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TMI Blog1979 (10) TMI 19X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and classified the land as " tope ". During the course of the proceedings taken by him for revising the earlier compounding, he inspected the land along with the special revenue inspector. He found that there were teak plants varying in height between 3 to 6 feet standing in the field. The teak plants could be used as sticks in constructing thatched houses and as fuel. Re, therefore, held that the assessee would have derived income from these teak plants, and he rejected the objection petition filed by the assessee and brought to charge the escaped extent of tope. The difference in tax was as follows: Year Difference of tax Rs. 1968-69 432-00 1969-70 322-40 1970-71 432-00 1971-72 526-70 1972-73 1,064-40 -------- 2,777-50 -------- The reassessment was made on September 30, 1974. The assessee field petitions under art. 226 of the Constitution of India, praying, in the circumstances stated in the writ petitions, and the affidavits ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed Govt. pleader, we consider that these revision petitions may be permitted to be converted as writ petitions. Accordingly, the writ petitions were directed to be numbered and were taken up for hearing today. The prayers in the writ petitions are to quash the respective orders of the Commissioner of Agrl. I.T. The learned counsel for the assessee contended that the Agrl. ITO had no jurisdiction to revise the compounding orders, that he had already exercised his powers with reference to these years in respect of the lands under consideration and that the lands under consideration were not even agricultural lands so as to come within the scope of the Agrl. I.T. Act. Learned Govt. pleader contended that the lands were dry lands, that they were subjected to dry assessment and that, consequently, the Agrl, Income-tax Act would apply. He pointed out that the assessee himself had applied for compounding on the basis that there was a liability to the agricultural income-tax and that the assessee cannot be now heard to say that there was no liability under the Act. Two questions arise for our consideration. (1) Whether the lands can be treated as agricultural lands ? and (2) Whet ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uestion are classed as ' dry ' in revenue accounts and are subject to dry assessment. They are, therefore, prima facie meant to be used as agricultural lands. The revision petitioner has not been cultivating them, probably because he finds it more advantageous to get the income from the teak rather than from doing a hazardous cultivation, subject to destruction by wild beasts. So the lands should prima facie be taken as agricultural lands and included for computation of standard acres. Even forest lands are classed as 'lands' as per section 2(nnn). So, I am of the opinion, that these lands should be included for purposes of computing standard acres. Further this is a case of compounding of the tax and if the assessee is not willing for compromise on this basis, he may as well prefer to be assessed on actual income basis, in which case agricultural lands which do not yield agricultural income get automatically eliminated." The finding of the Commissioner of Agrl. I.T. that the trees were once planted has absolutely no evidence to support it. Even the Asst. Commissioner, when he submitted the report in 1960, had referred to the instance of a single person telling him that there m ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... me derived from such land by (i) agriculture ; .........." It is unnecessary to refer to the rest of the definition. The definition requires that the lands must be situated in India. There must be rent or revenue derived from the land used for agricultural purposes, or there must be income from such land by agriculture. The Supreme Court had occasion to construe S. 2(1) of the Indian I.T. Act, 1922, which corresponds to s. 2(1) of the I.T. Act, 196 1, in CIT v. Raja Benoy Kumar Sahas Roy [1957] 32 ITR 466. In that case, it was pointed out : " Agricultural in its primary sense denotes the cultivation of the field and is restricted to cultivation of the land in the strict sense of the term, meaning thereby tilling of the land, sowing of the seeds, planting and similar operations on the land. These are basic operations and require the expenditure of human skill and labour upon the land itself." Their Lordships refer to the basic operation mentioned above, and also the subsequent operations like weeding, digging the soil around the growth, removal of undesirable undergrowth and all operations which foster the growth and preservations of the same from insects and pests. The hu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... compounded under the Act. Learned Govt. pleader drew our attention to s. 2(nnn) which defines "land " as follows: " ' land' means agricultural land, that is to say, land which is used for agricultural purposes or purposes subservient thereto and is either assessed to land revenue in the State or is subject to a local rate assessed and collected by officers of the Government as such and includes horticultural land, forest land, garden land and plantations, but does not include housesite, or land used exclusively for pasture." The definition falls into two parts. The first part' contemplates the cases of lands used for agricultural purpose or purposes subservient thereto, and the second part requires that the lands are either assessed to land revenue in the State or subject to a local rate assessed and collected by officers of the Government as such. Thus, there are two cumulative conditions to be satisfied. One is, the land should be used for agricultural purpose or purposes subservient thereto. The other is, it should be either assessed to land revenue in the State or should be subject to a local rate assessed and collected by officers of the State Govt. In the present case, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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