1993 (5) TMI 3 - HC - Wealth-tax

Summary

Issues:
1. Whether agricultural lands of the assessee were covered by the expression 'business premises' as defined in the Wealth-tax Act, 1957, and exempt from additional wealth-tax.
2. Valuation of agricultural land based on finally determined compensation without any discount and subject to a maximum limit.
3. Granting exemption under section 5(1)(xviii) on account of land originally received as Military Grant.

Analysis:
The judgment delivered by Judge A. L. Bahri addressed multiple questions referred by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal. The first issue involved determining whether the agricultural lands of the assessee qualified as 'business premises' under the Wealth-tax Act, thus exempting them from additional wealth-tax. The court relied on previous judicial pronouncements, including CWT v. Hari Singh, CWT v. Smt. Devinder Kaur, and CWT v. Jaidev Inder Singh, which had ruled against the Revenue on similar grounds. The court, in alignment with previous decisions, answered the question in the affirmative against the Revenue.

Regarding the second issue raised by the assessee, the court noted that question No. 2 was already covered by a previous decision in Wealth-tax References, decided by a Division Bench against the assessee. Consequently, the court answered this question in the affirmative against the assessee based on the earlier ruling.

The third issue pertained to the valuation of agricultural land without any discount and subject to a maximum limit. The court considered the arguments presented by the counsel for the assessee, referencing relevant provisions of the Wealth-tax Act and previous judgments. The court highlighted that the question did not arise in the current circumstances as the value of the assets had already been fixed at Rs. 9 per square yard based on the award of the Land Acquisition Collector. The court emphasized that any alteration in the valuation would lead to a potential question in rectification or assessment proceedings. As of the assessment year 1974-75, the court concluded that no legal question arose concerning the valuation of assets at Rs. 9 per square yard. Therefore, the court answered question No. 1 accordingly, indicating that the question did not apply to the facts and circumstances of the case.