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TMI Blog1960 (4) TMI 78X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n appeal to the Revenue Commissioner to ₹ 5,470. The assessee, however, felt aggrieved by this assessment and moved the Revenue Commissioner under section 23 of the Act for a reference to this court of certain questions of law arising out of the order of assessment. The Revenue Commissioner granted this application in part and has referred to this court only one question for decision, namely, whether assessment under Bhopal Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1953, can be made on the applicants for the year 1953-54 on the basis of their previous year's income for the year 1952-53 in view of the fact that the Act came into force from July 15, 1953 . That reference is the subject-matter of Miscellaneous Civil Case No. 116 of 1958. The ass ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r in section 2(3) as follows: 'Agricultural year' means the year commencing on the 1st day of June or on such other date as the Government may, by notification, appoint. No notification was, however, issued by the Government under section 2 (3) of the Bhopal State Land Revenue Act, 1932, appointing any other day than the first day of June as the date of the commencement of the year. Section 3 of the Bhopal State Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1953, provides: Agricultural income-tax and super-tax at the rate or rates specified in the schedule shall be charged for each year in accordance with, and subject to the provisions of this Act and rules framed under clauses (a), (b) and (c) of sub-section (2) of section 43 on the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e no previous year beginning on the 1st June, 1952, and ending on the 31st May, 1953. The definitions of the expressions previous year and year given in the Act do not at all contemplate a broken period of a few months. The Act does not provide any special machinery of levy of tax for any broken period. If it had made any such provision, the income of the assessee during the broken period would have been no doubt liable to tax. But that would have been because of the special provisions and not because of the broken period becoming the previous year, for the purposes of section 2(11) and section 3 of the Act. Therefore, on a plain construction of the language used in sections 2(11) and section 3 of the Act, it is clear that as before the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ning of the terms previous year and assessment year and the date of the coming into force of the Act when he rejected the objection of the assessee as regards the non-liability for tax by merely saying that the previous year meant the year commencing from the 1st June, 1952 and ending on 31st May, 1953, and that there was no question of giving retrospective effect to the Act. On a fair construction of the language used in the relevant sections of the Act the only conclusion that can be reached is that the assessee had no previous year at all beginning on 1st June, 1952, and ending on 31st May, 1953, within the meaning of the Act and, therefore, the assessee firm is not liable to be taxed on the income received in that year. The answer ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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