax Act, 1922 provided for payment of tax under capital
gains ―in respect of any profits or gains whatsoever from the sale, exchange, relinquishment or
transfer of a capital asset effected after 31st day of March 1956, and such profits and gains shall
be deemed to be income of the previous year in which the sale, exchange, relinquishment or
transfer took place.‖ Construing section 12-B of the Income Tax Act, 1922, this Court in
Commissioner of Income Tax, Madras v. Madurai Mills Co. Ltd. [1973 (89) ITR 45] had held
that when a shareholder receives money representing his share on distribution of the net assets
of the company in liquidation, he receives that money in satisfaction of the right which belonged
to him by virtue of his holding the shares and not by operation of any transaction which
amounts to sale, exchange, relinquishment or transfer within the meaning of section 12-B of the
Act.
8. Section 45(1) of the 1961 Act which substantially corresponds with section 12-B of the
1922 Act continues to provide that:
Any profits or gains arising from the transfer of a capital asset effected in the previous
year shall, save as the otherwise provided in sections 54, 54B, 54D, 54EA, 54EB, 54F, 54G
and 54H be chargeable to income tax under the head ‗capital gains,‘ and shall be deemed to
be the income of the previous year in which the transfer took place.
9. The words ‗capital assets‘ has been defined in section 2(14) of the Act which as it stood
at the relevant time, that is prior to its amendment in 1972, provided:
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires * * * * *
(14) ‗Capital assets‘ means property of any kind held by an assessee, whether or not
connected with his business or profession, but does not include
 143

(iii) agricultural land in India.

10. It has been held by this Court that the principle of Madurai Mills that a distribution of
assets of a company in liquidation does not amount to a transfer continues to apply to the 1961
Act.
11. The view in Madurai Mills Co. Ltd. has also been statutorily affirmed in Section 46(1)
which provides:
46.(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 45, where the assets of a company
are distributed to its shareholders on its liquidation, such distribution shall not be regarded as a
transfer by the company for the purposes of section 45.
12. In other words a distinction is drawn between a ―transfer‖ of assets and a distribution of
assets of the company on liquidation. Where there is ―transfer‖ of assets and not a
―distribution‖ on liquidation then having regard to section 47(viii) which provides that:
―Nothing contained in section 45 shall apply to the following transfers:
(viii) any transfer of agricultural land in India effected before the 1st day of March 1970‖
it may have been argued at least on behalf of the company that the ‗transfer‘ having been
concluded in 1969 was exempt from capital gains. This argument, however, is not available to
the shareholders who receive assets from the company on distribution consequent upon
liquidation because of section 46(2) which was introduced to make the receipts of assets from a
company liquidation by its share holders a taxable event for the first time. Section 46(2)
provides:
46(2). Where a shareholder on the liquidation of a company receives any money or
other assets from the company, he shall be chargeable to income tax under the head ‗capital
gains‘ in respect of the money so received or the market value of the other assets on the date
of distribution, as reduced by the amount assessed as dividend within the meaning of sub-
clause (c) of clause (22) of section 2 and the sum so arrived at shall be deemed to be the full
value of the consideration for the purposes of section 48.
13. The question is does the words ‗assets‘ in section 46(2) mean ‗capital assets‘ as defined
in section 2(14) of the Act? If it does then, it is conceded by the revenue, there is no question of
subjecting the agricultural lands received by the assessees from the company in liquidation to
capital gains.
14. Indisputably, the object in introducing section 46(2) was to overcome the reasoning in
Madurai Mills by broadening the base of the incidence of capital gains and expressly providing
for receipt of assets of a company in liquidation by a shareholder as a taxable event.
15. Section 46(2) is in terms of an independent charging section. It also provides for a
distinct method of calculation of capital gains. As said in C.I.T. v. R.M. Amin:
The aforesaid section, in our view, was enacted both with a view to make shareholders
liable for payment of tax on capital gains as well as to prescribe the mode of calculating the
capital gains to the shareholders on the distribution of assets by a company in liquidation. But
for that sub-section as already mentioned, it would have been difficult to levy tax on capital
gains to the shareholders on distribution of assets by a company in liquidation.
144

16. The section does not make any reference to capital assets either in connection with the
imposition of capital gains tax nor its computation.
17. Having referred to ‗capital asset‘ in section 45(1), 47 and 48, parliament appears to have
deliberately chosen to use the word ‗asset‘ in section 46(1) and (2), the ostensible intention
being to bring assets of all kinds within the scope of the charge. It is not necessary to refer to a
dictionary to hold that capital assets are a species of the genus ‗assets.‘ If the words ‗capital
assets‘ and ‗assets‘ as used in sections 45(1) and 46 respectively did not overlap then there was
no need to provide for a non obstante clause in section 46(1) with reference to section 45. As
correctly held by the High Court, agricultural land would have been a ‗capital asset‘ but for the
exclusion from the definition of ‗capital asset‘ and what is not a capital asset may yet be an asset
for the purposes of section 46(2).
18. Therefore, to the extent that a shareholder assessee receives assets whether capital or
any other from the company in liquidation, the assessee is liable to pay tax on the market value
of the assets as on the date of the distribution as provided under section 46(2). That appears to
be the plain meaning of the section and we see no reason to construe it in any other fashion.
The invocation of section 2(14) of the Act which defines ―capital asset‖ is as such unnecessary
for the purpose of construing section 46(2).
19. We accordingly dismiss the appeals without any order as to costs.

*****
 145

C.I.T. v. Rajendra Prasad Moody

(1978) 115 I.T.R. 519 (SC)

P.N. BHAGWATI, J. – These are two references made by the Tribunal to this court under s.
256 of the I.T. Act, 1961 in view of a conflict in the decisions of the High Courts on the
question as to whether interest on moneys borrowed for investment in shares is allowable
expenditure under s. 57(iii) when the shares have not yielded any return in the shape of dividend
during the relevant assessment year. The preponderance of judicial opinion is in favour of the
view that such interest is admissible, even though no dividend is received on the shares, but
there are two High Courts which have taken a different view and hence it is necessary for this
court to set the controversy at rest by finally deciding the question. It would be sufficient to
state that the assessees in these two references are brothers and each of them had borrowed
monies for the purpose of making investment in shares of certain companies and during the
assessment year 1965-66 for which the relevant accounting year ended on 10th April 1965, each
of the two assessees paid interest on the monies borrowed but did not receive any dividend on
the shares purchased with those monies. Each of the two assessees made a claim for deduction
of the amount of interest paid on the borrowed monies but this claim was negatived by the ITO
and on appeal by the AAC on the ground that during the relevant assessment year the shares did
not yield any dividend and, therefore, interest paid on the borrowed monies could not be
regarded as expenditure laid out or expended wholly and exclusively for the purpose of making
or earning income chargeable under the head ―Income from other sources‖ so as to be allowable
as a permissible deduction under s. 57(iii). The Tribunal, however, on further appeal, disagreed
with the view taken by the taxing authorities and upheld the claim of each of the two assessees
for deduction under s. 57(iii). The revenue being aggrieved by the decision of the Tribunal
made an application in each case for reference of the following question of law, namely:
Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, interest on money
borrowed for investment in shares which had not yielded any dividend is admissible under
s. 57(iii)?
And since there was divergence of judicial opinion on this question, the Tribunal referred it
directly for the opinion of this court.
The determination of the question before us turns on the true interpretation of s. 57(iii) and
it would, therefore, be convenient to refer to that section, but before we do so, we may point out
that s. 57(iii) occurs in a fasciculus of sections under the heading, ―F – Income from other
sources.‖ S. 56, which is the first in this group of sections, enacts in sub-s. (1) that income of
every kind which is not chargeable to tax under any of the heads specified in s. 14, Item A to E,
shall be chargeable to tax under the head ―Income from other sources‖ and sub-s. (2) includes in
such income various items, one of which is ―dividends.‖ Dividend on shares is thus income
chargeable under the head ―Income from other sources.‖ S. 57 provides for certain deductions to
be made in computing the income chargeable under the head ―Income from other sources‖ and
one of such deductions is that set out in cl. (iii), which reads as follows:
Any other expenditure (not being in the nature of capital expenditure) laid out or
expended, wholly and exclusively for the purpose of making or earning such income.
146

The expenditure to be deductible under s. 57(iii) must be laid out or expended wholly and
exclusively for the purpose of making or earning such income. The argument of the revenue was
that unless the expenditure sought to be deducted resulted in the making or earning of income, it
could not be said to be laid out or expended for the purpose of making or earning such income.
The making or earning of income, said the revenue, was a sine qua non to the admissibility of
the expenditure under s. 57(iii) and, therefore, if in a particular assessment year there was no
income, the expenditure would not be deductible under that section. The revenue relied strongly
on the language of s. 37(1) and, contrasting the phraseology employed in s. 57(iii) with that in s.
37(1), pointed out that the legislature had deliberately used words of narrower import in
granting the deduction under s. 57(iii). S. 37(1) provided for deduction of expenditure laid out
or expended wholly and exclusively for the purpose of the business or profession in computing
the income chargeable under the head ―Profits or gains of business or profession.‖ The language
used in s. 37(1) was ―laid out or expended – for purpose of the business or profession‖ and not
―laid out or expended – for the purpose of making or earning such income‖ as set out in s.
57(iii). The words in s. 57(iii) being narrower, contended the revenue, they cannot be given the
same wide meaning as the words in s. 37(1) and hence no deduction of expenditure could be
claimed under s. 57(iii) unless it was productive of income in the assessment year in question.
This contention of the revenue undoubtedly found favour with the High Court but we do not
think we can accept it. Our reasons for saying so are as follows:
What s. 57(iii) requires is that the expenditure must be laid out or expended wholly and
exclusively for the purpose of making or earning income. It is the purpose of the expenditure
that is relevant in determining the applicability of s. 57(iii) and that purpose must be making or
earning of income. S. 57(iii) does not require that this purpose must be fulfilled in order to
qualify the expenditure for deduction. It does not say that the expenditure shall be deductible
only if any income is made or earned. There is in fact nothing in the language of s. 57(iii) to
suggest that the purpose for which the expenditure is made should fructify into any benefit by
way of return in the shape of income.The plain natural construction of the language of s. 57(iii)
irresistibly leads to the conclusion that to bring a case within the section, it is not necessary that
any income should in fact have been earned as a result of expenditure. It may be pointed out
that an identical view was taken by this Court in Eastern Investments Ltd. v. CIT [(1951) 20
ITR 1, 4 (SC)], where interpreting the corresponding provision in s. 12(2) of the Indian I.T. Act,
1922, which was ipsissima verba in the same terms as s. 57(iii), Bose J., speaking on behalf of
the court, observed:
It is not necessary to show that the expenditure was a profitable one or that in fact any
profit was earned.
It is indeed difficult to see how, after this observation of the court, there can be any scope
for controversy in regard to the interpretation of s. 57(iii).
It is also interesting to note that, according to the revenue, the expenditure would disqualify
for deduction only if no income results from such expenditure in a particular assessment year,
but if there is some income, howsoever small or meagre, the expenditure would be eligible for
deduction. This means that in a case where the expenditure is Rs. 1000, if there is income of
even Re. 1, the expenditure would be deductible and there would be resulting loss of Rs. 999
under the head ―Income from other sources.‖ But if there is no income, then, on the argument
 147

of the revenue, the expenditure would have to be ignored as it would not be liable to be
deducted. This would indeed be a strange and highly anomalous result and it is difficult to
believe that the legislature could have ever intended to produce such illogicality. Moreover, it
must be remembered that when a profit and loss account is cast in respect of any source of
income, what is allowed by the statute as proper expenditure would be debited as an outgoing
and income would be credited as a receipt and the resulting income or loss would be
determined. It would make no difference to this process whether the expenditure is X or Y or
nil; whatever is the proper expenditure allowed by the statute would be debited. Equally, it
would make no difference whether there is any income and if so, what, since whatever it be, X
or Y or nil, would be credited. And the ultimate income or loss would be found. We fail to
appreciate how expenditure which is otherwise a proper expenditure can cease to be such
merely because there is no receipt of income. Whatever is a proper outgoing by way of
expenditure must be debited irrespective of whether there is receipt of income or not. That is the
plain requirement of proper accounting and the interpretation of s. 57(iii) cannot be different.
The deduction of the expenditure cannot, in the circumstances, be held to be conditional upon
the making or earning of the income.
It is true that the language of s. 37(1) is a little wider than that of s. 57(iii), but we do not
see how that can make any difference in the true interpretation of s. 57(iii). The language of s.
57(iii) is clear and unambiguous and it has to be construed according to its plain natural
meaning and merely because a slightly wider phraseology is employed in another section which
may take in something more, it does not mean that s. 57(iii) should be given a narrow and
constricted meaning nor warranted by the language of the section and, in fact, contrary to such
language.
This view which we are taking is clearly supported by the observations of Lord Thankerton
in Hughes v. Bank of New Zealand [(1938) 6 ITR 636, 644 (HL)], where the learned Law Lord
said:
Expenditure in course of the trade which is unremunerative is none the less a proper
deduction, if wholly and exclusively made for the purposes of the trade. It does not require
the presence of a receipt on the credit side to justify the deduction of an expense.
This view is eminently correct as it is not only justified by the language of s. 57(iii) but it also
accords with the principles of commercial accounting. The contrary view taken by the Patna
High Court in Maharajadhiraj Sir Kameshwar Singh v. CIT [(1957) 32 ITR 377] and the
Calcutta High Court in Sohanlal v. Madanlal CIT [(1963) 47 ITR 1] must in the circumstances
be held to be incorrect. We accordingly answer the question referred to us for our opinion in
each of these two references in favour of the assessee and against the revenue.
148

Philip John Plasket Thomas v. C.I.T.

(1964) 2 SCR 480

S.K. DAS, J. - These are four appeals on certificates granted by the High Court of Calcutta
under Section 66-A(2) of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1922. The appeals are from the decision
of the High Court dated February 28,1961 in Income Tax Reference No. 49 of 1956.
2. We may first state the relevant facts. One P.J.P. Thomas is the appellant before us. He
was the assessee before the taxing authorities. He held 750 ‗A‘ shares in J. Thomas & Co. Ltd.,
of 8 Mission Row, Calcutta. The assessee entered into an engagement to marry one Mrs Judith
Knight, stated to be a divorcee, and the engagement was announced in certain newspapers on
September 3, 1947. On December 10, 1947 the assessee and Mrs Knight presented to the
Company an application to transfer the said 750 ‗A‘ shares to Mrs Judith Knight. A transfer
deed of that date stated:
I, Philip John Plasket Thomas of 8, Mission Row, Calcutta, in consideration of my
forthcoming marriage with Judith Knight of 35, Ridgeway, Kingsbury, London (hereinafter
called the said transferee) do hereby transfer to the said transferee the 750 ‗A‘ shares
numbered 1-750 standing in my name in the books of J. Thomas & Co. Ltd. to hold to the
said transferee.… Executors, administrators and assigns, subject to the several conditions on
which I hold the name at the time of the execution thereof. And I the said transferee do
hereby agree to take the said shares subject to the same conditions.
On December 15, 1947 the Company transferred the shares to Mrs Judith Knight and registered
her as the owner of the shares. On December 18, 1947 the marriage was solemnised. On January
26, 1948 the fact of marriage was communicated to the Company and the name of the
shareholder was changed in the books of the Company to Mrs Judith Thomas. It is undisputed
that during the relevant periods the shares stood registered in the name of the assessee‘s wife
and when the income in question arose to her she was the wife of the assesee. The four
accounting years with which the assessments were concerned were those ending respectively on
April 30, 1948, April 30, 1949, April 30, 1950 and April 30, 1951. The four assessment years
were 1949-50, 1950-51, 1951-52 and 1952-53. It appears that for the years 1949-50 and 1950-
51 assessments of P.J.P. Thomas which had by then been already completed were reopened
under Section 34 of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1922 and the dividends of Rs 97,091 and Rs
78,272 as grossed up and paid to Mrs Judith Thomas during the accounting years ending April
30, 1948 and April 30, 1949 were reassessed in the hands of P.J.P. Thomas. For Assessment
Years 1951-52 and 1952-53, the dividends paid by the Company to Mrs Judith Thomas during
the accounting periods ending April 30, 1950 and April 30, 1951 were held by the Income Tax
Officer to be includible in the total income of P.J.P. Thomas under Section l6(3)(b) of the Act
and accordingly orders were passed including the sums of Rs 1,00,000 and Rs 16,385 being the
grossed up dividends for the two years respectively in the total income of P.J.P. Thomas.
3. Against the said assessment orders the assessee preferred appeals to the Appellate
Assistant Commissioner. By a common order dated May 11, 1955 the Appellate Assistant
Commissioner confirmed the orders of the Income Tax Officer holding that not only the
provisions of Section 16(3)(b) but also the provisions of Section l6(3)(a)(iii) of the Act applied
 149

in these cases. Against the order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner the assessee preferred
four appeals to the Appellate Tribunal and contended (1) that he transferred the shares to Mrs
Judith Knight when she was not his wife, (2) that the transfer of shares was absolute at the time
when it was made and no condition was attached to the transfer, and (3) that the transfer was for
adequate consideration. On these grounds the assessee contended that the provisions of Section
l6(3) of the Act were not attracted to the cases in question. The Appellate Tribunal by a
consolidated order dated April 4, 1956 disagreed with the view of the Income Tax Officer and
the Appellate Assistant Commissioner that the provisions of Section l6(3)(b) applied, but it held
that the cases fell within Section l6(3)(a)(iii) of the Act, because the transfer became effective
only after the marriage. It further held that the transfer could also be construed as a revokable
transfer within the meaning of Section 16(1)(c) of the Act. Therefore the Appellate Tribunal
dismissed the four appeals.
4. The assessee then made four applications for referring two questions of law arising out of
the Tribunal‘s order to the High Court. These questions were:
1. In the facts and circumstances of these cases, whether the dividends paid by J.
Thomas & Co. Ltd, to Mrs Judith Thomas, grossed upto the sums of Rs 97,091, Rs 78,272,
Rs 1,00,000 and Rs 16,385 respectively for the four years in question could be included in
the income of Mr P.J.P. Thomas and be taxed in his hands under the provisions of Section
16(3)(a)(iii) of the Indian Income Tax Act?
2. In the facts and circumstances of these cases, whether the dividends referred to above
could be included in the total income of Mr P.J.P. Thomas under the provisions of Section
16(1)(c) of the Indian Income Tax Act?
The Tribunal accepted these applications and referred the aforesaid two questions to this High
Court. By its decision dated February 28, 1961 the High Court answered the first question
against the assessee and the second question in his favour. The assessee then moved the High
Court for a certificate of fitness under Section 66-A(2) of the Act and having obtained such
certificate has preferred the present appeals to this Court. The appeals relate only to the
correctness or otherwise of the answer given by the High Court to the first question. As the
Department has filed no appeal as to the answer given by the High Court to the second question,
it is unnecessary for us to consider the correctness or otherwise of that answer.
5. The answer to the first question depends on the determination of two points: (1) what on
its proper interpretation is the true scope and effect of Section l6(3)(a)(iii) of the Act, and (2)
whether the transfer made by the assesses in favour of Mrs Knight took effect only from the
date of the marriage between the assessee and Mrs Knight. A third point as to adequate
consideration for the transfer was also gone into by the High Court, but in the view which we
have taken of the first two points involved in the question it is unnecessary to decide the point of
adequate consideration.
16. Exemptions and exclusions in determining the total income.-
(3) In computing the total income of any individual for this purpose of assessment,
there shall be included.
(a) so much of the income of a wife or minor child of such individual as arises directly
or indirectly….
150

(i) from the membership of the wife in a firm of which her husband is a partner;
(ii) from the admission of the minor to the benefits of partnership in a firm of which
such individual is a partner;
(iii) from assets transferred directly or indirectly to the wife by the husband otherwise
than for adequate consideration or in connection with an agreement, to live apart; or
(iv) from assets transferred directly or indirectly to the minor child, not being a married
daughter, by such individual (otherwise than for adequate consideration).‖
7. Sub-section (3) of Section 16 of the Act was introduced in 1937. For the purpose of its
application it is immaterial whether the partnership was formed before or after 1937 and
whether the transfer was effected before or after that date. However, the sub-section deals only
with income arising after its introduction. It clearly aims at foiling an individual‘s attempt to
avoid or reduce the incidence of tax by transferring his assets to his wife or minor child, or
admitting his wife as a partner or admitting his minor child to the benefits of partnership, in a
firm in which such individual is a partner. It creates an artificial income and must be strictly
construed [see Bhogilal Laherchand v. CIT, 25 ITR 523]. Clauses (a)(i) and (a)(ii) of the sub-
section provide that in computing the total income of an individual there should be included the
income arising directly or indirectly to his wife from her share as a partner or to his minor child
from the admission to the benefits of partnership, in a firm of which such individual is a partner.
We are not directly concerned with clauses (a)(i) and (a)(ii). We are concerned with clause
(a)(iii). Under that clause the income arising from assets transferred by an individual to his wife
has to be included in the transferor‘s total income. There are two exceptions to this Rule, viz. (1)
where the transfer is for adequate consideration, or (2) where it is in connection with an
agreement to live apart. The second exception has no bearing on the cases before us.
8. The first and principal point which has been urged before us on behalf of the appellant is
this. It is pointed out that at the time the transfer of shares was made by the assessee to Mrs
Judith Knight the latter was not the wife of the former and therefore clause (a)(iii) which talks
of ―assets transferred directly or indirectly to the wife by the husband‖ has no application, apart
altogether from any question of adequate consideration. This argument on behalf of the
appellant was advanced before the High Court also. The High Court sought to meet it in the
following way. Mukharji, J., who gave the leading judgment said that in order to determine
whether particular case came under clause (a)(iii) or not, the relevant point of time was the time
of computation of the total income of the individual for the purpose of assessment and the
section did not limit any particular time as to when the transfer of assets should take place. He
then observed:
It appears to me that as the addition of the wife‘s income to the husband‘s income under this
sub-section is made, the relevant time of the relationship between husband and wife which has
to be considered by the taxing authorities is the time of computing of the total income of the
individual for the purpose of assessment. That is how I read the opening words of Section 16(3)
of the Act: ‗In computing the total income of any individual for the purpose of assessment‘.‖
Bose, J. expressed a slightly different view. He said that the material consideration under
Section l6(3)(a)(iii) was whether the transferee was actually the wife of the assessee during the
relevant accounting period when the income from the assets transferred to her accrued. In effect
both the learned Judges held that for the application of clause (a)(iii) it was not necessary that
 151

the relationship of husband and wife must subsist at the time when the transfer of the assets is
made; according to Mukharji, J., the crucial date to determine the relationship is the date when
the taxing authorities are computing the total income of the husband and according to Bose, J.,
the crucial time is the time when the income accrues to the wife. It must also be stated in
fairness to Mukharji, J., that he did not accept the view that the words ―husband‖ and ―wife‖ in
clause (a)(iii) included prospective husband and prospective wife. He accepted the view that the
words ―husband‖ and ―wife‖ must mean legal husband and legal wife. Even so, he expressed the
view that on a true construction of Section l6(3)(a)(iii) the time when the relationship has to be
construed is the time when the computation of the total income of the husband is made.
9. Learned counsel for the appellant has very strongly contended before us that the view
expressed by the learned Judges of the High Court as to the proper interpretation of clause
(a)(iii) is not correct. On a plain reading of sub-section (3) of Section l6 it seems clear to us that
at the time when the income accrues, it must be the income of the wife of that individual whose
total income is to be computed for the purpose of assessment: this seems to follow clearly from
clause (a) of sub-section (3). Therefore in a sense it is right to say that the relationship of
husband and wife must subsist at the time of the accural of the income; otherwise the income
will not be the income of the wife, for the word ―wife‖ predicates a marital relationship. The
matter does not however end there. When we go to sub-clause (iii) we find that only so much of
the income of the wife as arises directly or indirectly from assets transferred directly or
indirectly to the wife by the husband shall be included in the total income of the husband.
Therefore, sub-clause (iii) predicates a further condition, the condition being that the income
must be from such assets as have been transferred directly or indirectly to the wife by the
husband. This condition must be fulfilled before sub-clause (iii) is attracted to a case. It is clear
that all income of the wife from all her assets is not includible in the income of the husband.
Thus on a proper reading of Section 16(3)(a)(iii) it seems clear enough that the relationship of
husband and wife must also subsist when the transfer of assets is made in order to fulfil the
condition that the transfer is ―directly or indirectly to the wife by the husband‖.
10. Learned counsel for the respondent has contended before us that the transfer mentioned
in Section l6(3)(a)(iii) need not necessarily be post-nuptial and he has argued that the main
object of the provision is the principle of aggregation, that is, the inclusion of the income of the
wife in the income of the husband, because of the influence which the husband exercises over
the wife. He has also pointed out that sub-clause (i) which refers to the membership of the wife
in a firm of which her husband is a partner is indicative of the object of the provision because it
does not talk of any assets being brought into the firm by the wife. He has further argued than in
sub-clause (i) the word ―wife‖ is merely descriptive and means the woman referred to in clause
(a) and the word ―husband‖ has reference merely to the individual whose total income is to be
computed for the purpose of assessment. In support of this argument he has relied on the
expression ―such individual‖ occurring in sub-section (3)(a). We are unable to accept these
arguments as correct. It is indeed true that all the four sub-clauses of clause(a) must be
harmoniously read as this court observed in CIT v. Sodra Dev [32 ITR 615, 623]; but we see no
disharmony between sub-clause (i) and sub-clause (iii) on the interpretation which we are
putting. Sub-clause (i) talks only of the membership of the wife in a firm of which her husband
is a partner; it has no reference to assets at all. Sub-clause (iii) however talks of assets and
152

qualifies the word ―assets‖ by the adjectival clause ―transferred directly or indirectly to the wife
by the husband‖. We fail to see how any disharmony results from giving full effect to the
adjectival clause in sub-clause (iii). Nor do we see why the words ―husband‖ and ―wife‖ should
be taken in the archaic sense contended for by the learned counsel for the respondent.
We are dealing here with a statute and the statute must be construed in a manner which
carries out the intention of the legislature. The intention of the legislature must be gathered from
the words of the statute itself. If the words are unambiguous or plain, they will indicate the
intention with which the statute was passed and the object to be obtained by it. There is nothing
in sub-section (3) of Section 16 which would indicate that the word ―wife‖ or the word
―husband‖ must not be taken in their primary sense which is clearly indicative of a marital
relationship. Nor are we satisfied that the object of the legislature is just the principle of
aggregation. We have said earlier that sub-section (3) of Section 16 clearly aims at foiling an
individual‘s attempt to avoid or reduce the incidence of tax by transferring his assets to the wife
or minor child or admitting his wife as a partner or admitting his minor child to the benefits of
partnership, in a firm in which such individual is a partner. This object does not require that the
word ―wife‖ or the word ―husband‖ should be interpreted in an archaic or secondary sense.
11. Learned counsel for the respondent has drawn our attention to certain English decisions,
particularly the decision of the House of Lords in Lord Vestey’s Executors and Vestey v.
Commissioners of Inland Revenue [31 Tax Cases 1]. One of the questions which was
considered in that decision was whether for the purpose of either Section l8 of the Finance Act,
1936 (in England) or Section 38 of the Finance Act, 1938 (in England) ―wife‖ included a
―widow‖. Their Lordships had to consider the earlier decision of the court of appeal in
Commissioners of Inland Revenue v. Gaunt [24 Tax Cases 69] which held that the one word
included the other. Their Lordships ultimately held, overruling the decision in Gaunt case that
the word ―wife‖ did not include a ―widow‖. The English decisions proceeded on the footing that
in England it is a principle of income tax law, embodied in Rule 16 of the General Rules, that
for income tax purposes husband and wife living together are one. Lord Morton said:
I think that the treatment of husband and wife by the legislature for income tax purposes rests on
the view that any income enjoyed by one spouse is a benefit to the other spouse. It is not
surprising, therefore, that in the sections now under consideration a benefit to the wife of the
settlor is treated as being a benefit to the settlor, but it seems to me unlikely that this principle is
being extended by these sections to the widow of the settlor.
Now, it is quite clear to us that the treatment of husband and wife in the Indian Income Tax Act,
1922 does not rest on the view that any income enjoyed by one spouse is a benefit to the other
spouse; for sub-section (3) of Section l6 makes it quite clear that all income enjoyed by the wife
is not to be included in the income of the husband and only such of the wife‘s income as comes
within the sub-section is to be included in the income of the husband. We therefore think that
the English decisions are not in point and there are no reasons why the word ―wife‖ or the word
―husband‖ should not be given its true natural meaning.
12. This brings us to the second question, namely, whether the transfer of shares made by
the assessee in favour of Mrs Judith Knight on December 10, 1947 was to take effect only from
the date of their marriage. It is admitted that on December 10, 1947 the assessee and Mrs Knight
 153

were not married. It is also admitted that they were engaged to be married and the engagement
was announced on September 3, 1947. The transfer deed which we have earlier quoted
contained no words of postponement. On the contrary, it contained words which indicated that
the transfer took effect immediately. Learned counsel for the respondent has rightly pointed out
that the expression in the transfer deed ―in consideration of my forthcoming marriage‖ can have
very little meaning as a real consideration, because on September 3, 1947 the parties had
mutually promised to marry each other; therefore the promise to marry had been made earlier
than December 10, 1947. Learned counsel for the respondent has argued before us that the
transfer of shares was really a gift made to Mrs Knight in contemplation of the forthcoming
marriage and the gift was subject to a condition subsequent, namely, that of marriage which if
not performed would put an end to the gift. This does not however advance the case of the
respondent in any way. A gift may be made subject to conditions, either precedent or
subsequent. A condition precedent is one to be performed before the gift takes effect; a
condition subsequent is one to be performed after the gift had taken effect, and, if the condition
is unfulfilled will put an end to the gift. But if the gift had already taken effect on December 10,
1947 and the condition subsequent has been later fulfilled, then the gift is effective as from
December 10, 1947 when the assessee and Mrs Knight were not husband and wife. That being
the position, sub-clause (iii) of Section 16(3)(a) will not be attracted to the case as the transfer of
the shares was not made by the husband to his wife.
13. We were also addressed on the question as to the circumstances in which a gift to an
intended wife or husband may be recovered when the marriage does not take place through the
fault of either of the two parties. We do not think that that question falls for decision in the
present case. From whatever point of view we look at the transfer of shares in the present case,
whether it be in consideration of a promise to marry or be a gift subject to the subsequent
condition of marriage, the transfer takes effect immediately and is not postponed to the date of
marriage. If that be the true position, as we hold it to be, then sub-clause (iii) of Section l6(3)(a)
is not attracted to these cases, apart altogether from any question as to whether there was
adequate consideration for the transfer within the meaning of that sub-clause. For the reasons
given above we allow the appeals and answer the question referred to the High Court in favour
of the assessee.
*****
154

Batta Kalyani v. Commissioner of Income Tax

(1985)154 ITR 59

ANJANEYULU, J. - The following question of law has been referred this court by the
Income-tax Appellate Tribunal under s. 256(1) of the I.T. Act, 1961:
Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Appellate Tribunal is
justified in holding that the income of the assessee's husband is includible in the assessment
of the assessee under s. 64(1)(ii) of the Act ?
2. This reference relates to the income-tax assessment year 1976-77. The assessee, Smt.
Batta Kalyani, runs a hardware and paint shops. She employed her husband, B. Venkataramaiah,
to manage the business and paid him salary for services rendered. There is no dispute that the
business is carried on by the assessee as a sole proprietrix. The ITO included in the total income
of the assessee, the salary paid by the assessee to her husband by applying the provisions of s.
64(1)(ii) of the Act.
3. The ITO held that the assessee's husband who was employed to manage the business did
not possess any technical or professional qualification and the income delivered by the
assessee's husband was not solely attributable to the application of the technical or professional
knowledge and experience of the assessee's husband. In that view, ITO came to the conclusion
that the proviso to s. 64(1)(ii) has no application to the facts of the present case. The assessee
appealed to the AAC, who allowed the assessee's appeal, holding that the sum paid by way of
salary to the assessee's husband is governed by the proviso to s. 64(i)(ii) of the Act and,
consequently, the salary paid to the assessee's husband was not liable to be included in the total
income of the assessee. The ITO appealed to the Appellate Tribunal against the order of the
AAC. The Tribunal allowed the ITO's appeal. In allowing the appeal, the Tribunal came to two
conclusions:
(a) that the proviso to s. 64(1)(ii) of the Act can have no application unless 'the
technical or professional qualifications' relate to the qualification awarded by a recognised
body; (b) there was also no evidence in the present case to show that the income earned by
the assessee's husband was solely attributable to the application of technical or professional
knowledge and experience. In the above view, the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal reversed
the order of the AAC and upheld the ITO's inclusion in the assessee's income under s.
64(1)(ii) of the salary paid to her husband. The assessee asked for and obtained this
reference under s. 256(1) of the Act.
4. Sri. M. J. Swamy, learned counsel for the assessee, has raised a two fold plea before us.
Firstly, he urged that the Tribunal was in error in considering that the technical or professional
qualification for purposes of the proviso above referred to should necessarily relate to a degree,
diploma or other certificate issued by a recognised body. Learned counsel submitted that the
proviso did not contain any requirement that the technical or professional qualification is
referable to the conferment of such qualification by a recognised body. It is submitted that if a
peron possesses technical or professional konwledge, that itself is an attribute of qualification.
Learned counsel reinforced the submission by reference to the latter part of the proviso which
referred to the professional knowledge and experience. According to the learned counsel, if
 155

qualification is the requirement, the latter part of the proviso could surely have proceeded to
state that the income should be solely attributable to the application of his or her technical or
professional qualifications. Instead of using the word "qualification", the Legislature had used
the words "knowledge and experience". Learned counsel, therefore, submitted that the word
"qualification" according in the first part of the proviso must be read taking into due
consideration the words "knowledge and experience" used in the latter part of the proviso.
Learned counsel further pointed out that in the present case, the assessee's husband had rich
experience in paint business and he used his skill and knowledge in the paint business and
helped the assessee to manage the business who was otherwise incapable of carrying on the
business. According to the learned counsel, the requirements of the proviso are satisfied and the
salary paid to the assessee's husband should not have been included in the total income of the
assessee.
5. Sri. M. S. N. Murthy, learned standing counsel for the Revenue, urged that the word
"qualification" occurring in the first part of the proviso should necessarily refer to the
certificate, diploma or a degree conferred by recognised body and the technical or professional
knowledge and experience referred to in the latter part of the proviso must be also originate
from the qualification referred to in the first part. According to the learned counsel for the
Revenue, technical or professional knowledge and experience simpliciter without a qualification
does not satisfy the requirement of the second part. Therefore, in a case where there is no
recognised technical or professional qualification as such, mere possession of technical
knowledge and experience does not bring into application the proviso above referred to. In this
view, learned standing counsel for the Revenue submitted that the view taken by the Income-tax
Appellate Tribunal is proper.
6. We find considerable force in the submission of the learned counsel for the assessee that
the words "technical or professional qualification" occurring in the first part of the proviso do
not necessarily relate to the technical or professional qualifications acquired by obtaining a
certificate, diploma or a degree or in any other form from a recognised body like university or
an institute. That this was not the intention of the Legislature is clear from the use of the
expression "knowledge and experience" in the latter part of the proviso, as otherwise it would
have been perfectly permissible for the Legislature to use the same expression as occurring in
the first part. The harmonious construction of the two parts of the proviso, in our opinion, would
be that if a person possesses technical or professional knowledge and the income is solely
attributable to the application of such technical or professional knowledge and experience, the
requirement for the application of the proviso is satisfied, although the person concerned may
not possess any qualification issued by a recognised body. In our opinion, the Tribunal erred in
coming to the conclusion that unless a recognised body conferred a qualification, it should not
be considered that a person possessed technical or professional qualification. It is enough, in our
opinion, for the purpose of the proviso, if the recipient of the salary possesses the attributes of
technical or professional qualification, in the sense that he has got expertise in such profession
or technique. If by the use of that expertise in the profession or technique, the person concerned
earns salary, then the part of the proviso is also satisfied.
7. Coming, however, to the facts of the present case, we are not satisfied that the second
part of the proviso is complied with. The finding of the Tribunal is that there was no evidence to
156

prove that the income earned by the assessee's husband was solely attributable to the application
of technical or professional knowledge and experience.
8. This is essentially a finding of fact and it is not challenged before the lower authorities.
We are, therefore, unable to accept the submission of the learned counsel for the assessee that in
the present case both the requirement of the proviso are satisfied. In that view of the matter, we
consider that the Tribunal was justified in coming to the conclusion that the salary paid by the
assessee's wife to her husband is includible in her total income under s. 64(1)(ii) of the Act. We,
accordingly, answer the question in the affirmative, that is, in favour of the Revenue and against
the assessee.

*****
 157

J.M. Mokashi v. Commissioner of Income-Tax

(1994) 207 ITR 252 (Bom)

B.P. SARAF, J. - By this reference under section 256(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the
Income-tax Appellate Tribunal has referred the following question of law to this court for
opinion:
"Whether, on facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Income-tax Appellate
Tribunal has rightly held that the income of the assessee's wife is includible in the income of
the assessee under section 64(1)(ii) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ?"
2. The assessee is a practising physician and cardiologist. His wife, Smt. Jayashree J.
Mokashi, had passed first year Arts of the Bombay University and was employed by him as a
receptionist-cum-accountant. During the accounting period, relevant to the assessment year
1978-79, the assessee paid a sum of Rs. 8,100 to her by way of salary. This amount was
included by the Income-tax Officer in the income of the assessee by applying the provisions of
section 64(1)(ii) of the Act. The assessee preferred an appeal to the Appellate Assistant
Commissioner of Income-tax. The appeal was rejected and the order of the Income-tax Officer
was affirmed by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. The assessee filed a second appeal
before the Tribunal. As there were some conflicting decisions of the various Benches of the
Tribunal on the point of issue, the Tribunal, by its order dated October 15, 1980, referred the
matter to a Special Bench for hearing and decision.
3. Before the Special Bench of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, the orders of the
Income-tax Officer and the Appellate Assistant Commissioner were challenged on various
grounds. The first contention of the assessee was that the word "concern" appearing in section
64(1)(ii) did not include "profession", as distinguished from "business" and, as such, the
provisions of the above section were not applicable. The second contention was that the
expression "substantial interest" appearing in section 64(1)(ii) read with Explanation 2(ii)
referred only to a proportion of the whole interest and not the "whole interest", and as such,
section 64(1)(ii) had no application to a proprietary concern in which the assessee has 100 per
cent interest. The third contention of the assessee was that possession of "technical or
professional qualifications" by the spouse of the assessee does not mean that she must hold a
degree of a competent authority or university in a particular technical or professional subject.
According to the assessee, it is sufficient if the spouse concerned possesses necessary technical
or professional knowledge and experience which might enable her to perform her duties.
Another argument of the assessee was that the word "and" appearing twice in the proviso to
section 64(1)(ii) should be interpreted as "or" and, consequently, the proviso should be held
applicable if any of the two requirements, viz., the spouse possesses technical or professional
qualifications or the income as attributable to her technical or professional knowledge exists.
4. The Tribunal rejected all the above contentions of the assessee and held as follows:
"(i) Section 64(1)(ii) applies, inter alia, to individual assessees,
who are proprietors;
(ii) "concern" means business as well as a professional concern;
158

(iii) a concern in which the individual has a substantial interest would include a concern
in which the individual has a cent per cent interest;
(iv) "professional qualifications" means fitness to do a job or undertake an occupation
or vocation requiring intellectual skill or requiring manual skill as controlled by intellectual
skill and which is such that a person should be able to eke out a living therefrom
independently though the salary does not cease to be the product of professional skill
merely because a particular employment is accepted;
(v) the term "technical" implies specialised knowledge generally of a mechanical or
scientific subject or any particular subject;
(vi) the word "and" appearing twice in the proviso to section 64(1)(ii) means "and" and
not "or"; and
(vii) "experience" as appearing in the proviso to section 64(1)(ii) includes experience
acquired in the course of acquiring technical or professional qualifications."
5. The Tribunal, on a consideration of the facts of the assessee's case in the light of the
aforesaid interpretation of section 64(1)(ii) of the Act, observed that there was no material on
record to show that Mrs. Mokashi had any technical or professional qualification or that the
salary paid to her was attributable to any technical or professional knowledge and experience of
hers. In view of the aforesaid findings, the Tribunal confirmed the order of the Appellate
Assistant Commissioner and the Income-tax Officer.
6. Aggrieved by the order of the Tribunal, the assessee applied to the Tribunal for reference
of the question of law arising out of its opinion. The Tribunal, on being satisfied that a question
of law did arise, referred the question set out above to this court for opinion.
7. We have heard Mr. V. Patil, learned counsel for the assessee, and Mr. G. S. Jetly, learned
counsel for the assessee reiterated all the submissions made on behalf of the assessee before the
Tribunal. In support of the same, reliance was placed on the decision of the Andhra Pradesh
High Court in Batta Kalyani v. CIT [(1985) 154 ITR 59]; of the Kerala High Court in CIT v.
Sorabji Dorabji [(1987) 168 ITR 598] and Dr. K. Thomas Varghese v. CIT [(1986) 161 ITR
21]; of the Gujarat High Court in CIT v. Dr. K. K. Shah [(1982) 135 ITR 146] and of the
Madhya Pradesh High Court in CIT v. Madhubala Shrenik Kumar [(1990) 181 ITR 180].
Learned counsel for the Revenue supports the decision of the Tribunal. According to him,
neither the expression "concern" can be equated to "business establishment" nor the words
"technical or professional qualifications" be equated to educational qualifications. These words
have their special meaning and they have to be interpreted accordingly. Counsel further submits
that the use of the word "experience" with technical and professional qualification in the latter
part of the proviso is intended to restrict the scope and ambit thereof and not to enlarge it.
8. Counsel also submits that the definition of "substantial interest" is intended to specify the
lowest limit of the interest of the assessee in the concern which will attract the provisions of
section 64(1)(ii). It cannot be interpreted to mean that interest higher than the lowest limit
specified in the definition will not amount to "substantial interest". Such an interpretation will
be most unnatural and will go counter to the very object and scheme of section 64(1)(ii).
 159

10. From a plain reading of section 64(1)(ii) of the Act, it is clear that this section lays down
various circumstances under which income of certain family members specified therein,
namely, spouse, minor child, son's wife and son's minor child is clubbed with the income of the
assessee.
11. Clause (ii) provides that the income derived by the spouse of an individual by way of
remuneration, etc., from a concern in which the individual has substantial interest shall be
included in the income of the said individual. The only exception is contained in the proviso to
clause (ii) which provides that the said clause shall not apply where the spouse possesses
technical or professional qualifications and the remuneration can be solely attributed to the
application of such technical or professional knowledge and experience of the spouse.
12. The assessee has raised a number of controversies in regard to the interpretation of the
above provisions and the true meaning of some of the expressions used therein. We shall deal
with them one by one. First, we may deal with the controversy in regard to the scope and ambit
of the expression "concern". According to the assessee, the expression "concern" refers only to
business establishments as contrasted with professional organisations which depend on the
personal skill and knowledge of the person concerned. Establishments of professionals like
doctors, according to counsel for the assessee, do not fall within the ambit of the expression
"concern", and as such, section 64(1)(ii) has no application to payments made by an individual,
who is a professional, to the spouse of such individual. We have carefully considered the above
submission. We, however, find it difficult to accept the same and give such a narrow and
constricted meaning to the word "concern" which is neither natural nor borne out from the
setting and context in which it appears. The word "concern" is a word of wide import. It has
various shades of meanings. According to the dictionaries, it means "something which pertains
to a person; business affairs;". It also means "a matter that engages a person's attention, interest
or care or that affects his welfare or happiness". In Black's Law Dictionary (Sixth edition), it
has been defined thus:
"Concern. To pertain, relate or belong to; be of interest or importance to; have
connection with; to have reference to; to involve; to affect the interest of."
13. From the above definitions, it is evident that the word "concern" is a word of wide
import and it conveys different ideas and meanings depending upon the context and setting in
which it appears. In the context of section 64(1)(ii) of the Act read with Explanation 2 thereto,
it is clear that "concern" includes any company, firm, individual or any other entity carrying on
business or professional activity. It cannot be given any restricted meaning to take out of its
ambit professional organisations or organisations run as proprietary establishments. It covers all
establishments or organisations - whether engaged in business activities or professional
activities. This is so also because the word "business" itself is a word of wide import and has
been broadly interpreted to include "professions, vocations and callings". It is in this context
that in Barendra Prasad Ray v. ITO [(1981) 129 ITR 295], the Supreme Court, while
interpreting the expression "business connection" appearing in section 9(1) of the Act, held as
follows (at page 306) :
"The word 'business' is one of wide import and it means an activity carried on
continuously and systematically by a person by the application of his labour or skill with a
160

view to earning an income. We are of the view that in the context in which the expression
'business connection' is used in section 9(1) of the Act, there is no warrant for giving a
restricted meaning to it excluding 'professional connections' from its scope."
14. We are, therefore, of the clear opinion that the expression "concern" appearing in
section 64(1)(ii) of the Act is a word of wide import and takes within its sweep and ambit all
organisations or establishments engaged in business or profession, whether owned by a
company, partnership or individual or any other entity.
15. We now turn to the next contention of the assessee that section 64(1)(ii) being
applicable to concerns in which the assessee has a substantial interest within the meaning of
Explanation 2 thereto, a proprietary concern in which the individual has cent per cent interest
does not fall within the purview thereof. We have considered the above submission. We,
however, do not find any force in the same. Explanation 2 is a deeming provision which
provides that in a case where the concern is a company, the assessee shall be deemed to have
substantial interest therein if he holds not less than twenty per cent of its shares and in other
cases, if he is entitled to not less than twenty per cent of the profits of such concern. The object
of this Explanation is to create a legal fiction to extend the application of section 64(1)(ii) to
concerns in which the interest of individual concerned exceeds the limits specified therein. It
sets out the lowest limit of interest of the individual in the concern for the purpose of
applicability of section 64(1)(ii). Its object is to widen the net of the section - not to restrict it.
No outer limit of interest of the individual has, therefore, been specified. It will be a most
unreasonable and unnatural interpretation of Explanation 2 to hold that though persons having
"not less than twenty per cent of the profits of the concern" shall be deemed to have substantial
interest in the concern, persons having cent per cent interest will not be deemed so. We,
therefore, reject the above contention of the assessee in regard to the interpretation of
Explanation 2 and hold that an individual entitled to cent per cent of the profits of a concern is a
person having substantial interest within the ordinary meaning of the expression itself. No resort
to the deeming provision contained in Explanation 2 is necessary in such a case, though even on
application thereof, the same result will be achieved.
16. We are now left with the objections of the assessee based on the interpretation of the
proviso to section 64(1)(ii). As earlier indicated, section 64(1)(ii) provides for clubbing with the
income of an individual, the income of the spouse of such individual by way of salary,
commission, remuneration, etc., derived from a concern in which the individual has substantial
interest. The only exception is contained in the proviso thereto. If the spouse possesses technical
or professional qualification, any income derived by such spouse even from a concern falling in
section 64(1)(ii) read with Explanation 2 thereto will not be liable to be clubbed with the income
of the spouse provided the "income" too fulfils the requirement of the second part of the
proviso. We may, for a better understanding, dissect the requirements of the proviso to section
64(1)(ii) as follows :
"(i) The spouse possesses 'technical or professional qualifications'; and
(ii) the income is solely attributable to the application of his or her technical or
professional knowledge and experience."
 161

17. A serious controversy has been raised by learned counsel for the assessee in regard to
the interpretation of these conditions. According to counsel, the "qualification" mentioned in the
above clause should be liberally interpreted to mean and include any qualification which makes
a person suitable for a job. It should not be given any narrow or restrictive meaning. Secondly,
according to counsel, the two conditions set out above should be read harmoniously. The two
conditions are not cumulative but alternative, and the use of the words "knowledge and
experience" in the second part goes to show that the proviso will be applicable even in cases
where the spouse does not possess technical or professional qualification but has the requisite
technical or professional knowledge or experience - submits counsel for the assessee.
18. We have carefully considered the above submissions of counsel for the assessee. We are
not impressed by the same. Accordingly to us, these submissions are based on a totally
erroneous interpretation of the proviso, which, to our mind, is very clear and unambiguous.
19. In order to claim the benefit of the proviso to avoid clubbing of income under section
64(1)(ii) of the Act, both the conditions specified in the proviso must be satisfied. The first
condition relates to the spouse of the individual who must possess "technical or professional
qualifications". If this condition is not satisfied, the proviso will not apply and reference to the
second requirement will be unnecessary. If the first condition in regard to the qualification of
the spouse is satisfied, it will be necessary to refer to the second condition which pertains to the
income that will not be clubbed. It may be pertinent to mention that even in the case of a spouse
possessing technical or professional qualification, only the income arising to such spouse which
is solely attributable to the application of his or her technical or professional knowledge and
experience will be out of the purview of section 64(1)(ii) and not the whole of the income of
such spouse. It is in this context that the words "technical or professional knowledge and
experience" have been used in the latter part of the proviso in contradistinction to "technical or
professional qualifications" used in the earlier part. Thus, two different expressions have been
used by Parliament in the very same proviso, not inadvertently, but with a deliberate purpose.
We shall revert back to this aspect a little later, after discussing the true meaning and import of
the first condition, viz., possession of technical or professional qualification.
20. The word "qualification" simpliciter is a word of very wide import and, in the absence
of any qualifying words or expression, conveys the idea of any quality which makes a man fit
for any job or any activity in life. The word "qualification" has been defined in the Random
House Dictionary of English Language to mean "a quality, accomplishments, etc." Black's Law
Dictionary (sixth edition) contains the following definition of ―qualification‖:
"Qualification. - The possession by an individual of the qualities, properties, or
circumstances, natural or adventitious, which are inherently or legally necessary to render
him eligible to fill an office or to perform public duty or office. . . ."
21. But, the word "qualification" in the proviso to section 64(1)(ii) if qualified by the words
"technical or professional". In that view of the matter, its broad meaning will not be relevant for
the present purpose. We have, in fact, to ascertain the true meaning of "technical qualifications"
or "professional qualifications".
―Technical‖ according to Black's Law Dictionary, means ―belonging or peculiar to an
art or profession‖.
162

22. According to Random House Dictionary of the English Language, ―technical‖, inter
alia, means: ―1. Pertaining to or suitable for an art....‖
23. Similarly, ―profession‖ means a vocation or occupation requiring special, usually
advanced education, knowledge, and skill, e.g., law or medical profession. (See Black's Law
Dictionary, sixth edition). Halsbury's Laws of England (fourth edition, Vol. 23), describes
―profession‖ as follows:
―....A profession involves an idea of an occupation requiring either purely intellectual
skill, or if any manual skill is involved, as in painting, sculpture, or surgery, skill controlled
by the operator's intellectual skill, as distinguished from an occupation which is
substantially a production or sale or arrangement for the production or sale of commodities.
The word 'profession' is certainly wider than the old definition of the learned professions -
the church, medicine and law. A company cannot carry on a profession.‖
24. Though the word profession now has a broader and more comprehensive meaning than
formerly was accorded to it and its signification now extends far beyond the well-known
classical professions of earlier days and as the applications of science and learning are extended
to other departments or affairs other vocations also receive the same treatment, persons engaged
in executive and clerical aspects of business organisations, brokers, insurance agents, etc., are
not held to be engaged in the practice of a profession. (See Corpus Juris Secundum, Vol. 72).
The word "profession" still retains its distinct character and does not take within its ambit any
and every activity or employment undertaken by a person for his livelihood.
25. If we read the expression "technical or professional qualification" used in the proviso to
section 64(1)(ii) in the light of the above definitions of "technical" and "professional", it
becomes clear that the "qualification" mentioned therein must be such which makes a person
eligible for technical or professional work. A person can, therefore, be said to be in possession
of requisite technical qualification when by virtue thereof, he is eligible to perform that
function. Similarly, professional qualification must mean qualification which is necessary for
carrying on the particular profession. Take, for example, the legal profession. The requisite
qualifications for carrying on the legal profession have been laid down by the statute. In such a
case, a person possessing such qualification alone can be said to be in possession of professional
qualification, because such qualification is a must for carrying on the profession. Knowledge of
law or experience is not relevant for that purpose. Similarly, a person cannot carry on medical
profession unless he possesses the requisite degree. Similarly, there are technical jobs which
require degrees and diplomas - whereas, there are a few others where university degree or
diploma is not necessary. Adequate training and evidence thereof might be sufficient. Thus, the
nature of professional qualification will vary from profession to profession. Similarly, the nature
of technical qualification will also vary depending on the nature of the technical job. What is
technical or professional qualification, therefore, will have to be decided in each case depending
upon the nature of the profession or the technical work. But one thing is certain that it is not any
and every qualification, academic or otherwise, which can bring a spouse within the scope and
ambit of the proviso to take the income out of the clubbing provision. It is the possession of
only technical or professional qualification necessary for undertaking the particular technical
job or carrying on the profession to which the income is attributed that will meet the
requirement of the first part of the proviso "knowledge and experience" will not be relevant for
 163

that purpose. A spouse, well-versed in law and experienced in the working of the legal
profession, cannot be said to be in possession of professional qualification for carrying on the
legal profession if he or she does not possess the requisite degree or diploma. Payments made to
the spouse in such a case for any legal services cannot be brought within the purview of the
proviso by reference to the words "knowledge and experience" occurring in the latter part
thereof.
26. The second requirement of the proviso, in fact, refers to the income of the spouse from a
concern falling under section 64(1)(ii) and restricts the benefit of the proviso even in the case of
an eligible spouse only to that part of the income which can be "solely attributed to the
application of his or her technical or professional knowledge and experience". This provision
makes it clear that the possession of technical or professional qualification is a condition
precedent on fulfillment of which that part of the income which falls in the second part of the
proviso is excluded from the operation of the clubbing provision. Take, for example, the case of
the wife of an individual who is a qualified legal practitioner. Her professional services are
utilized by the assessee and remuneration paid to her by way of salary, fees, etc. In such a case,
she fulfils the first requirement of the proviso and she is, therefore, entitled to the benefit of the
proviso. But, the benefit is again hedged in with certain conditions and is limited to the extent
indicated in the proviso. In that context, her "knowledge and experience" will assume
significance. Take for example, the case of the wife of the individual who has just passed the
LL. B. examination and enrolled herself as an advocate or having passed the LL.B. examination,
did not practice law for long but has started doing so just a year or two back. Her professional
services as a lawyer are utilized in the concern of her husband and she is paid remuneration
therefor. In such a case, when the assessee claims the benefit of the proviso to avoid clubbing of
such income of his wife with his own income, he will be required to satisfy that the
remuneration so paid to her for her legal services was "solely attributable to the application of
her professional knowledge and experience" as a lawyer. If the taxing authorities find that the
remuneration paid for the legal services was excessive or high having regard to her limited
professional knowledge and experience, he may determine the amount of remuneration which
can be solely attributed to the application of her professional knowledge and experience and
exclude only that part of her income from the clubbing provision contained in section 64(1)(ii).
Thus, the object of the second part of the proviso is to restrict the benefit of the proviso only to
reasonable payments for professional services and to put a check on diversion of income to the
spouses possessing technical or professional qualifications in the guise of salary, fees, etc., for
professional or technical services with a view to reduce the incidence of tax.
27. The forgoing discussion clearly goes to show that the two conditions mentioned in the
proviso are cumulative and not alternative. They deal with two different aspects - one pertains to
the eligibility of the spouse to claim benefit of the proviso, the other to the income which would
qualify for exclusion from clubbing. Both are relevant and equally important. There is no scope
for mixing up the two and diluting the first condition relating to qualification of the spouse by
reference to the expression "knowledge and experience" in the second condition. Any attempt to
do so will go counter to the clear language, scheme and object of the proviso and the well-
accepted rule of interpretation that one part of a section or clause should not be construed in
such a manner as to render the other part redundant. It is a cardinal rule of interpretation of
164

statutes that a construction which would leave without effect any part of the statute should
normally be rejected. We are, therefore, clear in our mind that there is no conflict between the
two requirements of the proviso, each deals with a different aspect and both of them must be
satisfied, though the second comes into operation only on fulfillment of the first condition, not
otherwise.
28. The above view of ours gets full support from the decision of the Karnataka High Court
in CIT v. D. Rajagopal [(1985) 154 ITR 375], where it was held that both the conditions of the
proviso must be satisfied for excluding the income of the spouse from the operation of section
64(1)(ii) of the Act.
29. In Kamlabai Gujri (Smt.) v. CIT [(1986) ITR 33], the Madhya Pradesh High Court also
held that it was solely for the assessee to show that the salary received by her was solely
attributable to the application of her professional knowledge and experience. This decision does
not, in any way, help the assessee as it cannot be construed to have held that the first condition
regarding "possession of professional or technical qualification" need not be satisfied. On the
other hand, this decision presupposes that the first condition if fulfilled. Reliance was placed by
the assessee on another decision of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in CIT v. Madhubala
Shrenik Kumar [(1990) 181 ITR 180], where it was held that the words "technical or
professional qualifications" occurring in the proviso cannot be construed to mean obtaining a
degree or diploma from a recognised body. This part of the controversy, we have dealt with at
length in the foregoing discussion. We have already held that the nature of qualification will
vary from case to case. We have, however, made it clear that for the interpretation of the word
―qualification‖ in the first part, reference to the expression ―knowledge and experience‖ in the
latter part is not correct. We, therefore, find it difficult to agree with the above decision if it is
interpreted to have held so. Reliance was also placed on the decision of the Andhra Pradesh
High Court in Batta Kalyani v. CIT [(1985) 154 ITR 59], where it was held that the harmonious
construction of the two parts of the proviso would be that if a person possesses technical or
professional knowledge and the income is solely attributable to the application of such technical
or professional knowledge and experience, the requirements for the application of the proviso
are satisfied, although the person concerned may not possess any qualification issued by a
recognised body. It was further held that it is enough for the purposes of the proviso if the
recipient of the salary possesses the attributes of technical or professional qualification, in the
sense that he has got expertise in such profession or technique. If by the use of that expertise in
the profession or technique, the person concerned earns a salary, then the latter part of the
proviso is also satisfied. We have carefully considered the above decision. In our opinion for the
reasons set out by us in this decision, the interpretation of the proviso by the Andhra Pradesh
High Court is not correct. It goes counter to the express language of the proviso. We, therefore,
express our inability to agree with the same.
30. In the instant case, the spouse of the assessee neither possessed any technical or
professional qualification nor was she paid for any technical or professional services rendered
by her. Admittedly, she had passed first year Arts of the Bombay University and that was her
only qualification. She was employed by her husband, the assessee in this case, as receptionist-
cum-accountant and paid a salary for that employment. In such a case, it is not only difficult but
impossible to hold that she possessed any ―technical or professional qualification‖ which is
 165

necessary to bring her within the proviso. That being so, the proviso to section 64(1)(ii) is not
applicable to her and, as such, the assessee is not entitled to get the benefit thereof to bring her
income out of the purview of the clubbing provision contained in section 64(1)(ii).
31. In view of the foregoing discussion, we answer the question referred to us in the
affirmative, i.e., in favour of the Revenue and against the assessee.

*****
166

Mohini Thapar (Dead) by L.RS. v. C.I.T. (Central) Calcutta

(1972) 4 SCC 493

HEGDE, J. - All these appeals by certificate are filed by the legal representatives of Late
Karam‘ Chand Thapar who was the assessee in this case. He died after the assessments were
made. The assessment years with which we are concerned in these appeals are 1949-50, 1950-
51, 1951-52, 1952-53 and 1953-54. The facts of the case lie within a narrow compass. Late
Karam Chand Thapar made certain cash gifts to his wife Smt Mohini Thapar. From out of those
gifts, she purchased certain shares and the balance amount she invested. The shares earned
dividends and the investments yielded interest. The interest realised and the dividends earned
were included in the income of Karam Chand Thapar for the purpose of assessment in the
assessment years mentioned earlier. The assessee objected to the inclusion of that amount in his
income. The question is whether the department was entitled to include the dividends and
interest in question in computing the taxable income of the assessee. The Income-tax Officer
held that they were liable to be included in the income of the assessee. That decision was upheld
by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. On a further appeal, taken by the assessee to the
Tribunal the Tribunal upheld the order of the Assistant Commissioner. Thereafter at the instance
of the assessee, the question set out below was submitted to the High Court under Section 66(1)
of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1922, in respect of the assessment year 1949-50:
(1) Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the income of Rs 21,225/-
derived from deposits and shares held by the assessee‘s wife, Smt Mohini Devi Thapar, was
income from assets directly or indirectly transferred by the assesses to his wife within the
meaning of Section 16(3) of the Income-tax Act.
Similar questions were referred in respect of other assessment year. The High Court
answered these questions in favour of the revenue. Hence these appeals.
2. Section 16(3)(a)(iii) of the Act - the provision relevant for the purpose of these appeals
reads thus:
(3) In computing the. total income of any individual for the purpose of assessment,
there shall be included –
(a) so much of the income of a wife or minor child of such individual as arises directly
or indirectly -
(iii) from assets transferred directly or indirectly to the wife by the husband otherwise
than for adequate consideration or in connection with-an agreement to live apart,
3. The assets transferred in this case is the gift of cash amounts made by the assessee to his
wife. The transfers in question are direct transfers. But those assets, as mentioned earlier, were
invested either in shares or otherwise. Hence it was urged on behalf of the revenue-that the
incomes realised either as dividends from shares or as interest from deposits are income
indirectly received in respect of the transfer of cash directly made. This contention of the
revenue appears to be sound. That position clearly emerges from the plain language of the
section.
4. It was urged by Dr Pal, learned Counsel for the assessee that there is no nexus between
the income earned and the transfer of the assets. According to him before an income can come
 167

within Section 16(3)(a)(iii) it must be an income directly arising from the assets transferred. In
other words, he urged that only such income which can be said to have directly sprung from the
assets transferred can come within the scope of Section 16(3)(a)(iii). We are unable to accept-
this contention as sound. Otherwise the expression ‗as arises directly or indirectly‘ in Section
16(3)(a) would become redundant. The net cast by Section 16(3)(a)(iii) includes not merely the
income that arises directly from the assets transferred but also that arises indirectly from the
assets transferred. We are in agreement with the contention of Dr Pal that the income that can be
brought to tax under Section 16(3)(a)(iii) must have a nexus with the assets transferred directly
or indirectly. But in this case the income with which we are concerned has a nexus with the
assets transferred.
5. In support of his contention Dr Pal relied on the decision of this Court in C.I.T. v. Prem
Bhat Parakh [(1970) 1 SCC 784]. The facts of that case are as follows: The assessee, who was
a partner in a firm having 7 annas share therein, retired from the firm on July 1, 1954.
Thereafter, he gifted Rs 75,000 to each of his four sons, three of whom were minors. There was
a reconstitution of the firm with effect from July 2, 1954, whereby the major son became a
partner and the minor sons were admitted to the benefits of partnership in the firm. The question
was whether the income arising to the minors by virtue of their admission to the benefits of
partnership in the firm could be included in the total income of the assessee under Section
16(3)(a)(iii) - a provision similar to Section 16(3)(a)(iii). The Tribunal found that the capital
invested by the minors in the firm came from the gift made in their favour by their father, the
assessee. This Court overruling the contention of the revenue came to the conclusion that the
connection between the gifts made by the assessee and the income of the minors from the firm
was a remote one and it could not be said that the income arose directly or indirectly from assets
transferred. Hence the income arising to the three minor sons of the assessee by virtue of their
admission to the benefits of partnership in the firm could not be included in the total income of
the assessee. The ratio of the decision is found at page 30 of the report. This is what the Court
observed in that case:
The connection between the gifts mentioned earlier and the income in question is a remote
one. The income of the minors arose as a result of their admission to the benefits of the
partnership. It is true that they were admitted to the benefits of the partnership because of the
contribution made by them. But there is no nexus between the transfer of the assets and the
income in question. It cannot be said that that income arose directly or indirectly from the
transfer of the assets referred to earlier. Section 16(3) of the Act created an artificial income.
That section must receive strict construction as observed by this Court in C.I.T. v. Keshavlal
Lallubhai Patt [(1965) 55 ITR 637]. In our judgment before an income can be held to come
within the ambit of Section 16(3), it must be proved to have arisen - directly or indirectly - from
a transfer of assets made by the assessee in favour of his wife or minor children. The connection
between the transfer of assets and the income must be proximate. The income in question must
arise as a result of the transfer and not in some manner connected with it.
The ratio of that decision is inapplicable to the facts of the present case. In the result, these
appeals fail and they are dismissed.

*****
168

State of Kerala v. C. Velukutty

(1966) LX ITR 239 (SC)

K. SUBBA RAO J. – These two appeals by special leave are preferred against the order of the
High Court of Kerala in Tax Revision Cases Nos. 52 and 53 of 1960 relating to sales tax
assessments made on the respondent for the year 1955-56 and 1956-57 respectively.
The following facts relate to Civil Appeal No. 986 of 1964 in respect of the assessment year
1955-56: The respondent has two offices, the head office is at Court Road and the branch office,
at Big Bazar. Both the offices are in Kozhikode. The branch office does wholesale business
and the head office does retail business and they maintain separate accounts. The goods sent
from the branch office to the head office are entered in the accounts as transfers. The head
office maintains accounts disclosing the goods so transferred by the branch office and also the
goods purchased by it locally. The branch office has also transactions with other customers. On
April 6, 1957, the Deputy Commercial Tax Officer, Kozhikode, assessed the respondent on the
net turnover of his business of Rs. 9,30,565-10-5 for the assessment year 1955-56. But later on,
on a surprise inspection of the head office by the Intelligence Officer, North Zone, Kozhikode,
some books of accounts and records were recovered. On October 27, 1958, on the basis of the
said books and records, the Sales Tax Officer issued a notice to the respondent proposing to
determine to the best of his judgment the turnover which had escaped assessment. The
respondent agreed to the Sales Tax Officer assessing the turnover of the head office on the basis
of the aforesaid secret books recovered from the shop, but objected to a fresh assessment being
made in respect of the branch office at Big Bazaar. That objection was rejected and the Sales
Tax Officer reassessed the turnover of the business of the respondent in the following manner:
(1) He found that in regard to the head office the transactions disclosed in the secret books were
135% of the turnover recorded in the regular accounts and on that basis added 135% to the
turnover disclosed in the regular book of the said office. He then applied the same percentage in
regard to the assessment of the turnover of the branch office. He added 135% to the turnover
found in the regular accounts of the branch office. He assessed the total turnover of the two
offices at Rs. 19,71,805-13-5. On the basis of the said total turnover the respondent was
assessed to sales tax amounting to Rs. 16,269.37. The respondent preferred an appeal against
the said order of the Sales Tax Officer to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner without any
success. The further appeal preferred by him to the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal was also
dismissed. The said order was taken in revision to the High Court of Kerala in T.R.C. No. 52 of
1960.
The facts of the Civil Appeal No. 987 of 1964 relating to the assessment for the year 1956-
57 are as follows: (1) On the basis of the secret accounts discovered in the surprise inspection of
the head office, the Sales Tax Office issued a notice to the respondent proposing to determine to
the best of his judgment the turnover which had escaped assessment. The respondent had no
objection for a reassessment being made in respect of the turnover of the head office on the
basis of the secret accounts discovered, but objected to the reassessment of the turnover of his
branch office. (2) The Sales Tax Officer applied the same principle in regard to the assessments
of both the shops as he had adopted in the case of the turnover for the assessment year 1955-56.
 169

Taking the head office he found in regard to the general goods that the escaped assessment was
200% of the turnover assessed; and in regard to sugar, 500% of the assessed turnover. He,
therefore, added 200% and 500% to the turnover of the general goods and turnover of sugar
respectively. In the same manner, in regard to the turnover of the branch office, though no
secret books were discovered in respect of that office, he added to the turnover already assessed
200% of the turnover of the general goods and 500% of the turnover of sugar. With the result
he fixed the total turnover of the two offices at Rs. 39,66,377-2-6 made up of the turnover of the
head office at Rs. 2,21,251-14-5 and of the branch office at Rs. 37,45,125-4-1. The respondent
pursued the matter up to the High Court. T.R.C. No. 53 of 1960 was the revision filed by him
in the High Court.
The High Court set aside the orders of the Sales Tax Tribunal in respect of both the
assessment years on the ground that the finding of the escaped assessment so far as the branch
office was concerned amounted to an error of law, because it was based on conjecture.
Rejecting the plea of the State that the matter should be remanded for a fresh assessment, the
High Court dismissed the revisions. Hence the present appeals.
Mr. Govinda Menon, learned counsel for the State, argued that the High Court was wrong in
holding that the best judgment assessment was capricious. He pressed on us to hold that the
branch office must have maintained secret accounts corresponding to the secret accounts
discovered in respect of the head office, that the respondent had suppressed the said accounts
and that, therefore, the Sales Tax Officer acted reasonably in ascertaining the escaped
assessment on the basis of the percentage of escaped assessment found in respect of the head
office. He further contended that the High Court had no jurisdiction to interfere with the finding
of the fact arrived at by the Tribunal.
Mr. Sreedharan Nambiar, appearing for the respondent, contended that there was no basis
for the Sales Tax Officer to hold that the respondent maintained separate accounts in respect of
the branch office business, that there was absolutely no material before the Sales Tax Officer to
sustain his best judgment assessment, and that, therefore, the said assessment made by the Sales
Tax Officer was capricious and arbitrary and was rightly set aside by the High Court.
At the outset the relevant provisions of the Travancore-Cochi General Sales Tax Act; 1125
M.E. (XI of 1125), may be noticed:
“Section 12 – (1) Every dealer whose turnover is ten thousand Indian rupees or more in a
year shall submit such return or returns relating to his turnover, in such manner and within
such periods as may be prescribed.
(2) (a) If the assessing authority is satisfied that any return submitted under sub-section (1)
is correct and complete, he shall assess the dealer on the basis thereof.
(b) If no return is submitted by the dealer under sub-section 1) before the date prescribed
or specified in that behalf or if the return submitted by him appears to the assessing
authority to be incorrect or incomplete, the assessing authority shall assess the dealer to the
best of his judgment.
Provided that before taking action under this clause the dealer shall be given a reasonable
opportunity of proving the correctness and completeness of any return submitted by him.
170

Section 15B – Within sixty days from the date on which an order under section 15A, sub-
section (4) or sub-section (6) was communicated to him, the assessee or the Deputy
Commissioner may prefer a petition to the High Court against the order on the ground that
the Appellate Tribunal has either decided erroneously or failed to decide any question of
law.‖
It is manifest that the jurisdiction of the High Court under section 15B is confined only to
the question whether the Tribunal has either decided erroneously or failed to decide any
question of law. As we will point out immediately, the Sales Tax Officer acted capriciously and
arbitrarily in assessing the respondent, which he could not do under section 12(2)(b) of the Act
and the Tribunal confirmed that order. It is a clear case where the Tribunal decided erroneously
on a question of law.
What is the scope of section 12(2)(b) of the Act? The expression ―to the best of his
judgment‖ in the said clause is presumably borrowed from section 23(4) of the Income-tax Act.
The said expression in the Income-tax Act was the subject of judicial scrutiny. The Privy
Council in Commissioner of Income Tax v. Laxminarayan Badridas [(1937) 5 I.T.R. 170 at
180], has considered those words. Therein it observed:
―He (the assessing authority) must not act dishonestly, or vindictively or capriciously
because he must exercise judgment in the matter. He must make what he honestly believes
to be a fair estimate of the proper figure of assessment, and for this purpose he must, their
Lordships think, be able to take into consideration local knowledge and repute in regard to
the assessee‘s circumstances, and his own knowledge of previous returns by the assessee‘s
circumstances, and his own knowledge of previous returns by and assessments of the
assessee, and all other maters which he thinks will assist him in arriving at a fair and proper
estimate; and though there must necessarily be guess-work in the mater, it must be honest
guess-work. In that sense, too, the assessment must be to some extent arbitrary.‖
The Privy Council, while recognizing that an assessment made by am officer to the best of
his judgment involved some guess-work, emphasized that he must exercise his judgment after
taking into consideration the relevant material. The view expressed by the Privy Council in the
context of the Income-tax Act was followed when a similar question arose under the Sales Tax
Act. A Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court in Jagadish Prosad Pannalal v. Member,
Board of Revenue, West Bengal [(1951) 2 S.T.C. 21], confirmed the assessment made by the
sales tax authorities, as in making the best judgment assessment the said authorities considered
all the available materials and applied their mind and tried their best to come to a correct
conclusion. So too, a Division Bench of the Patna High Court in Doma Sahu Kishun Lal Sao
v. State of Bihar [(1951) 2 S.T.C. 37], refused to interfere with the best judgment assessment of
a Sales Tax Officer as he took every relevant material into consideration, namely, the situation
of the shop, the rush of the customers and the stock in the shop and also the estimate made by
the Assistant Commissioner in the previous quarters.
Under section 12(2)(b) of the Act, power is conferred on the assessing authority in the
circumstances mentioned thereunder to assess the dealer to the best of his judgment. The limits
of the power are implicit in the expression ―best of his judgment.‖ Judgment is a faculty to
decide matters with wisdom truly and legally. Judgment does not depend upon the arbitrary
 171

caprice of a judge, but on settled and invariable principles of justice. Though there is an
element of guess-work in a ―best judgment assessment,‖ it shall not be a wild one, but shall
have a reasonable nexus to the available material and circumstances of each case. Though sub-
section (2) of section 12 of the Act provides for a summary method because of the default of the
assessee, it does not enable the assessing authority to function capriciously without regard for
the available material.
Can it be said that in the instant case the impugned assessment satisfied the said tests?
From the discovery of secret accounts in the head office, it does not necessarily follow that a
corresponding set of secret accounts were maintained in the branch office, though it is possible
that such accounts were maintained. But, as the accounts were secret, it is also not improbable
that the branch office might not have kept parallel accounts, as duplication of false accounts
would facilitate discovery of fraud and it would have been thought advisable to maintain only
one set of false accounts in the head office. Be that as it may, the maintenance of secret
accounts in the branch office cannot be assumed in the circumstances of the case. That apart,
the maintenance of secret accounts in the branch office might lead to an inference that the
accounts disclosed did not comprehend all the transactions of the branch office. But that does
not establish or even probabilize the finding that 135% or 200% or 500% of the discovered
turnover was suppressed. That could have been ascertained from other materials. The branch
office had dealings with other customers. Their names disclosed in the accounts. The accounts
of those customers or their statements could have afforded a basis for the best judgment
assessment. There must also have been other surrounding circumstances, such as those
mentioned in the Privy Council‘s decision cited supra. But in this case there was no material
before the assessing authority relevant to the assessment and the impugned assessments were
arbitrarily made by applying a ratio between disclosed and concealed turnover in one shop to
another shop of the assessee. It was only a capricious surmise unsupported by any relevant
material. The High Court, therefore, rightly set aside the orders of the Tribunal.
Nor can we accede to the request of the learned counsel for the State to remand the matter to
the Tribunal for fresh disposal. The sales tax authority had every opportunity to base its
judgment on relevant material; but it did not do so. The department persisted all through the
hierarchy of tribunals to sustain the impugned assessment. The High Court, having regard to
the circumstances of the case, refused to give the department another opportunity. We do not
think we are justified to take a different view.
In the result, the appeals fail and are dismissed.

*****
172

Commissioner of Income-Tax v. Burlop Dealers Ltd.

(1971) 79 ITR 609 (SC)

J.C. SHAH, CJI – Burlop Dealers Ltd., hereinafter referred to as ―the assessee‖, is a limited
company. For the assessment year 1949-50, the assessee submitted a profit and loss account
disclosing in the relevant year of account Rs. 1,75,875 as profit in a joint venture from H.
Manory Ltd. and claimed that Rs. 87,937 being half the profit earned from H. Manory Ltd. was
paid to Ratiram Tansukhrai under a partnership agreement. The assessee stated that on June 5,
1948, it had entered into an agreement with H. Manory Ltd. to do business in plywood chests
and in consideration of financing the business the assessee was to receive 50% of the profits of
the business. The assessee also claimed that it had entered into an agrement on October 7, 1948,
with Ratiram Tansukhrai for financing the transactions of H. Manory Ltd. in the joint venture,
and had agreed to pay to Ratiram Tansukhrai 50% of the profit earned by it from the business
with H. Manory Ltd.
The Income-Tax Officer accepted the return filed by the assessee and included in computing
the total income for the assessment year 1949-50, Rs. 87,937 only as the profit earned on the
joint venture with H. Manory Ltd. In the assessment year 1950-51 the assessee filed a return
also accompanied by a profit and loss account disclosing a total profit of Rs. 1,62,155 in the
relevant account year received from H. Manory Ltd., and claimed that it had transferred Rs.
81,077 to the account of Ratiram Tansukhrai as his share. The Income-tax Officer, on
examination of the transactions, brought the entire amount of Rs. 1,62,155 to tax holding that
the alleged agreement of October 1948, between the assessee and Ratiram Tansukhrai had
merely been ―got up as a device to reduce the profits, received from H. Manory Ltd.‖ This
order was confirmed by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner and by the Income-Tax
Appellate Tribunal. The Tribunal then stated a case under section 66(1) of the Income-tax Act,
to the High Court of Calcutta. The High Court agreed with the view of the Tribunal and
answered the question against the assessee.
In the meanwhile on May 13, 1955, the Income-tax Officer issued a notice under section 34
to the assessee for the assessment year 1949-50 to reopen the assessment and to assess the
amount of Rs. 87,937 allowed in the assessment of income-tax as paid to Ratiram Tansukhrai.
The assessee filed a return which did not include the amount paid to Ratiram Tansukhrai. The
Income-tax Officer reassessed the income under section 34(1)(a) and added Rs. 87,937 to the
income returned by the assessee in the assessment year 1949-50. The Appellate Assistant
Commissioner held that the Income-tax Officer was entitled to take action under section
34(1)(a) of the Income-tax Act, 1922, after the amendment in 1948, and to reopen the
assessment if income had been under-assessed owing to the failure of the assessee to disclose
fully and truly all material facts necessary for the assessment. He confirmed the order observing
that the assessee had misled the Income-tax Officer into believing that there was a genuine
arrangement with Ratiram Tansukhrai and had stated in the profit and loss account that the
amount paid to Ratiram Tansukhrai was the share of the latter in the partnership, whereas no
such share was payable to Ratiram Tansukhrai.
In appeal against the order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner the Income-tax
Appellate Tribunal held that the assessee had produced all the relevant accounts and documents
 173

necessary for completing the assessment, and the assessee was under no obligation to inform the
Income-tax Officer about the true nature of the transactions. The Tribunal on that view reversed
the order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner and directed that the amount of Rs. 87,939
be excluded from the total income of the assessee for the year 1949-50.
An application under section 66(1) of the Indian Income-tax Act for stating a case to the
High Court was rejected by the Tribunal. A petition to the High Court of Calcutta under section
66(2) for directing the Tribunal to submit a statement of the case was also rejected. The
Commissioner has appealed to this court.
Section 34(1) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922; as it stood in the assessment year 1949-
50 provided:
―If –
(a) the Income-tax Officer has reason to believe that by reason of the omission or failure
on the part of an assessee to make a return of his income under section 22 for any year or to
disclose fully and truly all material facts necessary for his assessment for that year, income,
profits or gains chargeable to income-tax have escaped assessment for that year, or have
been under-assessed... or
(b) notwithstanding that there has been no omission or failure as mentioned in clause (a)
on the part of the assessee, the Income-tax Officer has in consequence of information in his
possession reason to believe that income, profits or gains chargeable to income-tax have
escaped assessment for any year, or have been under-assessed, ...
he may in cases falling under clause (a) at any time within eight years and in cases falling
under clause (b) at any time within four years of the end of that year, serve on the assessee,
... a notice containing all or any of the requirements which may be included in a notice
under sub-section (2) of section 22 and may proceed to assess or reassess such income,
profits or gains ...‖
The Income-tax Officer had, in consequence of information in his possession that the
agreement with Ratiram Tansukhrai was a share transaction, reason to believe that income
chargeable to tax had escaped assessment. Such a case would appropriately fall under section
34(1)(b). But the period prescribed for serving a notice under section 34(1)(b) had elapsed.
Under section 34(1)(a) the Income-tax Officer had authority to serve a notice when he had
reason to believe that by reason of omission or failure on the part of the assessee to disclose
fully and truly all material facts necessary for his assessment for the year, income chargeable to
tax had escaped assessment. As observed by this court in Calcutta Discount Co. Ltd. v.
Income-tax Officer, Companies District I, Calcutta [(1061) 41 I.T.R. 191, 200(SC)]:
―The words used are ‗omission or failure to disclose fully and truly all material facts
necessary for his assessment for that year.‘ It postulates a duty on every assessee to disclose
fully and truly all material facts necessary for his assessment. What facts are material and
necessary for assessment will differ from case to case. In every assessment proceeding, the
assessing authority will, for the purpose of computing or determining the proper tax due
from an assessee, require to know all the facts which help him in coming to the correct
conclusion. From the primary facts in his possession, whether on disclosure by the
assessee, or discovered by him on the basis of the facts disclosed, or otherwise, the
174

assessing authority has to draw inferences as regards certain other facts; and ultimately,
from the primary facts and the further facts inferred from them, the authority has to draw the
proper legal inferences, and ascertain on a correct interpretation of the taxing enactment, the
proper tax leviable.‖
We are of the view that under section 34(1)(a) if the assessee has disclosed primary facts
relevant to the assessment, he is under no obligation to instruct the Income-tax Officer about the
interference which the Income-tax Officer may raise from those facts. The terms of the
Explanation to section 34(1) also do not impose a more onerous obligation. Mere production of
the books of account or other evidence from which material facts could with due diligence have
been discovered does not necessarily amount to disclosure within the meaning of section 34(1),
but where on the evidence and the materials produced the Income-tax Officer could have
reached a conclusion other than the one which he has reached, a proceeding under section
34(1)(a) will not lie merely on the ground that the Income-tax Officer has raised an inference
which he may later regard as erroneous.
The assessee had disclosed his books of account and evidence from which material facts
could be discovered; it was under no obligation to inform the Income-tax Officer about the
possible inferences which may be raised against him. It was for the Income-tax Officer to raise
such an inference and if he did not do so the income which has escaped assessment cannot be
brought to tax under section 34(1)(a). The appeal fails and is dismissed with costs.

*****
 175

Gemini Leather Stores v. The Income-Tax Officer, ‘B’ Ward Agra

AIR 1975 SC 1268

A.C. GUPTA, J. – The appellant a partnership firm, was assessed to income-tax for the
assessment year 1956-57 on a turnover of Rupees fifteen lacs by the Income-tax Officer by his
order dated January 22, 1958. The Income-tax Officer did not accept the return filed by the
assessee and the books of account produced by it and made a best judgment assessment. The
turnover so assessed was reduced by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner and further reduced
by the Appellate Tribunal. On March 31, 1965 the Income-tax Officer issued a notice under
Sec. 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 stating that he had reasons to believe that income
chargeable in respect of the assessment year 1956-57 had escaped assessment within the
meaning of Section 147 of the Act and directing the assessee to file a return as he proposed to
reassess the income for the said assessment year. The assessee filed a writ petition before the
High Court at Allahabad challenging the validity of the notice dated March 31, 1965 on the
ground that the Income-tax Officer had no jurisdiction to issue the notice. A learned single
Judge of the High Court dismissed the writ petition and his order was affirmed in appeal by a
Division Bench. The appeal to this Court is by the assessee on certificate granted by the High
Court.
2. The justification for taking action under Sections 147 and 148 of the Income-tax Act,
1961 as stated by the Division Bench of the High Court is:
―The firm utilised certain drafts for making purchases at Madras and Calcutta. These drafts
represented undisclosed income of the firm. This aspect of the matter was not considered at
the time of the original assessment. It is proposed to take this income into consideration for
purposes of reassessment. The amounts, for which drafts were purchased by the firm, were
not recorded in the disclosed account of the firm. It is, therefore, proposed to tackle that
income for purposes of reassessment.‖
The learned single Judge took the view that the Income-tax Officer did not apply his mind
to the question as to whether the amounts invested in the purchase of the drafts could be treated
as part of the total income of the assessee, and as the assessee did not disclose the source of
these amounts which were not recorded in the account books produced by the assessee, all the
conditions for invoking the jurisdiction under Section 147(a) were present. This was also the
view taken by the Division Bench.
3. It appears that the Income-tax Officer had written a detailed order in making his best
judgment assessment. Having found out all about the drafts which were not mentioned in the
assessee‘s books of account, the Income-tax Officer gave the partners of the firm opportunity to
explain the drafts. Referring to the statement of one of the partners, Shri Om Prakash, the
Income-tax Officer observed in his order:
―He has said that the drafts which were sent by him relating to Messrs Gemini Leather
Stores were entered in the books of the firm while other drafts which he has made would be
of others whose name he does not remember. As he is unable to tell to whom other drafts
sent by him relate in spite of specific opportunities given to him, the obvious inference is
that moneys of the drafts are that of the firm with which he is connected.‖
176

Referring to the circumstances in which these drafts had been sent or received, the Income-
tax Officer further observed:
―Since these drafts have been sent or received in such circumstances and by such persons
connected with the firm the conclusion is obvious that these drafts relate to the firm.‖
4. It is not disputed that the case falls under clause (a) of Section 147. The question is
whether the Income-tax Officer had reason to believe that income chargeable to tax had escaped
assessment for the assessment year in question by reason of the omission or failure on the part
of the assessee to disclose fully and truly all material facts. The decision in Calcutta Discount
Company case [AIR 1961 SC 372]. is based on Section 34 of the Income-tax Act, 1922, the
provisions of which correspond to those of Sections 147 and 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961;
the points of departure from the old law are not material for the purpose of this case. The
position is stated in Calcutta Discount Company case as follows:
―In every assessment proceeding the assessing authority will, for the purpose of computing
or determining the proper tax due from an assessee, require to know all the facts which help
him in coming to the correct conclusion. From the primary facts in his possession, whether
on disclosure by the assessee, or discovered by him on the basis of the facts disclosed, or
otherwise, the assessing authority has to draw inferences as regards certain other facts; and
ultimately from the primary facts and the further facts inferred from them, the authority has
to draw the proper legal inferences... Once all the primary facts are before the assessing
authority, he requires no further assistance by way of disclosure. It is for him to decide
what inferences of facts can be reasonably drawn and what legal inferences have ultimately
to be drawn. It is not for somebody else - far less the assessee - to tell the assessing
authority what inferences, whether of facts of law, should be drawn.‖
In the case before us the assessee did not disclose the transactions evidenced by the drafts
which the Income-tax Officer discovered. After this discovery the Income-tax Officer had in
his possession all the primary facts, and it was for him to make necessary enquiries and draw
proper inferences as to whether the amounts invested in the purchase of the drafts could be
treated as part of the total income of the assessee during the relevant year. This the Income-tax
Officer did not do. It was plainly a case of oversight, and it cannot be said that the income
chargeable to tax for the relevant assessment year had escaped assessment by reason of the
omission or failure on the part of the assessee to disclose fully and truly all material facts. The
Income-tax Officer had all the material facts before him when he made the original assessment.
He cannot now take recourse to Section 147(a) to remedy the error resulting from his own
oversight. For these reasons we allow the appeal and quash the impugned notice dated March
31, 1965 and the proceedings in consequence thereof.

*****
 177

Income-Tax Officer v. Lakhmani Mewal Das

(1976) 3 SCC 757

H.R. KHANNA, J. – The respondent was assessed for the assessment year 1958-59 under
Section 23(3) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 on June 14, 1960. His total income was
assessed to be Rs. 37,872. While making the assessment the Income-tax Officer allowed
deduction of a sum of Rs. 15,991 by way of expenses claimed by the respondent. The expenses
included Rs. 10,494 by way of interest. According to the respondent, he produced through his
authorised representative all books of accounts, bank statements and other necessary documents
in connection with the return. On March 14, 1967 the respondent received notice dated March
8, 1967 issued by the appellant under Section 148 of the Act stating that the appellant had
reason to believe that the respondent‘s income which was chargeable to tax for the assessment
year 1958-59 had escaped assessment within the meaning of Section 147 of the Act and that the
notice was being issued after obtaining the necessary satisfaction of the Commissioner of
Income-tax. The respondent was called upon to submit within 30 days from the date of the
service of the notice a return in the prescribed form of his income for the assessment year 1958-
59. On May 2, 1967 the respondent through his lawyer stated that there was no material on
which the appellant had reason to believe that the respondent‘s income had escaped assessment
and, therefore, the condition precedent for the assumption of jurisdiction by the appellant had
not been satisfied. The appellant was said to have no competence or jurisdiction to reopen the
assessment under Section 147 of the Act on a mere change of opinion. The appellant was also
called upon to furnish all the materials on which he had reason to believe that income had
escaped assessment. As, according to the respondent, there was no satisfactory response from
the appellant, he filed petition under Article 226 of the Constitution for quashing the impugned
notice.
It was denied in the affidavit on behalf of the appellant that all materials relevant and
necessary for the assessment of the respondent‘s income for the assessment year 1958-59 had
been produced before the Income-tax Officer at the time of the original assessment. It was
further stated:
―Subsequent to the assessment for the assessment year 1958-59, it was discovered, inter
alia, that some of the loans shown to have been taken and interests alleged to have been
paid thereon by the petitioner during the relevant assessment year were not genuine. The
Income-tax Officer had reason to believe that bona fide thereon are not genuine. If
necessary, I crave leave to produce the hon‘ble Judge hearing the application the relevant
records on the basis of which the said Income-tax Officer had reason to believe that the
income of the petitioner escaped assessment as aforesaid at the hearing of the application.‖
During the pendency of the proceedings, the High Court directed that a copy of the report
made by the appellant to the Commissioner of Income-tax for obtaining latter‘s sanction under
Section 147 be produced. The report was accordingly produced, and the same reads as under:
―There are hundi loan credits in the name of Narayansingh Nandalal, D.K. Naraindas,
Bhagwandas Srichand, etc., who are known name lenders, and also hundi loan credit in the
name, Mohansingh Kanayalal, who has since confessed he was doing only name-lending.
178

In the original assessment these credits were not investigated in detail. As the information
regarding the bogus nature of thee credits is since known, action under Section 147(a) is
called for to reopen the assessment and assess these credits as the undisclosed income of the
assessee. The assessee is still claiming that the credits are genuine in the assessment
proceedings for 1962-63. Commissioner‘s sanction is solicited to reopen the assessment for
1958-59, under Section 147(a).‖
All the three Judges who constituted the Full Bench found that the assessee was not being
charged with omission to disclose all facts: he was charged for having made an untrue
disclosure because the assessee had stated that he had received certain sums of money from
certain persons as loans when, in fact, he had not received any sum at all from those persons. It
was also stated by the assessee at the time of the original assessment that he had paid interest to
certain persons when, in fact, he had not, if the information received later was true. The duty of
the assessee, it was held, was not only to make a full disclosure of all material facts, his duty
was also to make a true disclosure of facts and not to mislead the assessing officer by disclosing
certain things which did represent facts. The High Court accordingly held that once an assessee
infringes this rule, any subsequent discovery of fact by the assessing officer which would raise a
reasonable belief in his mind that the assessee had not made a true and correct disclosure of the
facts and had thereby been responsible for escapement of his income from assessment would
attract Section 147 of the Act. Two of the learned Judges, A.K. Mukherjea and S.K. Mukherjea,
JJ., however, took the view that the conditions precedent for the exercise of jurisdiction by the
Income-tax Officer under Section 147 of the Income-tax Act were not fulfilled in the case as the
report submitted by the Income-tax Officer to the Commissioner for sanction under Section
147(a) was defective. The defects in the report, in the opinion of the High Court, were the same
as had been pointed out by this Court in the case of Chhugamal Rajpal v. S.P. Chaliha [(1971)
1 SCC 453]. The Commissioner while according permission for taking action under Section
147, it was observed, acted mechanically because the Commissioner had not expressly stated
that he was satisfied that this was a fit case for the issue of notice under Section 148. As against
the majority, Sabyasachi Mukherji, J. held that notice under Section 148 of the Act was valid
and did not suffer from any infirmity. It was also observed that the Commissioner of Income-
tax had not acted improperly in giving sanction.
In the result, by majority the High Court quashed the notice issued by the appellant to the
respondent.
In appeal before us Mr. Sharma on behalf of the appellants has assailed the judgment of the
majority of the learned Judges in so far as they have held that the report submitted by the
Income-tax Officer to the Commissioner of Income-tax for sanction was defective. As against
that, Dr. Pal on behalf of the assessee-respondent has canvassed for the correctness of the view
taken by the majority regarding the defective nature of the report. Dr. Pal has in his own turn
assailed the finding of all the three learned Judges of the High Court in so far as they have held
that the assessee was being charged with omission to disclose true facts. Contention has also
been advanced by Dr. Pal that the material on the basis of which the Income-tax Officer
initiated these proceedings for reopening the assessment did not have a rational connection with
the formation of the belief that the assessee had not made a true disclosure of the facts at the
time of the original assessment.
 179

Before dealing with the points of controversy, it would be useful to reproduce the relevant
provisions of the Act. Sections 147 and 148 deal with income escaping assessment and issue of
notice where income has escaped assessment.
The provisions of Sections 147 to 153 of the Act correspond to those of Section 34 of the
Indian Income-tax Act, 1922. There have been some points of departure from the old law, but it
is not necessary for the purpose of the present case to refer to them.
It would appear from the perusal of the provisions reproduced above that two conditions
have to be satisfied before an Income-tax Officer acquires jurisdiction to issue notice under
Section 148 in respect of an assessment beyond the period of four years but within a period of
eight years from the end of the relevant year, viz. (1) the Income-tax Officer must have reason
to believe that income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment, and (2) he must have reason to
believe that such income has escaped assessment by reason of the omission or failure on the part
of the assess (a) to make a return under Section 139 for the assessment year to the Income-tax
Officer, or (b) to disclose fully and truly material facts necessary for his assessment for that
year. Both these conditions must coexist in order to confer jurisdiction on the Income-tax
Officer. It is also imperative for the Income-tax Officer to record his reasons before initiating
proceedings as required by Section 148(2). Another requirement is that before notice is issued
after the expiry of four years from the end of the relevant assessment years, the Commissioner
should be satisfied on the reasons recorded by the Income-tax Officer that it is a fit case for the
issue of such notice. We may add that the duty which is cast upon the assessee is to make a true
and full disclosure of the primary facts at the time of the original assessment. Production before
the Income-tax Officer of the accounts books or other evidence from which material evidence
could with due diligence have been discovered by the Income-tax Officer will not necessarily
amount to disclosure contemplated by law. The duty of the assessee in any case does not extend
beyond making a true and full disclosure of primary facts. Once he has done that his duty ends.
It is for the Income-tax Officer to draw the correct inference from the primary facts. It is no
responsibility of the assessee to advise the Income-tax Officer with regard to the inference
which he should draw from the primary facts. If an Income-tax Officer draws an inference
which appears subsequently to be erroneous, mere change of opinion with regard to that
inference would not justify initiation of action for reopening assessment.
The grounds or reasons which lead to the formation of the belief contemplated by Section
147(a) of the Act must have a material bearing on the question of escapement of income of the
assessee from assessment because of his failure or omission to disclose fully and truly all
material facts. Once there exist reasonable grounds for the Income-tax Officer to form the
above belief, that would be sufficient to clothe him with jurisdiction to issue notice. Whether
the grounds are adequate or not is not a mater for the court to investigate. The sufficiency of
grounds which induce the Income-tax Officer to act is, therefore, not a justiciable issue. It is, of
course, open to the assessee to contend that the Income-tax Officer did not hold the belief that
there had been such non-disclosure. The existence of the belief can be challenged by the
assessee but not the sufficiency of reasons for the belief. The expression ―reason to believe‖
does not mean a purely subjective satisfaction on the part of the Income-tax Officer. The reason
must be held in good faith. It cannot be merely a pretence. It is open to the court to examine
whether the reasons for the formation of the belief have a rational connection with or a relevant
180

bearing on the formation of the belief and are not extraneous or irrelevant for the purpose of the
section. To this limited extent, the action of the Income-tax Officer in starting proceedings in
respect of income escaping assessment is open to challenge in a court of law.
Keeping the above principles in view, we may now turn our attention to the facts of the
present case. Two grounds were mentioned in the report made by the Income-tax Officer for
reopening of the assessee respondent with a view to show that his income had been
underassessed because of his failure to disclose fully and truly material facts necessary for the
assessment. One was that Mohansingh Kanayalal, who was shown to be one of the creditors of
the assessee, had since confessed that he was doing only name-lending. The other ground was
that Narayansingh Nandalal, D.K. Naraindas, Bhagwandas Srichand, etc., whose names too
were mentioned in the list of the creditors of the assessee, were known name-lenders. So far as
the second ground is concerned, neither the majority of the Judges of the High Court nor the
learned Judge who was in the minority relied upon that ground. Regarding that ground, the
learned Judge who was in the minority observed that no basis had been indicated as to how it
became known that those creditors were known name-lenders and when it was known. The
majority while not relying upon that ground placed reliance upon the case of Chhugamal
Rajpal. In that case the Income-tax Officer while submitting a report to the Commissioner of
Income-tax for obtaining his sanction with a view to issue notice under Section 148 of the Act
stated:
―During the year the assessee has shown to have taken loans from various parties of Calcutta.
From D.I.‘s Inv. No. A/P/Misc.(5) D.I/63-64/5623 dated August 13, 1965 forwarded to this
office under C.I.T. Bihar and Orissa, Patna‘s letter No. Inv.(Inv.) 15/65-66/1953-2017 dated
Patna September 24, 1965, it appears that these persons are name-lenders and the transactions
are bogus. Hence, proper investigation regarding these loans is necessary. The names of some
of the persons from whom money is alleged to have been taken on loan on hundis are: Seth
Bhagwan Singh Sricharan; 2. Lakha Singh Lal Singh; 3. Radhakissen Shyam Sunder. The
amount of escapement involved amounts to Rs. 1,00,000.
In dealing with that report this Court observed:
From the report submitted by the Income-tax Officer to the Commissioner, it is clear that he
could not have had reasons to believe that by reasons of the assessee‘s omission to disclose
fully and truly all material facts necessary for his assessment for the accounting year in
question, income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment for that year; nor could it be said
that he, as a consequence of information in his possession, had reasons to believe that the
income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment for that year. We are not satisfied that the
Income-tax Officer had any material before him which could satisfy the requirements of
either clause (a) or clause (b) of Section 147. Therefore, he could not have issued a notice
under Section 148.
Reference to the names of Narayansingh Nandalal, D.K. Naraindas, Bhagwandas Srichand,
etc. in the report of the Income-tax Officer to the Commissioner of Income-tax in the instant
case does not stand on a better footing than the reference to the three names in the report made
by the Income-tax Office in the case of Chhugamal Rajpal. We would, therefore, hold the
second ground mentioned by the Income-tax Officer, i.e., reference to the names of
 181

Narayansingh Nandalal, D.K. Naraindas, Bhagwandas Srichand, etc., could not have led to the
formation of the belief that the income of the respondent assessee chargeable to tax had escaped
assessment for that year because of the failure or omission of the assessee to disclose fully and
truly all material facts. All the three learned Judges of the High Court, in our opinion, were
justified in excluding the second ground from consideration.
We may now deal with the first ground mentioned in the report of the Income-tax Officer to
the Commissioner of Income-tax. This ground relates to Mohansingh Kanayalal, against whose
name there was an entry about the payment of Rs. 74 annas 3 as interest in the books of the
assessee, having made a confession that he was doing only name-lending. There is nothing to
show that the above confession related to a loan to the assessee and not to someone else, much
less to the loan of Rs. 2,500 which was shown to have been advanced by that person to the
assessee-respondent. There is also no indication as to when that confession was made and
whether it relates to the period from April 1, 1957 to March 31, 1958 which is the subject-
matter of the assessment sought to be reopened. The report was made on February 13, 1967. In
the absence of the date of the alleged confession, it would not be unreasonable to assume that
the confession was made a few weeks or months before the report. To infer from that
confession that it relates to the period from April 1, 1957 to March 31, 1958 and that it pertains
to the loan shown to have been advanced to the assessee, in our opinion, would be rather
farfetched.
As stated earlier, the reasons for the formation of the belief must have a rational connection
with or relevant bearing on the formation of the belief. Rational connection postulates that there
must be a direct nexus or live link between the material coming to the notice of the Income-tax
Officer and the formation of his belief that there has been escapement of the income of the
assessee from assessment in the particular year because of his failure to disclose fully and truly
all material facts. It is no doubt true that the court cannot go into the sufficiency or adequacy of
the material and substitute its own opinion for that of the Income-tax Officer on the point as to
whether action should be initiated for reopening assessment. At the same time we have to bear
in mind that it is not any and every material, howsoever vague and indefinite or distant, remote
and farfetched, which would warrant the formation of the belief relating to escapement of the
income of the assessee from assessment. The fact that the words ―definite information‖ which
were there in Section 34 of the Act of 1922 at one time before its amendment in 1948 are not
there in Section 147 of the Act of 1961 would not lead to the conclusion that action can now be
taken for reopening assessment even if the information is wholly vague, indefinite, farfetched
and remote. The reason for the formation of the belief must be held in good faith and should not
be a mere pretence.
The powers of the Income-tax Officer to reopen assessment though wide are not plenary.
The words of the statute are ―reason to believe‖ and not ―reason to suspect‖. The reopening of
the assessment after the lapse of many years is a serious matter. The Act, no doubt,
contemplates the reopening of the assessment if grounds exist for believing that income of the
assessee has escaped income or other income escaping assessment in a large number of cases
come to the notice of the income-tax authorities after the assessment has been completed. The
provisions of the Act in this respect depart from the normal rule that there should be, subject to
right of appeal and revision, finality about orders in judicial and quasi-judicial proceeding. It is,
182

therefore, essential that before such action is taken the requirements of the law should be
satisfied. The live link or close nexus which should be there between the material before the
Income-tax Officer in the present case and the belief which he was to form regarding the
escapement of the income of the assessee from assessment because of the latter‘s failure or
omission to disclose fully and truly all material facts was missing in the case. In any event, the
link was too tenuous to provide a legally sound basis for reopening the assessment. The
majority of the learned Judges in the High Court, in our opinion, were not in error in holding
that the said material could not have led to the formation of the belief that the income of the
assessee respondent had escaped assessment because of his failure or omission to disclose fully
and truly all material facts. We would, therefore, uphold the view of the majority and dismiss
the appeal with costs.

*****
 183

Srikrishna (P) Ltd. v. I.T.O.

(1996) 9 SCC 534

B.P. JEEVAN REDDY, J. - 1. This is an appeal preferred by the assessee against the judgment
and order of a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court allowing the writ appeal preferred by
the Revenue against the judgment of a learned Single Judge. The learned Single Judge had
allowed the writ petition filed by the assessee questioning the validity of a notice issued under
Section 148 read with Section 147 of the Income Tax Act.
2. In the return filed for the Assessment Year 1959-60, the assessee had shown certain hundi
loans totalling Rs 8,53,298 said to have been taken from a number of persons. The Income Tax
Officer accepted the averment and made the assessment. During the assessment proceedings for
the succeeding year, 1960-61, the assessee again showed hundi loans in a sum of more than
rupees seventeen lakhs. The Income Tax Officer enquired into the truth of the averment and
found that many of them were bogus claims while some of the alleged lenders were found to be
near relations of directors or principal shareholders of the assessee. The Income Tax Officer
held that out of the hundi loans of more than rupees seventeen lakhs claimed by the assessee,
loans totalling Rs 11,15,275 were not established to be genuine loans and accordingly added
that amount as income from undisclosed sources. Having regard to the similarity of the claims
and the persons who are said to have advanced the said unsecured hundi loans during the
accounting year relevant to the Assessment Year 1959-60, the Income Tax Officer issued a
notice under Section 148 calling upon the assessee to file a revised return for the Assessment
Year 1959-60. Immediately, upon receiving the said notice, the assessee approached the
Calcutta High Court by way of a writ petition questioning the validity of the notice on the
grounds that the Income Tax Officer had no reasonable ground to believe that income
chargeable to tax has escaped assessment for the said year on account of any omission or failure
on his part to make a full and true disclosure of all material facts. The writ petition was allowed
by a learned Single Judge, as stated above, whose decision has been reversed in appeal by the
Division Bench. This Court entertained the special leave petition filed by the assessee and
granted leave on 26-7-1977. This Court, however, did not stay the proceedings pursuant to the
impugned notice. It directed that the Income Tax Officer may proceed to complete the
assessment proceedings but will not issue a demand notice. The Income Tax Officer has
accordingly completed the reassessment.
4. Section 139 places an obligation upon every person to furnish voluntarily a return of his
total income if such income during the previous year exceeded the maximum amount which is
not chargeable to income tax. The obligation so placed involves the further obligation to
disclose all material facts necessary for his assessment for that year fully and truly. If at any
subsequent point of time, it is found that either on account of an omission or failure of the
assessee to file the return or on account of his omission or failure to disclose fully and truly all
material facts necessary for his assessment for that year, income chargeable to tax has escaped
assessment for that year, the Income Tax Officer is entitled to reopen the assessment in
accordance with the procedure prescribed by the Act. To be more precise, he can issue the
notice under Section 148 proposing to reopen the assessment only where he has reason to
believe that on account of either the omission or failure on the part of the assessee to file the
184

return or on account of the omission or failure on the part of the assessee to disclose fully and
truly all material facts necessary for his assessment for that year, income has escaped
assessment. The existence of the reason(s) to believe is supposed to be the check, a limitation,
upon his power to reopen the assessment.
Section 148(2) imposes a further check upon the said power, viz., the requirement of
recording of reasons for such reopening by the Income Tax Officer. Section 151 imposed yet
another check upon the said power, viz., the Commissioner or the Board, as the case may be,
has to be satisfied, on the basis of the reasons recorded by the Income Tax Officer, that it is a fit
case for issuance of such a notice. The power conferred upon the Income Tax Officer by
Sections 147 and 148 is thus not an unbridled one. It is hedged in with several safeguards
conceived in the interest of eliminating room for abuse of this power by the assessing officers.
The idea was to save the assessees from harassment resulting from mechanical reopening of
assessment but this protection avails only those assessees who disclose all material facts truly
and fully.
5. Coming to the facts of this case, the reasons recorded by the Income Tax Officer for
reopening the assessment for the year 1959-60 are to the following effect:
―In the course of the assessment proceeding for the Assessment Year 1960-61
investigations were made into the unsecured loans of Rs 17,32,298 which was the position
of the last day of the accounting year relevant to the Assessment Year 1960-61. These
investigations disclosed that a large number of them were bogus hundi loans or loans from
near relations of the Directors or principal shareholders. Hence, the amounts credited to
some of these accounts have been assessed as income from undisclosed sources to the
extent of Rs 11,51,275.00.
Similar loans are noticed for the Assessment Year 1959-60 and they stand at
Rs 8,53,298 as per Balance-Sheet as on 16-4-1959.
I have, therefore reasons to believe that by reason of omission or failure on the part of
the assessee company to disclose fully and truly all material facts necessary for its
assessment of 1959-60 in regard to these accounts, income chargeable to tax has escaped
assessment.
I, therefore, propose action under Section 147(a) of I.T. Act, 1961.‖
6. We may also mention that after hearing this appeal for some time, we found it
appropriate to look into the relevant record and accordingly made the following order on 10-10-
1995:
―After hearing the appeals for some time, we find it necessary to look into the record to
satisfy ourselves with respect to the following fact:
Whether, at the time of issuing of notice under Section 148, the ITO had material before
him showing the persons who have lent the sum of Rs 8,53,298 during the accounting year
relevant to Assessment Year 1959-60, were the very same persons who are said to have lent
Rs 11,51,275 (bogus loans) during the accounting year relevant to Assessment Year 1960-
61, and disallowed by the ITO in that assessment year?
Adjourned for eight weeks.‖
 185

7. Accordingly, the Income Tax Officer has submitted a chart showing that out of the
unsecured hundi loans of Rs 8,53,298 claimed by the assessee, ten persons who are said to have
lent a total amount of Rs 3,80,000 were common to both the Assessment Years 1959-60 and
1960-61. In other words, these very ten persons are said to have advanced loans again during the
next year and all the ten were found to be bogus lenders as recorded in the assessment
proceedings relating to Assessment Year 1960-61. Now, the question is can it be said in the
above facts that the issuance of the notice under Section 148 was not warranted? Can it be said
in the face of the above facts that the Income Tax Officer had no reason to believe that on
account of the assessee‘s omission/failure to disclose fully and truly all material facts necessary
for his assessment for that year, income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment for that year.
In the reasons recorded by the Income Tax Officer [as required by Section 148(2)], he had
stated clearly that in the course of assessment proceedings for the succeeding assessment year, it
was found that out of the unsecured hundi loans put forward by the assessee, a large number
were found to be bogus and that many of the so-called lenders were found to be near relations of
the Directors or the principal shareholders. He stated that similar loans are also noticed for the
Assessment Year 1959-60 and, therefore, he has reason to believe that there has been no true
and full disclosure of all material facts by the assessee for the Assessment Year 1959-60 leading
to escapement of income. It is not alleged by the assessee that the Income Tax Officer had not
checked up or tallied the names of the alleged lenders for both the assessment years and that he
merely went by the fact that there were unsecured hundi loans for both the assessment years. In
the absence of any such allegation — which allegation, if made, could have afforded an
opportunity to the Income Tax Officer to answer the said averment — we must presume that the
Income Tax Officer did find that a large number of alleged lenders who were found to be bogus
during the Assessment Year 1960-61 were also put forward as lenders during the Assessment
Year 1959-60 as well. Evidently, this is what he meant in the context, when he spoke of ―similar
loans‖ being noticed for the year in question as well. In such a situation, it is impossible to say
that the Income Tax Officer had no reasonable ground to believe that there has been no full and
true disclosure of all material facts by the assessee during the relevant assessment year and that
on that account, income chargeable to tax had escaped assessment. As we shall emphasise
hereinafter, every disclosure is not and cannot be treated to be a true and full disclosure. A
disclosure may be a false one or true one. It may be a full disclosure or it may not be. A partial
disclosure may very often be a misleading one. What is required is a full and true disclosure of
all material facts necessary for making assessment for that year. This calls for an examination
of the decisions of this Court analysing and elucidating Sections 147 and 148 of the Act.
8. The first and foremost is the decision of the Constitution Bench in Calcutta Discount Co.
Ltd. v. ITO, Companies Distt.-I [AIR 1961 SC 372]. The case arose under Section 34 of the
Income Tax Act (as amended in 1951). In material particulars, the provisions in Section 34 were
similar to those in Section 147. Having regard to the fact that it is the only Constitution Bench
decision on the point, it is necessary to examine it in some detail. The Constitution Bench
explained the purport of Section 34 in the following words:
―To confer jurisdiction under this section to issue notice in respect of assessments beyond
the period of four years, but within a period of eight years, from the end of the relevant year
two conditions have therefore to be satisfied. The first is that the Income Tax Officer must
186

have reason to believe that income, profits or gains chargeable to income tax have been
under-assessed. The second is that he must have also reason to believe that such ‗under-
assessment‘ has occurred by reason of either (i) omission or failure on the part of an
assessee to make a return of his income under Section 22, or (ii) omission or failure on the
part of an assessee to disclose fully and truly all material facts necessary for his assessment
for that year. Both these conditions are conditions precedent to be satisfied before the
Income Tax Officer could have jurisdiction to issue a notice for the assessment or
reassessment beyond the period of four years, but within the period of eight years, from the
end of the year in question.
The words used are ‗omission or failure to disclose fully and truly all material facts
necessary for his assessment for that year‘. It postulates a duty on every assessee to disclose
fully and truly all material facts necessary for his assessment. What facts are material and
necessary for assessment will differ from case to case. In every assessment proceeding, the
assessing authority will, for the purpose of computing or determining the proper tax due
from an assessee, require to know all the facts which help him in coming to the correct
conclusion. From the primary facts in his possession, whether on disclosure by the assessee,
or discovered by him on the basis of the facts disclosed, or otherwise - the assessing
authority has to draw inferences as regards certain other facts; and ultimately, from the
primary facts and the further facts inferred from them, the authority has to draw the proper
legal inferences, and ascertain on a correct interpretation of the taxing enactment, the proper
tax leviable. Thus, when a question arises whether certain income received by an assessee is
capital receipt, or revenue receipt, the assessing authority has to find out what primary facts
have been proved, what other facts can be inferred from them, and, taking all these together,
to decide what the legal inference should be.
We have, therefore, come to the conclusion that while the duty of the assessee is to
disclose fully and truly all primary relevant facts, it does not extend beyond this.‖
9. In that case, the alleged non-disclosure of material facts fully and truly — to put it in the
words of the court — was the failure of the assessee to disclose ―the true intention behind the
sale of the shares‖. The assessee had stated during the assessment proceedings that the sale of
shares during the relevant assessment years was a casual transaction in the nature of mere
change of investment. The Income Tax Officer found later that those sales were really in the
nature of trading transactions. The case of the Revenue was that the assessee ought to have
stated that they were trading transactions and that his assertion that they were casual
transactions, in the nature of change of investment, amounted to ―omission or failure to disclose
fully and truly all material facts necessary for his assessment for that year‖ within the meaning
of Section 34. This contention of the Revenue was rejected holding that the true nature of
transaction, being a matter capable of different opinions, is not a material or primary fact but a
matter of inference and hence, it cannot be said that there was an omission or failure of the
nature contemplated by Section 34 on the part of the assessee. Now, what needs to be
emphasised is that the obligation on the assessee to disclose the material facts — or what are
called, primary facts - is not a mere disclosure but a disclosure which is full and true. A false
disclosure is not a true disclosure. The disclosure must not only be true but must be full - ―fully
and truly‖. A false assertion, or statement, of material fact, therefore, attracts the jurisdiction of
the Income Tax Officer under Sections 34/147. Take this very case: the Income Tax Officer
 187

says that on the basis of investigations and enquiries made during the assessment proceedings
relating to the subsequent assessment year, he has come into possession of material, on the basis
of which, he has reasons to believe that the assessee had put forward certain bogus and false
unsecured hundi loans said to have been taken by him from non-existent persons or his
dummies, as the case may be, and that on that account income chargeable to tax has escaped
assessment. According to him, this was a false assertion to the knowledge of the assessee. The
Income Tax Officer says that during the assessment relating to subsequent assessment year,
similar loans (from some of these very persons) were found to be bogus. On that basis, he seeks
to reopen the assessment. It is necessary to remember that we are at the stage of reopening only.
The question is whether, in the above circumstances, the assessee can say, with any justification,
that he had fully and truly disclosed the material facts necessary for his assessment for that year.
Having created and recorded bogus entries of loans, with what face can the assessee say that he
had truly and fully disclosed all material facts necessary for his assessment for that year? True it
is that Income Tax Officer could have investigated the truth of the said assertion - which he
actually did in the subsequent assessment year - but that does not relieve the assessee of his
obligation, placed upon him by the statute, to disclose fully and truly all material
facts. Indubitably, whether a loan, alleged to have been taken by the assessee, is true or false, is
a material fact - and not an inference, factual or legal, to be drawn from given facts. In this case,
it is shown to us that ten persons (who are alleged to have advanced loans to the assessee in a
total sum of Rs 3,80,000 out of the total hundi loans of Rs 8,53,298) were established to be
bogus persons or mere name-lenders in the assessment proceedings relating to the subsequent
assessment year. Does it not furnish a reasonable ground for the Income Tax Officer to believe
that on account of the failure - indeed not a mere failure but a positive design to mislead - of the
assessee to disclose all material facts, fully and truly, necessary for his assessment for that year,
income has escaped assessment? We are of the firm opinion that it does. It is necessary to
reiterate that we are now at the stage of the validity of the notice under sections 148/147. The
enquiry at this stage is only to see whether there are reasonable grounds for the Income Tax
Officer to believe and not whether the omission/failure and the escapement of income is
established. It is necessary to keep this distinction in mind.
10. A recent decision of this Court in Phool Chand Bajrang Lal v. ITO [(1993) 4 SCC 77],
we are gratified to note, adopts an identical view of law and we are in respectful agreement with
it. The decision rightly emphasises the obligation of the assessee to disclose all material facts
necessary for making his assessment fully and truly. A false disclosure, it is held, does not
satisfy the said requirement. We are also in respectful agreement with the following holding in
the said decision:
―Since the belief is that of the Income Tax Officer, the sufficiency of reasons for forming
the belief, is not for the Court to judge but it is open to an assessee to establish that there in
fact existed no belief or that the belief was not at all a bona fide one or was based on vague,
irrelevant and non-specific information. To that limited extent, the Court may look into the
conclusion arrived at by the Income Tax Officer and examine whether there was any
material available on the record from which the requisite belief could be formed by the
Income Tax Officer and further whether that material had any rational connection or a live
link for the formation of the requisite belief.‖
188

11. Learned counsel for the assessee, Shri Gupta placed strong reliance upon the decisions
of this Court in Chhugamal Rajpal v. S.P. Chaliha [(1971) 1 SCC 453]; ITO v. Lakhmani
Mewal Das [(1976) 3 SCC 757] and CIT v. Burlop Dealers Ltd. [(1971) 1 SCC 462] as laying
down propositions contrary to those laid down in Phool Chand Bajrang Lal. We cannot agree.
The principle is well settled by Calcutta Discount and it is not reasonable to suggest that any
different proposition was sought to be enunciated in the said decisions. Calcutta Discount
emphasises repeatedly the assessee‘s obligation to disclose all material facts necessary for his
assessment fully and truly in the context of the two requirements — called conditions precedent
which must be satisfied before the Income Tax Officer gets the jurisdiction to reopen the
assessment under Sections 147/148. This obligation can neither be ignored nor watered down.
Nor can anyone suggest that a false disclosure satisfies the requirement of full and true
disclosure. All the requirements stipulated by Section 147 must be given due and equal weight.
Finality of proceedings is certainly a consideration but that avails one who has fully and truly
disclosed all material facts necessary for his assessment for that year - and not to others. All the
decisions relied upon by Shri Gupta have been elaborately discussed and distinguished in Phool
Chand Bajrang Lal and we fully agree with the same. We think it unnecessary to repeat those
reasons. In particular, we agree with the reasons given in Phool Chand Bajrang Lal for holding
that the decision of this Court in Burlop Dealers must be confined to the particular fact-
situation of that case and that it cannot be construed to be of universal application irrespective of
the facts and circumstances of the case before the Court.
12. It is brought to our notice that certain other decisions of this Court have rightly
emphasised the requirement of full and true disclosure and have held that failure or omission to
do so, legitimately attracts the power under Section 147. In Inspecting Asstt. CIT v. V.I.P.
Industries Ltd. [(1991) 191 ITR 661 (SC)] a three-Judge Bench had this to say:
―After hearing learned counsel for both the parties, we are unable to uphold the order of the
High Court. It appears that, subsequently, facts have come to the notice of the Income Tax
Department that the facts disclosed in the return are not a true and correct declaration of
facts. In that view of the matter, we set aside the order of the High Court passed in Writ
Petition No. 1634 of 1988 with Writ Petition No. 2919 of 1988 [V.I.P. Industries v.
Inspecting Asstt. Commr. (1991) 187 ITR 639 (Bom)], and send the case back on remand
to the Income Tax Officer for a decision in accordance with law after giving an opportunity
of hearing to the parties concerned.
The special leave petitions are disposed of.‖
13. In Central Provinces Manganese Ore Co. Ltd. v. ITO [(1991) 4 SCC 166] again this
Court observed:
―The only question which arises for our consideration is as to whether the two
conditions required to confer jurisdiction on the Income Tax Officer under Section 147(a)
of the Act have been satisfied in this case. The first is that the Income Tax Officer must
have reason to believe that the income chargeable to income tax had been under-assessed
and the second that such under-assessment has occurred by reason of omission or failure on
the part of the assessee to disclose fully and truly all material facts necessary for its
assessment for the year 1953-54.
 189

So far as the first condition is concerned, the Income Tax Officer, in his recorded
reasons, has relied upon the fact as found by the Customs Authorities that the appellant had
under-invoiced the goods he exported. It is no doubt correct that the said finding may not be
binding upon the income tax authorities but it can be a valid reason to believe that the
chargeable income has been under-assessed. The final outcome of the proceedings is not
relevant. What is relevant is the existence of reasons to make the Income Tax Officer
believe that there has been under-assessment of the assessee‘s income for a particular year.
We are satisfied that the first condition to invoke the jurisdiction of the Income Tax Officer
under Section 147(a) of the Act was satisfied.
As regards the second condition, the appellant did not produce the books of accounts
kept by them at their head office in London nor the original contracts of sale which were
entered into at London with the buyers. The appellant did not produce before the Income
Tax Officer any of the accounts which related to the foreign buyers. No reasons were given
for the supply of manganese ore at a rate lower than the market rate. It is for the assessee to
disclose all the primary facts before the Income Tax Officer to enable him to account for the
true income of the assessee. The proven charge of under-invoicing per se satisfied the
second condition. The appellant‘s assessable income has to be determined on the basis of
the price received by it for the goods exported. If the true price has not been disclosed and
there was under-invoicing, the logical conclusion prima facie is that there has been failure
on the part of the appellant to disclose fully and truly all material facts before the Income
Tax Officer. We are, therefore, satisfied that both the conditions required to attract the
provisions of Section 147(a) have been complied with in this case.‖
14. In ITO v. Mewalal Dwarka Prasad [(1989) 176 ITR 529] this Court held that if the
notice issued under Section 148 is good in respect of one item, it cannot be quashed under
Article 226 on the ground that it may not be valid in respect of some other items. We need not,
however, dilate on this aspect for the reason that no argument has been urged before us to the
effect that since the notice under Section 148 is found to be justifiable in respect of some loans
disclosed and not with respect to other loans, it is invalid.
15. For the above reasons, the appeal fails.