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TMI Blog1959 (10) TMI 31X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ourt of Judicature at Madras under section 66(1) of the Indian Income-tax Act. 2. The assessee is a private limited company owning buses and lorries. Its business is that of transport of passengers and goods. In the year ending on December 31, 1954, corresponding to the assessment year 1955-56 it purchased a number of new vehicles. It claimed a development rebate of ₹ 60,745 under section 10(2)(vib) of the Income-tax Act on the value of these vehicles. There is no dispute as to the amount. The Income-tax Officer disallowed the claim as, in his opinion, this rebate is admissible in respect of plant and machinery newly installed during the year and that vehicles like buses and motor cars do not qualify for the rebate and that the intro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rd was called for when it is used in regard to development rebate. He considered the dictionary meaning of that word and came to the conclusion that some kind of fixing up of the apparatus or plant and machinery was necessary and that, as buses do not require to be fixed up anywhere, development rebate was not allowable. His order is annexure ' A ' and forms part of the case. 6. On further appeal to the Tribunal, it accepted the interpretation placed by the assessee on the word "install" and allowed the appeal. The order of the Tribunal is annexure ' B ' and forms part of the case. 7. The following question of law arises : " Whether the buses and lorries are plant and machinery 'installed' and whet ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d lorries come within the scope of the statutory expression "plant" is not disputed. What the learned counsel for the Department urged was that in the case of buses and lorries the further requirement of section 10(2)(vib) that they should be "installed" before the development rebate is allowable, has not been satisfied. The word "installed" itself has not been statutorily defined. In view of the extended statutory definition of the word "plant" in section 10(5) of the Act, it seems clear to us that the word "installed" in relation to the machinery or plant, must be construed to mean such installation as that plant is capable of. The Assistant Commissioner referred to the dictionary meaning ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... installation with reference to plant and machinery could not possibly be satisfied by a bus or a lorry. Learned counsel could not support an extreme. contention, that installation necessarily meant something fixed to earth and thereby becoming immoveable. When we pointed out that a mobile van with moveable machinery for carrying out the repairs in the case of a bus operator was a familiar example and any machinery purchased and used for such a mobile unit would be machinery "installed", learned counsel could not challenge that position. That is why we said the word "installed" has to be given its normal meaning and with reference to a given plant or a machinery we have got to see whether such installation as that machine ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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