9911796707
TMI Blog2012 (1) TMI 410X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t Pleader Sri George Mecheril JUDGMENT C.N. Ramachandran Nair , J The petitioner is a public limited Company fully under the control of the Kerala Government engaged in cultivation of oil palms and production and sale of crude palm oil. The main operation of the company is the cultivation of oil palm which produces palm fruit with kernel inside. Both the pericarp as well as the kernel contain palm oil which is extracted in the factory by the petitioner in crude form. The activity as a whole is essentially agricultural as well as industrial because production of crude palm oil from pericarp and the kernel is a complicated process done in the factory. Rule 7 of the Central Income Tax Rules, 1962 provides for assessment of incom ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t that the petitioner will be free to raise all contentions for redressing grievance against double assessments both for agricultural Income Tax as well as for Income Tax; in the WP(C) pending. Accordingly, petitioner has filed I.A No. 20536/2011 for amendment of the Writ Petition which was allowed by us after hearing the respondent's counsel as well. 2. We heard Senior Counsel Sri. A.K.J Nambiar for the assessee and Senior Counsel Sri. P.K.R. Menon appearing for the Central Income Tax Department and senior Government Pleader appearing for the State. 3. Like palm oil, income from rubber, coffee and tea are also partly agricultural income and partly business income assessed to tax by the concerned tax Authorities of both Central an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the petitioner has challenged the assessments in the writ petition by filing amendment application. 4. Senior counsel appearing for the Central Income Tax Department contended that circular applies only for income from rubber and coffee and the benefit granted is only against reopening of assessments based on Rules 7A and 7B in respect of income from rubber and coffee. According to him, Rule 7 of the Income Tax Rules is a general provision based on which petitioner's business income from palm oil is computed by the Assessing Officer under the Income Tax Act. However, this contention is opposed by the petitioner's counsel by contending that Rule 7 was in force for the last 5 decades and only in 2004 assessments were proposed to be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r right to revise Central Income Tax assessments to bring to tax business income from intermediary rubber products, if the assessees had paid agricultural income tax on 100% of the income from rubber. The position is same for income from crude palm oil because 100% of the income therefrom was assessed to agricultural income tax in the case of assessee also and only in the year 2004 the Central Income Tax Authorities initiated proceedings for assessment of business income from crude palm oil. We see no reason why the benefit of the Circular cannot be extended for assessees earning income from palm cultivation and production of crude palm oil. We, therefore, allow the W.P.(C) by declaring that for and up to the assessment year 2004-2005 the p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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