9911796707
TMI Blog1988 (8) TMI 66X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ner, vide letter No. 5-TH. 1(62)/68, dated January 29, 1969, the Department of Tourism, Government of India, conveyed the approval of the Government for the hotel project Horizon to be constructed at Plot No. 37, Juhu Tara Road, Santacruz (West), Bombay, subject to the condition that the final tariff will be fixed in consultation with the Department and necessary licence to run the premises as a hotel will be obtained from the authorities concerned and a quarterly progress report regarding the construction of the hotel to be sent to the Department. Parliament had made amendments in the Income-tax Act for giving certain concessions and reliefs to the hotel industry which was to be set up for encouraging tourism and with a view to augment for ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d to this letter and after the assessment order was made, the petitioner again sent letter dated October 27, 1976, seeking approval of the Central Government for the purpose of having necessary reliefs and deductions under the Income-tax Act and as no reply was received to the said letter, another letter dated March 12, 1977, was sent. Respondent No. 1 at first granted the necessary approval for the purpose of the Income-tax Act with effect from March 12, 1977, but now it is admitted that approval has been granted with effect from October 27, 1976, onwards. It has been contended on behalf of the petitioner that the initial approval granted in 1969 to the hotel project in question should be deemed to be the approval of the Central Government ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aded that under the Income-tax Act, approval of the Central Government has to be obtained in respect of the provisions of the Income-tax Act, and as soon as that permission was sought by the petitioner in 1976, the same was granted. Shri R. R. Chari, Commissioner of Income-tax, Bombay, in his affidavit, has also taken similar pleas that the assessment order in question was rightly made as approval of the Central Government, as required by the Income-tax Act, was not obtained by the petitioner at that time and as the approval had been granted only later, the necessary deductions and reliefs have been granted to the petitioner for the assessment years subsequent to the grant of approval. Shri K. Kumar, Director, Department of Tourism, has als ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tral Government, the necessary reliefs and concessions contemplated by the aforesaid provisions of the Income-tax Act should automatically be available to such hotels. He has argued that keeping in view the object and the reasons for introducing the said provisions in the Income-tax Act, this court should infer that the approval granted to the hotel project of the petitioner by the Central Government in the year 1969 is more than sufficient to enable the petitioner to avail of the benefits under the provisions of the said Act. Learned counsel for the respondents, on the other hand, has urged that the provisions of the Income-tax Act referred to above clearly indicate that the approval of the Central Government has to be obtained in this ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ioner had not come to this court with clean hands inasmuch as the petitioner has tried to set up a false letter dated November 3, 1972, as being sent to the Ministry of Tourism. On this short ground alone, this petition deserves to be dismissed. Be that as it may, it is evident that the approval which has been obtained in 1969 was only to the effect that the petitioner was to construct a hotel and thereafter he was to run the same after getting its tariffs approved from the Ministry. At that point of time, there could be no question of the petitioner praying for any approval with regard to the provisions of the Income-tax Act because the question of payment of any income-tax would have arisen only if any hotel had been constructed and ha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and later on, it has been clarified that, even though an application has been moved claiming the approval for the purpose of the Income-tax Act without specifying the various provisions of the said Act, even then such approval should be granted from the date of the said letter. In the present case, the petitioner had been granted benefit of these particular instructions of the Central Board of Direct Taxes. It is true that these provisions have been introduced in the Income-tax Act for giving relief in income-tax to the new hotels with a view to encourage the hotel industry and on facts the petitioner, admittedly, is entitled to those benefits but the provisions of the Income-tax Act clearly contemplate getting approval of the Central Gove ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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