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TMI Blog1980 (3) TMI 70X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in his name. His claim was that the price paid for the car had come from his followers by way of contributions and for that purpose an affidavit of Sri C.P. Singhal was filed before the ITO. It was claimed by Sri Singhal that he had collected certain amounts from different persons and had deposited the same in his account in the co-operative bank (Rs. 2,000 on June 11, 1963, and Rs. 8,100 on November 7, 1964, and Rs. 6,000 was received from Sri Nand Kishore, Vakil of Kanpur), and it was from those contributions that the car was purchased for the assessee. His statement as well was recorded by the ITO. The ITO, however, held that since donations were made by the followers of the assessee, who had been benefited by his preachings, these receipts were for the exercise of the vocation carried on by the assessee and hence were taxable in his hands. On this view he included this amount of Rs. 16,100 in the income of the assessee. The assessee appealed but remained unsuccessful and took up the matter in further appeal before the Appellate Tribunal. The Appellate Tribunal accepted the assessee's case and held that instead of paying travelling expenses, the disciples provided the car to hi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... volves the idea of an occupation requiring purely intellectual skill or manual skill controlled by the intellectual skill of the operator, as distinguished from an occupation or business which is substantially the production or sale, or arrangements for the production or sale, of commodities. "Profession" is a word of wide import and includes vocation which is only a way of living and a person can have more than one vocation, and the vocation need not be for a livelihood nor for making any income nor need it involve a systematic and organised activity. The import of this expression came up for consideration before the Supreme Court in P Krishna Menon v. CIT [1959] 35 ITR 48 (SC). In that case after his retirement from Government service the assessee engaged himself in teaching vedanta philosophy, and one of his disciples who used to come from England at regular intervals to the place where the assessee lived and stayed there for a few months at a time and attended his discourses, transferred his entire balance standing to his credit in his account at Bombay to the account of the assessee and thereafter from time to time put in further sums into the assessee's account in Bombay. The ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... enefit which accrued to them from the discourses of the assessee, can be accepted. It will be a mere euphemism to say that the car was provided as a mere relief from expenses or for going from one place to another for giving the discourses. The decision of a Full Bench of this court in Major A. U. John, In re [1938] 6 ITR 434 and of the Gujarat High Court in Acharya D. V. Pande v. CIT [1965] 56 ITR 152 would not be of much avail. In Major A. U. John's case [1938] 6 ITR 434 (All), while considering the import of the word "income" under the 1922 Act, it was observed that the element of periodical receipt or regularity or expected regularity of monetary return is an essential ingredient of "income". In that case, the assessee had been permitted by the civil court in a certain litigation to act as auctioneer and was allowed to deduct a certain percentage from the amount which he had to pay to the court. The question was as to whether the income so received was taxable under s. 4(3)(vii) of that Act. On a reference, the view taken by this court was that that receipt was not income in character because, in fact, it was no receipt but was the granting of a mere relief and even if the asse ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... personal gift for the personal qualities of the assessee and as a token of personal esteem, and was held not taxable. In the instant case, as noted above, in view of the fact that the word "profession" includes vocation and the teaching of vedanta or giving regular discourses on vedanta philosophy amounts to carrying on a profession, the benefit accruing to the assessee during the course, and as a result, of that activity would certainly not be in the nature of the granting of a mere relief. In our opinion, therefore, this decision is clearly distinguishable. Similarly, the decision in D. V. Pande [1965] 56 ITR 152 (Guj) proceeded on different set of facts. In that case, the assessee was the acharya (spiritual preceptor) for the time being of the diocese of a religious institution. The diocese possessed temples and other properties and received income therefrom. The followers of the acharya paid a permanent religious tax to the institution, and, in addition to these, the followers paid to the acharya a voluntary contribution in the form of salutation tax and present. The acharya agreed to treat such contributions as the income of the trust in return for a permanent personal allowa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... was charged with causing death by reckless or dangerous driving. His defence was undertaken by the company and it amounted to pounds 641. The director was acquitted and in his assessment to income-tax this amount was sought to be taxed as benefit accruing to him within s. 161(1) of the I. T. Act, 1952 (U.K.). Ultimately, the matter went to the House of Lords and the view taken was that the expenditure amounted to a benefit, the money value of which was liable to tax in his hands. The contention that since it suited and was to the advantage of the company to make that expenditure, it was not advantageous to the director, was repelled and it was held that the money spent by the company "bought nothing except the appellant's defence, no part of it was spent on something that did not benefit him". Before the Delhi High Court in CIT v. Nar Hari Dalmia [1971] 80 ITR 454, the import of this word came up for consideration with reference to sub-cl. (iii) of cl. (6C) of s. 2, corresponding to sub-cl. (iii) of sub-s. (24) of s. 2 of the 1961 Act, and it was observed (pp. 458, 459): "Sub-clause (iii) speaks of the value of any benefit or perquisite to be construed as income. This value may b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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