Smt. Indermani Jatia versus Commissioner of Income-Tax, U.P., Lucknow

(1) S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 45

is applied solely to the purpose of the institution and x95B the business is carried on in the manner provided. It The Commissioner is enough to say that the scheme, considered as a of Income-tax. Income-tax. business, was not carried on on behalf of any religious Madhya Pradesh or charitable institution. Once it is held that the and Bhopal assessees made the profit, bow they use it would not v. matter. Messrs. Vyas c;.

¶3

of Income-tax. Income-tax. Madhya Pradesh and Bhopal v. Messrs. Vyas c;. Doliwula

¶4

In the result, we would answer both parts of the question framed, in the affirmative. We bold that the profits were the income which accrued to the a.ssessees and such income is assessable to income-tax and is not exempt from taxation under s. 4(3)(i-a). The appeal is allowed with costs here and below.

Sarkar J.

Appeal allowed.

SMT. INDERMANI JATIA

v.

October 3.

COMMISSIONER OF INCOME-TAX, U.P., LUCKNOW

¶11

(VENKATARAMA AIYAR, P. B. GAJENDRAGADKAR

¶12

and A. K. SARKAR, J J)

¶13

Income-tax-Mercantile system of accounts-Accounts in India showing credit entry of receipt of interest from Indian State-If such amount liable to tax-New point-Indian Income-tax Act. z9:z:z (XI of z9:z:z), s. 4 (I)(a).

¶14

The assessee, who was ordinarily resident in British India, carried on ·business at Khurja and Aligarh in India and at Chistian in the Indian State of Bahawalpur. He kept a central set of accounts of the business at Khurja, which were maintained on the mercantile system. Under the said system credit entries are made in respect of amounts due immediately they become legally due and even before they are actually received. In his account books the income received by the assessee froll\ all sources was ~ shown, and the interest · account showed credit entries of amounts received as interest on capital invested in the shop at Chistian. The assessee conceded that as creditor he had the right to enforce the payment of interest in British India and that liability of the Chistian shop had been extinguished to the

¶15

i

¶16

46 · . SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1959] Supp.

¶17

Smt. lndermani jatia v.

¶18

·· Commissioner of Income-lax. U.P., LucAnow

¶19

extent of the interest paid by it to the head office. The Incometax Authorities included these amounts in the assessee's taxable income in India and levied tax on them. The assessee contended that the entries in respect of the receipt of interest were merely book entries and that the authorities had wrongly treated these amounts as having been actually received.

¶20

Held, that the relevant entries in the books of account did justify the inference that the assessee had actually received the amounts by way of interest. Where an assessee keeps accounts according to the mercantile method of book-keeping the effect of making a credit entry in the interest account would be to treat that amount as income or profits received by the assessee or treated by him as received for the purposes of the tax.

¶21

. Commissioner of Income-tax v. A.T.K.P.L.S.P. Subramaniam Chettiar, (1927) I.L.R. 50 Mad. 765, approved.

¶22

Gresham Lif.e Assurance Society Ltd. v. Bishop, (1902) A.C. 287 ; K eshav M •lls Ltd. v. Commissioner of Income-tax, Bombay, . [1953] S.C.R. 950; Sunder Das v. The Collector of Gujrat, (1922) I.L.R. 3 Lah. 349, refetred to.

¶23

The assess~e sought to raise a new point that it was a rule of universal application that no person could trade with himself and that accordingly the interest alleged to have been received ftom his own shop at Chistian could not amount to receipt of any income by him, and referred to: Dublin Corporation v. M'Adam, (1887) 2 Tax Cas. 387; Ostime v. Pontypridd and Rhondda Joint Water Board, (1944) 28 Tax Cas. 261; Carlisle and SiUoth Golf Club v. Smith, (1913) 6 Tax Cas. 198; New York Life Insurance Company v. Styles, (1889) 14 App. Cas. 381; Sir Kikabhai Premchai1d v. Commissioner of Income-tax (Central) Bombay, [1954] S.C.R. 219 and Ram Lal Bechairam v. Commissioner of Income-tax, A.LR. (1946) All. 3. The respondent contended that the principle was not inflexible or universal and that the new point having been raised for the first time in appeal ought not to be permitted to be raised. Sharkey v. Wernher, (1956) A. C. 58, referred to.

¶24

Held that, the new point could not be allowed to be raised as that would mean the re-opening of the whole enquiry into the question as to the remittances from Chistian to Khurja as well as the rates at which the tax were to be levied on the assessee. If the assessee wanted to rely upon this principle the point ought to have been urged at the earlier stage of the proceedings.

¶25

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeals Nos. 278 and 279 of 1956.·

¶26

°'

¶27

Appeal from the judgiµent and order dated November 14, 1950, of the Allahabad High Court in Incometax Miscellaneous Case No. 12 of 1950.

¶28

47

¶29

(1) S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS

/

""

'9⁵⁸

A. V. Viswanatha Sastri and A. N. Kirpal, for the appellant.

¶34

Smt. Inderma11i ]otia

¶35

O. K. Daphtary, Solicitor-General of India, Raja]otia gopala Sastri, R. H. Dhebar and D. Gupta, for the res- Commis:ianer of pondent. Income-tax.

¶36

Income-tax. 1:.P .• Lucknow

¶37

October 3. The Judgment of the Court was dehvered by

¶38

GajendragadAar J.

¶39

GAJENDRAGADKAR J.-These are appeals by special leave and they arise from the assessment proceedings taken against the appellant's husband Seth Ganga 8agar J atia in respect of his income for the assessment years 1943-44 and 1944·45. The said Seth Ganga Sagar died on September 22, 1944, leaving behind him his widow the appellant Shrimat.i Indermani Jatia. After the death of her husband, the appellant continued the assessment proceedings as his representative and administrator of his estate. The appellant as well as her husband were residents and ordinarily residents in British India for the relevant years. The sources of the assessee's income for the purposes of incometax assessment were his business, his house propert.y and the dividends earned by him. This business was carried on by the appellant after his death at Khurja and Aligarh which are part of India and at Chistian in the Indian State of Bahawalpur now a part of Pakistan. The central set of accounts of the assessee's business were kept at Khurja. In this set of accounts income received by the assessee from all sources we1·e incorporated. For the accounting year relevant to 1943-44 assessment, the interest account in the said books showed credit entries of Rs. 17,132/· H.s interest received on capital invested in the shop ;tt Chistian. 8imilarly for the accounting period relevant to 1944-45 assessment Rs. 47,029/- had been credited in the said books. The Income Tax Officer took the view that these two amounts represented the assessee's taxable income in India and accordingly he levied tax on them.

¶40

The appellant filed appeals before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner against the said assessment orders for the assessment years 1943-44 and 1944-45;

¶41

48 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1959] Supp.

¶42

<958 and on her behalf the Income Tax Officer's decision Sml. I nder1nrini about the chargeability to tax of the aforesaid two .futia amounts was challenged. The appellate authority, v. however, rejected the appellant's contention and Commissioner of confirmed the order under appeal. Income-lax, The appellant then filed appeals before the Income U.P., Luckn~w Tax Appellate Tribunal. The tribunal agreed with Gajendragad/.., 1 the view taken by the income-tax authorities, con. firmed their conclusion and dismissed the appeals preferred by the appellant.

¶43

In the assessment for 1943-44, the appellant had claimed that Rs. 7,512/-, which had been spent in litigation, was an admissible expenditure but this · claim was disallowed by the Income Tax Officer and his decision was confirmed by the appellate authority and by the tribunal. At the instance of the appellant, the tribunal stated the case and referred the following two questions to the High Court at Allahabad under s. 66(1):

¶44

(1) Whether, in the circumstances of the case, the sum of Hs. 17,132/- for 1943.44 and Rs. 47,029/for 1944-45 could be legally deemed to have been received in British India and were liable to tax under s. 4(1) of the Act;

¶45

(2) Whether, in the circumstances of the case, .the expenditure of Rs. 7,512/- incurred in connection with a criminal litigation was admissible expenditure within the meaning of s. 10(2)(xv) of the Act ?

¶46

The reference was heard by Malik C. J .. and V. Bhargava J. on November 14, 1950, and both the questions were answered against the appellant. The application made by the appellant under s. 66A of the· Act for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court was dismissed by the High Com·t on April 23, 1954. Thereupon the appellant applied for and obtained special leave on December IO, 1954. That is how these appeals have come to this Court.

¶47

Mr. Viswanatha Sastri, for the appellant, did not challenge before us the correctness of the view taken by the High Court on the second question in respect of the expenditure of Hs. 7,512/-. He conceded that the finding recorded by the income-tax authorities

¶48

(1) S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS

¶49

49

¶50

/

¶51

against the appellant on this point is a finding of fa.ct, and, having regard to the material on the record, the Smt. Indtrma"i correctness of the said finding cannot be effectively challenged. He, however, urged that the answer v. given by the High Court on the first question referred Commissio"er of to it was erroneous in law. The High Court has held I ncoHie~ta x, U. P., Lucknow that the two amounts of interest credited in the books of the appellant were liable to tax under s. 4(1) of thecajendragadkar 1. Act as they must be deemed to have been received by the appellant in British India. Mr. Sastri argues that the expression "deemed to be received" means, deemed by the relevant provisions of the Act to be received. It is not disputed that though income may not have been received by the aasessee in reality, it can be deemed to be received under the relevant provisions of the Act; and this constructive receipt can be conveniently described as statutory receipt under the Act. Taxes deducted at source or annual ·accretion to an employee participating in a recognized firm, for instance, are deemed to be received under s. 18(4) and s. 58(e) of the Act respectively. The argument is that there is no relevant provision of the Act under which the two amounts in question can be properly deemed to have been received by the appellant. No provision has been mentioned in the judgment of the High Court nor has any such provision been cited by the income-tax authorities either. In our opinion, this argument is technically correct. It must be conceded that the present proceedings disclose some confusion in the mind of the appellant in the presentation of her case at all stages hereto, in the findings recorded by the income-tax authorities, in the form of the question raised by the tribunal, and in the answer given to it by the High Court. In law and in substance, what the department has done is to tax the said two amounts not because they are deemed to have been received by the appellant during the relevant years, but because they have been actually received by her or treated by her as so received. In other words, the case against the appellant under s. 4(l)(a) is that the amounts of interest constitute her income which is received or treated as received by her.

¶52

'l

¶53

'

¶54

50 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1959) Supp.

¶55

r958 Dealing with the question on this basis, Mr. Sastri Sinl. lndermani contends that the inference about the receipt of income .fatia by the appellant drawn from her books of account is v. not valid and should be rejected. He does not dispute Commission" of the fact that the books of account are kept by the b-come-tax. appellant on mercantile basis. It was conceded by the U.P .• Lu,Anow appellant's lawyer in the proceedings before the Gajendragadhar /. tribu~al thaht the appellanft s the crditBor_h.adh airidg_ht · to en.orce t e payment o mterest m r1t1s n 1a, and that the liability of the Chistian shop had been extinguished to the extent of the interest paid by it to the head office. The concessions made by the appellant before the tribunal clearly show that the sum advanced by the appellant's head office in British India to her shop at Chistian was liable to pay interest and that the credit entry in respect of the two amounts had been made according to the mercantile method of keeping accounts. It is well-known that the mercantile system of accounting differs substantially from the cash system of book-keeping. Under the cash system, it is only actual cash receipts and actual cash payments that are recorded as credits and debits; whereas, under the mercantile system, credit entries are made in respect of amounts due immediately they become legally due and before they are actually received; similarly, the expenditure items for which legal liability has been incurred are immediatelv debited even before the amounts in question are actually disbursed. Where accounts are kept on mercantile basis, the profits or gains are credited though they are not actually realised and the entries thus made really show nothing more than an accrual or arising of the said profits at the material time. The same is the position with regard to debits made.

¶56

This position is not disputed by Mr. Sastri. He, however, contends that the entries in respect of the receipt of interest are nevertheless merely book entries and it would not be reasonable to infer a.ctual receipt of the said amount merely from these entries. In support of this argument, Mr. Sastri invited our attention to the decision of the House of Lords in Gresham Life Assurance Society Ltd. v. Bishop (Surveyor of

¶57

51

¶58

(I) S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS

/

I

-·

Taxes)(1). This was a case of life assurance society i95B which carried on business at home and abroad with its head office in London. At the head office accounts Smt. Ind,,,nani J alia a.n d ba 1 ance-sheets were ma e up, t e pro d h fi ts a.seerv. tained and the dividends paid. The interest upon the commissioner of society's foreign securities paid abroad was received Income-ta.1t, by the agents and part of it was applied abroad for U.P .• Lucknow the purposes of the society. All the interest on foreign . - securities was, however, takeIJ- into account in the Ga1endragadkar f. ha.lance-sheets upon which the profits were ascertained. It was held that taking the interest into account was not equivalent to a receipt in the United Kingdom and that income-tax was not chargeable upon that part of the interest which was not remitted to the United Kingdom. The Fourth Case falling under Schedule ' D ' which fell to be considered in this 011.se referred to sums" which have been or will be received in Great Britain during the year for which the duty is payable". Under this provision, the locality of the receipt is nature.Uy very important. As Lord Lindley has observed that" what has been done, and all that has been done, is that the Gresham Company, in ma.king up its account with a view to ascertain what profits it could divide in a particular year, entered on its asset side the sum of £1,43,483/- as money received during the year. T}lis was obviously right ; for the object was not to ascertain the profit made in any particular country but the profit made by the company on all its transactions all over the world". In fact no account was forthcoming to show that the sum had ever been treated as remitted to the United Kingdom so as to justify the inference that in any commercial sense the same had been received in the United Kingdom as distinguished from other countries. It is thus clear that the decision turned upon the special features of accounting which is usually adopted in preparing and presenting balance. sheets of companies and it shows that an entry in a balance-sheet is not receipt of money at the place where the balance-sheet is prepared. In our opinion, there is no analogy between the balance-sheet of a. (1) (1902) A. C. z~7.

¶63

'

¶64

52 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1959] Supp.

¶65

'9⁵⁸ ·company and the accounts kept by the appellant in 5^,,, 1^{bidmnani_respect of her individual business activities.} The Jatia principle laid down by the House of Lords in the case v. of Gresham Life Assurance Society Ltd. (¹ ), appears to Commissiow of have been substantially reproduced in explanation (1) Income-tax, to s. 4(1). The argument that the principle thus U. P., Lucknow _. _ s t a.tu t on ·1 y recogmze · d · rn respec o t f b 1 a e.nce-s h ee t s Gajendragadkar J. should be extended to private books of account kept according to merce.ntife system cannot, in our opinion, be accepted.

¶66

Mr. Sastri has also invited our attention to the decision of Keshav Mills Ltd. v. Commissioner Income-tax, Bombay('). In this case a non-resident company manufactured textile goods in Petlad outside British India and sold the goods ex-mills. The firm of R. & Co., guaranteed the sale price of goods sold ex-mills by the assessee company to purchasers at Ahmedaba.d within British India.. The a.ssessee maintained its accounts according to the mercantile system and so debited R. & Co. witlJ. the price of goods sold and credited the sales account of the bills. R. & Co. collected the amounts of the bills from the purchasers on behalf of the a.ssessee and credited the sums realised in the a.ssessee's account with banks a.t Ahmeda.ba.d and also disbursed them to creditors of the assessee in British India.. During the relevant accounting year, the assessee thus received Rs. 12,68,418/-. The assessee also received Rs. 4,40,878/- from sales to purchasers in British India.. The question which a.rose for decision was whether these two sums were sale proceeds of goods sold by the assessee to merchants in British India. and whether they were received in British India. and could be included in the assessable income of the assessee in British India. It was held by this Court that the said amounts were not received by the a.ssessee nor could -be deemed to have been received by it when the entries were made in the books of account at Petlad but that they had merely accrued or arisen to the assessee there; that they were first received by R. & Co. and by the banks through whom the railway receipts were negotiated on behalf (1) (1902) A. C. •117· (2) [1953] S.C.R. 950.

¶67

53

¶68

(I) S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS

¶69

I

¶70

j

¶71

of the company in British India and as such were z95B liable to tax under s. 4(l)(a) of the Act as having been Smt. Indermani received in British India on its behalf. We do not see Jalia how this decision can assist the appellant's case bev. fore us. We are dealing with the appellant who is a Commission~, of resident in British India. and the argument that the Income-tu, t . d . h. b k f t h Id t U. P. Lucknow ere dit^. en r1es ma e m is oo s o accoun s ou no ' be treated as income received or treated by her as Gajendragadkar J. received cannot be supported by the decision in Kes1tav Mills Ltd. (¹ ) or even by any of the observations made by Bhagwati J. who delivered. the majority judgment.

¶72

Reliance was also placed by Mr. Sastri on the decision of the Full Bench of the Punjab High Court in Suruler Das v. The Collector of Gujrat (² ). This case merely decided that, where the assessee had earned and recefred income in British Baluchistan (which Province was exempt from the operation of the Act except as to salaries) and had subsequently b1·ought it into Punjab, it was not liable to income-tax for the reason that the said income had not been received in the Punjab within the meaning of s. 3, sub-s. (1) of the Income-tax Act. In other words, this decision shows that the assessee cannot receive the same income twice in two different places but this principle has no application to the present case.

¶73

The decision of the Full Bench of the Madras High Court in Commissioner of Income-tax, Madras v. A. T. K.P.L.S.P. Subramaniam Ohettiyar (⁸ ), on the other hand, supports the contention of the department. In this case the Madras High Court has held that credit entries made on account of interest. due by debtor in foreign places to the assessee must be treated as pay. ments though that interest was not actually pa.id in British India. The assessee had a business of his own in Rangoon carried on by an agent and he was also interested with another or others in a money-lending business in Penang in which he was a chief partner. ]'rom the Rangoon business a sum of Rs. 78,768i- and odd was transferred in cash to the Penang business (r) [1933] S.C.R. 950. (2) (1922) l.L.R. 3 Lah. 349. (3) (1927) l.L.R. 50 Mad. 765.

¶74

"

¶75

54 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1959] Supp.

¶76

19jB under the orders of the assessee. In the books of the Rangoon business a sum of Rs. 12,174/- was entered Smt. Indenna•i as interest on that money from Penang and the as· v. 1011• sessee a h d b een assesse d . m respect o t f h" 1s m rest . te Commissio•er •I under s. 4, sub-s. (I) of the Act as income accruing, Income-lox, arising or received in British India. It was admitted U.P., Lflchww that the assessee kept his books according to the - mercantile method of book-keeping. What the asses- Gajendragadkar 1 see sought to do was to treat the relevant entries of interest on cash basis though he adopted the mercantile basis in regard to other entries in the interest account. This attempt did not succeed because the High Court held that the assessee's own accounts were "dead against his contention" and they precluded him from arguing that the interest in question is income arising outside British India ·and not received in British India because in law the transfer called in the assessee 's bop ks an ad vs.nee to the Penang firm cannot be a loan. The court came to the conclusion that once the assessee had adopted the mercantile basis of accountancy it was upon that basis and that basis alone that he had to be assessed. Thus this decision would show that the effect of ma.king a credit entry in the interest account would be to treat that amount a.11 income or profits received by the assessee or treated by him as received for the purposes of the tax provided the assessee keeps the accounts according to the mercantile method of book keeping. We are, therefore, not prepared to accept Mr. Sastri's argument that, despite the concessions made by his client before the tribunal, it would still be open to her to contend that the relevant entries in her books of account did not justify the inference that the a.ppellimt has received the amounts in question by way of interest during the relevant period.

¶77

Realising the infirmity in his argument on this point, Mr. Sastri contended that the main objection which he wanted to urge before us against the validity of the conclusion reached by the income-tax authorities was fundamental and it went to the root of the matter. Indeed, it was ·this aspect of the matter which Mr. Sastri seriously sought to press before us. He contends

¶78

55

¶79

(I) S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS

¶80

I

¶81

that the view ta.ken by the Madras High Court i95B in the case of Subramaniam Ohettiyar (¹ ), like the con- Smt. Tnd1rmani clusion of the income-tax authorities against the Jatia appellant in the present case, is based on the erroneous v. assumption that a. person can trade with himself. He Commiuior11r of urges that it is a. rule of universal application that no lncom•·¹¹¹ •· person ca.n trade with himself and make profit out of U.P., .::::"" 0 w dee.lings With himself; and SO his Ca.Se is that, what-Gnjendrogodllor J. ever may be the effect of the other entries ma.de in the appellant's books in the interest account, the relevant entries in respect of the interest alleged to have been received from the appellant's own shop a.t Chistia.n in law cannot mean the receipt of any income by the appellant. How can the appellant be her own creditor and how can she receive interest in respect of the advance ma.de by her to her own shop a.t Chistia.n, asks Mr. Sa.stri. Ile concedes that this point had not been raised by the appellant a.t any stage in the proceedings so far but, according to him, it is a plll'e question of law and he should be allowed to argue it before us.

¶82

It was a.s early a.s 1887 that Pa.lles C. B. observed. in Dublin Corporation v. M'Adam(Surveyor of Taxes)(⁹ ) that "no man, in my opinion, make, in what is its true sense or meaning, taxable profit by dealing with himself ". In this case, a city corporation had been empowered by its Waterworks Act to supply waters beyond the city boundaries. Any income thus a.rising had to be put into a. consolidated account of the corporation for a.II the purposes of the Act. It was held that the excess of receipts over expenditure in respect of the extra. municipal supply constitQtes profits chargeable to income-tax. Distinction was made between the extra. municipal supply of water and supply within the limits of the municipality ; and it was held that it was only the excess of receipts over expenditure in respect of the former that constitutes profits chargeable to income-tax. The argument that the income received from the rate-payers residing within the limits of Dublin Municipality should be ta.ken into account was repelled on the ground that (1) (1927) I.L.R. 50 Mad. 765. (2) (1887) 2 T.C. 387.

¶83

56 ·SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1959] Supp.

¶84

the corporation cannot be treated as in any sense a body distinct from the inhabitants of Dublin. It was Smt. Indennani also observed that what was intended to be raised jatia v. from the citizens was what is enough to pay for the Commission" of expenses of the water supply and no more 'md that Income-1"x· there was no intention that the corporation should in u. P., Luck¹¹⁰ "' any sense make a profit from those rate-payers. The Gajend••g•dka. 1 said principle has been enunciated very succinctly by ·Viscount Simon in Ostime (H. M. Inspector of Taxes) v. Pontypridd and Rhondda Joint Water Board (1) when he said that "if the undertaker is a rating authority and the subsidy is the proceeds of rates imposed by it or comes from a fund belonging to the authority, the identity of the source with the recipient. prevents any question of profits arising". In The Carlisle and Silloth Golf Club v. Smith (Surveyor of 'l'axes) ('), Buckley L. J. has adverted to the same rule and has observed that a man cannot make profits or loss out. of himself and that was the ground of the decision in New York Life Insurance Company v. Styles (Surveyor of Taxes) (').

¶85

In support of the same proposition Mr. Sastri has also relied upon the decision of this Cou1·t in Sir Kikabhai Premchand v. Commissioner of Income-tax (Central), Bombay ('). In this case, the assessce carried on business in bullion and shares and kept his accounts in the mercantile system; the method adopted by him for ascertaining his profits was to value stock at the beginning and close of each year at cost price. In the accounting year he withdrew some silver bars and shares from the business and settled them in trusts, and in the accounts of the business he valued them at the close of the year at cost price. According to the majority decision, the assessee was entitled to value the silver bars and shares in question at cost price and he was not bound to credit the business with the market price at the close of the year for ascertaining his assessable profits for the year. Bhagwati J., however, dissented from this view and held that the assessee's business was entitled to be credited

¶86

(1) (19H) 28 T. C. 261, 278. (2) (1913) 6 T.C. 198. (3) (188!)) 14 App. Cas. 381. (4) [1954] S,C,R. 219,

¶87

(1) S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS

¶88

57

¶89

with the market value of the assets withdrawn as r958 on the date it was withdrawn whatever be the method employe d b y t e assessee 1or t e h r h valuation of the S1nt. lnderm.ani Jatia stock in trade on hand at the close of the year. v. Mr. Sastri placed reliance on the observations made by Commissioner of of Bose J., who delivered the judgment for the majority Income-tax, view that "disregarding technicalities it is impossible U.P., Lucknow to get away from the fact that the business was own- G . d --dk --dk e d an d run b y t e assessee h himse .^. If I n sue circum-h . a1en raga .ar 1 stances it would be unreal and artificial to separate the.⁷ business from its owner and treat them as if they were. separate entities trading with each other and then by means of a fictional sale introduce a fictional profit which in truth and in fact is non-existent". Mr. Sastri also contended that the decision of the Allahabad High Court in Ram Lal Bechairam v. Commissioner of Income-tax (1) supported the same view.

¶90

S1nt. lnderm.ani Jatia v. Commissioner of of Income-tax, U.P., Lucknow . d --dk --dk a1en raga .ar 1 •

¶91

On the other hand, the Solicitor-General contends that the principle on which Mr. Sastri relies can no longer be regarded as inflexible and universal ; and according to him, permissible invasion of this principle has been recently recognized by the House of Lords in Sharkey (Inspector of Taxes} v. Wernher (2). In this case Lady Zia carried on a stud farm, an activity which was admittedly husbandry and taxable under Schedule' D'; she also carried on a separate activity, racing stables, which gave rise to no liability to tax being a " recreational " enterprise. Horses were bred at the stud farm for the racing stables. On the transfer of five horses in the relevant year of assessment from the stud to the stables it was held by the House of Lords (Lord Oaksey dissenting) that "where a person carrying on a trade disposes of part of his stock in trade not by way of sale in the course of trade but for his own use, enjoyment, or recreation, he must bring into his trading account for income-tax purposes the market value of that stock in trade at the time of such disposition, and that, accordingly, the amount to be credited to the stud farm accounts on the transfer of the horses was their market value and not the (1) A.I.R. 1946 All. 8. (2) (1956) A.C. 58. 8

¶92

58 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1959) Supp.

¶93

r958 cost of breeding them". .It would be noticed tlrat this decision proceeds on the fictional or notional as- Sm1. Jatia Indermani sumption that the transfer d f the fi ve horses rom f v. the stud farm of the assessee to her racing stables Commissio.,, of was a commercial transaction ; and that, according lft•ome·t•K, to the Solicitor-General, is a clear case where an U.P .. l.u•ltnow exception is recognized to the general rule that a per- G . d -dk 1^{son cannottradewith himself.In his speech, Vis-} •J•n raga •r ·count Simonds observed that "if there are commodities which are the subject of a man's trade but may also be the subject of his use and enjoyment, I do not know how his account as a trader can properly be made up so as to ascertain his annual profits and gains unless his trading account is credited with a receipt in respect of those goods which he has diverted to his own use and enjoyment". Then Viscount Simonds referred to the change in law which made the farmer liable to tax under Schedule ' D ' instead of under Schedule • B ' and to s. 10 of the Finance Act of 1941 and observed that " these provisions emphasize the artificial dichotomy which the scheme of income-tax law in many instances imposes. Lord Radcliffe dealt with the question at length. He cited the proposition stated by Pallas C. B. and observed that later decisions have shown that this simple proposition may cover what are to be regarded as two separate questions, whether a man can trade or deal _ with himself, whether a man can make taxable profit by so doing. In his opinion, " it must now be said that people can carry on trade or business with themselves, as by way of mutual insurance, but that, if they do, a resulting surplus from the operations is not a profit from a trade for the purposes of incometax, or, put another way, their operations do not for the same purposes constitute a trade from which a profit can result ". Lord Radcliffe referred to the case of Watson Brothers v. Hornby (¹ ) which explicitly decided that it must be necessary for a proper assessment of trade profits under Case I of Schedule 'D' to treat a man who supplies himself in his own trade as trading with himself on ordinary commercial (t) (1942) t68 L.T, 109.

¶94

59

¶95

(1) S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS

¶96

termti and stated that the said decision which was x958 given in 1942 laid down a principle that must COU- Snit. Indermani tinuously affect a great many taxpayers and it was Jatia only in 1955 that it was said that the case was wrongly v. decided. The learned law Lord also considered the Commissio""' of decision in Back (Inspector of Taxes) v. Daniels (1) and Income-tax, i·eferred to the observations of Mr. Justice Rowlatt i.·.i·. Lucknow about the assessees' admission that " in addition to Gajendragadkar r. their liability to income-tax u11der Schedule ' B ' the · assessees may be liable to income-tax on a sum in.the nature of a commission to t,hemselves for selling their own potatoes, in t.he sme way as they sell other people's potatoes in London on the market ". The assessees in the case before lowlatt J. were a firm of wholesale potato merchants who carried on business in London where they sold all the potatoes raised by them on land in Fen District.. The effect of the decision was that Schedule ' B ' assessment on the profits of occupation prevented any assessment under Schedule ' D ' in respect of the profit the firm made when they sold the potatoes ns wholesale merchants in London. The assessees admitted their liability to pay the tax on the commission in question; but the admission did not seem a strange one to Mr. Justice Rowlatt whose only comment was "but that, on the whole, is the limit of their liability". In regard to this decision, Lord Radcliffe has remarked that the limit mentioned by Rowlatt J. required the assessees to include in the receipts of their London business a commission from themselves which of course they never paid for selling themselves their own potatoes. From the decisions examined by him, Lord l~adcliffe drew the inference that they afford instances of the disintegration for tax pnrpose of a profitable business carried on by a taxpayer in two departments. The respondent's argument is that having regard to the decision of the House of Lords in the case of Sharkey v. Wernher (2) it would be necessary for a larger Bench of thiH Court to reconsider the view expressed by the majority decision in the case of Anglo-French

¶97

(1) (1924) 2 KB. 432.

¶98

(2) (1956) A.C. 58.

¶99

60 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1959] Supp.

¶100

Textile Go., Ltd. v. Commissioner of Income-tax, Smt. Indermani Madras ('). It is urged that the minority view ex- Jatia pressed by Bhagwati J. appears to lie more consistent v. with the decision of the House of Lords. Commissioner of Besides, the Solicitor-General has argued that u1;0~·-•;x· though he is prepared to meet on the merits the new · "~ now point raised by Mr. Sastri for the first time in appeal Gajendragadkar ]. before us, he would be entitled to contE\Ild that, having regard to the special circumstances of this case, Mr. Sastri should not be permitted to raise the said point. We are inclined to accept this contention raised by the Solicitor-General and so we do not propose to decide the interesting point raised by Mr. Sastri. We have already indicated that the appellant's contention throughout has been that the relevant entries do not justify the inference that the amounts in question have been received by her during the years in question as income or profit; and this contention naturally raised the short and simple question as to the effect of the said entries made in the books of account which are admittedly kept on the mercantile basis of bookkeeping. It is true that the confusion introduced by the appellant's contention was share<i by the income. tax authorities and it persisted throughout the present proceedings until they reached this Court. That is why even the material question framed by the tribunal and answered by the High Court does not properly disclose the real controversy between the parties. The reference to the deeming provisions of tho Act which is presumably implied in the question as framed by the tribunal and answered by the High Court is clearly out of pla~e ; but the fact still remains that the appellant never raised the contention that the two entries in the interest account cannot in law show profits received by her because the appellant could not trade with herself. If the appellant wanted to rely upon this principle the point should have been urged at the earlier stage of the proceedings.

¶101

Besides, there are some other factors which would introduce complications in case the point raised by Mr. Sastri were to be upheld. The business con(1) [1954] S.C.R. 523.

¶102

61

¶103

(1) S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS

¶104

ducted by the appellant in the shop at Chistian attract- x95B ed the provisions of s. 14(2)(c) of the Act which was Smt. Indermani then in force; and so no tax was payable by the appel- Jatia lant in respect of the income, profits or gains accruing v. or arising to her from the said shop u,1less such income, Commissioner of profits or gains were received or deemed to be received Income-tax, in or brought into British India in the previous year U.P., Lucknow by or on behalf of the appellant. In other words, Gnjendragadkar J. though the appellant is a resident in the taxable territories and her income wherever received would be normally taxable, she would be entitled to the benefit of the exception prescribed by the provisions of s. 14 (2)(c). Nevertheless the appellant's profits from her shop at Chistian would be relevant for the purpose of determining the rates at which income-tax was payable by the appellant. They would also be relevant in deciding which part of the profits were received or could be deemed to be received within the meaning of s. 14(2)(c). If it is held that the entries in respect of the two items of interest in queAtion do not represent in law any profits received by the appellant, then appropriate changes would have to be made in the appellant's account books kept at Khurja as well as at Chistian. The appellant has been keeping accounts on the mercantile basis for all the years ; and it is very unlikely that the two entries before us are the only ones which may be affected if it is held that the appellant could not have traded with herself. It is clear that the profits made by the appellant in her shop at Chfat;ian have been determined all these years on the basis of credit and debit entries by the appellant according to the mercantile system; and so the question as to the amounts remitted by the appdlant from Chistian to herself at Khurja would be affected by making necessary adjustments of all relevant entries, and that would mean reopening the whole enquiry into the appellant's liability to pay the tax.

¶105

In this connection we may refe1· to the fact that for the assessment year 1943-44 the Income Tax Officer had determined the assessee's income at Chistian at Rs. 74,982. He had also held that out of the said profits the appellant had remitted Rs. 51,879 to

¶106

'

¶107

62 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1959) Supp.

¶108

1 958 British India.; and so, in the assessment, he added this a.mount as income in British India on remittance basis

¶109

Sml. lndermani Julia and, after giving the statutory allowance of Rs. 4,500, v. took the balance of Rs. 18,603 as income on accrual

¶110

Commissioner of basis to be considered for rate purposes only. On this Income-tax, question the ultimate decision was that no amount

¶111

U.P .. Lucknow could be taxed on remittance basis. In the supple-

¶112

Gajendragadkar ]. menta.ry assessment proceedings the appellant proved · that a sum of Rs. 7,19,660 was sent to Chistian shop and Rs. 4,17,636 was received from the Chistian shop. That is why, in the result, the entire income in Bahawalpur State was taken on an accrual basis for income-tax. Having regard to the method adopted by the appellant in keeping her books of account, it seems clear that, if the appellant's present contention is accepted, the decision as to remittances from Chistian to Khurja as well as the decision as to the rates at which the tax were to be levied on the appellant may have to be reopened. That is why we think, in the special circumstances of this case, we should not allow Mr. Sastri to raise the point that the appellant cannot trade with herself and so the relevant entries cannot justify the inference that the appellant has received income even though the entries are made in the A.ccounts kept on mercantile basis.

¶113

In the result the appeals fail and must be dismissed with costs.

¶114

Appeals diBmissed.

Smt. Indermani Jatia v. Commissioner of Income-Tax, U.P., Lucknow

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Smt. Indermani Jatia v. Commissioner of Income-Tax, U.P., Lucknow

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Cases cited

Statutes considered

Procedural history

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

Similar cases

Maharaj Kumar Kamal Singh versus the Commissioner of Income-Tax, Bihar & Orissa

The Kochu Govindan Kaimal & Others versus Thayankoot Thekkot Lakshmi Amma and Others

Sri Baru Ram versus Shrimati Prasanni & Others

The Commissioner of Income-Tax, Nelhi versus the Delhi Flour Mills Co., Ltd., Delhi

The Commissioner of Income-Tax, Madhya Pradesh and Bhopal versus Messrs. Vyas & Dotiwala

The Commissioner of Income-Tax, Bihar and Orissa versus Sri Ramakrishna Deo