9911796707
TMI Blog2016 (3) TMI 269X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he decision given in the case of Jai Chand in ITA No.947/Chd/2014 shall apply mutatis mutandis to all the appeals. ITA No.947/Chd/2014 : 2. Briefly, the facts of the case are that the assessee had filed return of income declaring income of Rs. 1,07,470/- and agricultural income of Rs. 67,46,129/-. During the year under consideration, the assessee had given his land to J.P. Karcham Hydro Corporation Ltd. on rent. The assessee got compensation for carrying out changes in the topography and for removing fruit bearing trees. However, the assessment was completed under section 143(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (in short 'the Act', considering the entire income from compensation i.e. Rs. 67,46,129/- as income from 'other sources' as against the claim of the assessee as 'agriculture income'. The learned CIT (Appeals) decided the issue in assessee's favour, however, on an appeal filed by the Department before the I.T.A.T., Chandigarh Bench in ITA No.1161/Chd/2010 dated 24.11.2011, the matter was restored back to the file of the Assessing Officer with the direction to compute the income in the hands of the assessee under the head 'capital gains'. 3. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... growing trees were grown, up kept for a period of 25 year at a cost. 4. The learned CIT(A) has wrongly confirmed the learned A.O.'s rejection of claim of Net Present Value of the fruit growing trees because the compensation of loss in case of natural calamities is always calculated on this method. 5. That Ld. C1T(A) has wrongly confirmed the entire compensation as full value of consideration. 6. That the assessee/appellant reserves the right to amend/alter/add any ground in support of his claim." 6. The learned counsel for the assessee reiterated the submissions made before the lower authorities. Further, an evidence in the form of affidavit of one Shri G.S. Rathore, retired IAS, Department of Himachal Pradesh was also filed giving the number of trees on the land of the assessee at the time of the transfer. A note on justification for more compensation to such farmers, by one Dr. D.R. Gautam, Ex. Director-Extensive Education, UHF, Former Director Horticulture, Uttrakhand was also filed. Vehement arguments were made justifying the number of trees and cost of acquisition/improvement of trees given by the assessee, to be correct. 7. The learned D.R. relied on order of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... umber of trees. However, we see from the perusal of copies of Jamabandi that the cultivation done in the different khasra numbers have been stated in the same. Jamabandi is such a register in which the detail of village land owners and cultivators and land revenue is given. This book is prepared after five years. Jamabandi is a part of Revenue record and presumption of truth is normally attached to record. Of course, presumption is, however, rebuttable. No material is brought on record to rebut the entries shown in the relevant Jamabandi. The assessee had not produced any copy of Khasra, Girdawari relevant to the period under consideration for the reason best known to him. The Assessing Officer has made a detailed analysis of cultivation as shown in Jamabandi of different khasra numbers, during the assessment proceedings. The land is either certified to be having bagichas, i.e. orchards, or being banjar kadim, i.e. barren. We have examined the copies of Jamabandi and tallied the same with the analysis made by the Assessing Officer in his order and found that the Assessing Officer has rightly set aside the land being documented as banjar, having no fruit trees. The argument of the l ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for adjudicating the present case, reads as under : "48. The income chargeable under the head "Capital gains" shall be computed, by deducting from the full value of the consideration received or accruing as a result of the transfer of the capital asset the following amounts, namely :- (i) expenditure incurred wholly and exclusively in connection with such transfer; (ii) the cost of acquisition of the asset and the cost of any improvement thereto:" 12. The four most important terms in this section are 'full value of consideration', 'expenditure incurred wholly and exclusively in connection with transfer', cost of acquisition and 'cost of any improvement thereto'. There is no dispute in the present case, as regards the full value of consideration and expenditure incurred wholly and exclusively in connection with transfer. The only dispute is with regard to the cost of acquisition and cost of improvement thereto. The basis adopted by the assessee at arriving at a figure of Rs. 85,600/- per tree as cost of acquisition and improvement is that he has taken Rs. 100/- as the initial cost of planting a single tree and further Rs. 300/- per tree is taken as th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and cost of improvement, as these expenses are incurred to bring the tree to a bearable stage, where it can be able to bear fruit. Further expenses the assessee is asking for are the maintenance expenses for the remaining life of the tree. Once the tree becomes able to bear fruit, whatever expenses are incurred, to our mind, these are revenue and recurring expenses, which are to be incurred for the maintenance of the trees only and are not in the nature of cost of improvement. To our mind, the cost of improvement, in case of a tree can only be those expenses which are incurred either to enhance the life span of the trees or to enhance the fruit bearing capacity of such trees. These further expenses are not of such nature and are incurred only for the upkeep of the orchard or for the maintenance of the trees only. Therefore, we uphold the action of the Assessing Officer in not treating these expenses as part of cost of acquisition or cost of improvement. We further uphold the action of the Assessing Officer in not allowing the Net Present Value as computed by the assessee for the loss of likely earning. As we have earlier mentioned that this approach may be appropriate for estimati ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
