9911796707
TMI Blog2014 (2) TMI 137X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 36(1)(viia) of the Act – Decided against Assessee. - I.T.A No. 08/Coch/2011 - - - Dated:- 24-8-2012 - N.R.S.GANESAN AND B.R.BASKARAN, JJ. For the Appellant : Shri Mohan PulickKal, Adv. For the Respondent : Ms. Vani Raj, Jr. DR ORDER :- PER : B.R.BASKARAN The appeal of the assessee is directed against the order dated 29-10-2010 passed by Ld CIT(A)-V, Kochi and it relates to the assessment year 2007-08. The assessee is aggrieved by the decision of Ld CIT(A) in confirming the disallowance of claim of provision for bad and doubtful debts made u/s 36(1)(viia) of the Act. 2. The facts relating to the above said issue are stated in brief. The assessee claimed deduction towards provision for bad and doubtful advances u/s 36( ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of sec.36(1)(viia) of the Act. Accordingly, it was further held that the decision of Hon'ble jurisdictional Kerala High Court, in the case of Lord Krishna Bank (195 Taxman 57) with regard to the interpretation of the term "rural branch" shall apply to a Co-operative bank also. 5. We have heard the rival contentions and carefully perused the record. As submitted by Ld D.R, the issue under consideration was dealt by this bench of Tribunal in the case of The Kannur Dist. Co-op Bank Ltd, referred supra. For the sake of convenience, we extract below the relevant observations made in the above said case:- "6. With regard to the interpretation of the word "Place" for the purpose of ascertaining rural branches, it was submitted by Ld D.R t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... area, can be rightly adopted. So much so, "place" referred to in the above definition clause for the purpose of identifying the branch of a Bank as a rural Branch with reference to its location is the revenue village. Therefore, in our view, the finding of the Tribunal that "place" referred to in the definition is the Ward of a local authority like Panchayat or Municipality is incorrect and in our view, a rural Branch has to be always in rural areas and the place referred can easily be taken as a Village. Several Wards may come within a village, whether it be in Corporation, Municipality or Panchayats. There can be no Village in a Municipal or Corporation area where the population is less than 10000. So much so, rural Branches are such of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ve been published before the first day of previous year". The definition of "rural branch" given in the Explanation does not include a "Co- operative Bank", though the Co-operative bank is included in section 36(1)(viia) of the Act. Accordingly, the Ld A.R contended that the definition of "Rural branch" does not cover a Co-operative Bank and hence the ordinary meaning given to the "rural branch" by the regulatory authorities should be taken into account. Accordingly the Ld A.R contended that the decision of Hon'ble Kerala High Court in the case of The Lord Krishna Bank Ltd, supra also does not apply to the assessee herein, since it is a co-operative Bank. Accordingly it is prayed that the matter requires re-examination at the end of AO. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cond Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934). (vi) "Co-operative bank", "primary agricultural credit society" and "primary co-operative agricultural and rural development bank" shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Explanation to sub-section (4) of section 80P. In the Explanation to sub-section (4) of section 80P, the Co-operative bank is defined as under:- "Co-operative bank" and "primary agricultural credit society" shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in Part V of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949)". 8.1 Since the definition of "non-scheduled bank" and "Co-operative Bank" refer to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, we have to refer the said Central Ac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nder the definition of "banking company". Further as per the definition given in Explanation under sec. 36(1)(viia) of the Income tax Act, a "banking company" as defined in sec. 5(c) of the Banking Regulation Act, which is not a scheduled bank, is classified as a "non- scheduled bank". Consequently, a Co-operative bank, in our view, would be classified as a "non-scheduled bank" for the purpose of sec. 36(1)(viia) of the Act. 8.2 In view of the foregoing discussions, we are of the view that the decision rendered by Hon'ble Jurisdictional Kerala High Court in the case of The Lord Krishna Bank Ltd., supra, shall apply to the assessee herein. Accordingly, we reject the alternative plea raised by the assessee. Thus, the appeal of the revenue s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
