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TMI Blog1978 (1) TMI 56X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... te such jewellery, that is, jewellery intended for personal use was exempt under section 5(1)(viii) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957, from inclusion in the assessable net wealth. The Wealth-tax Officer accepted the above contention of the assessee and completed the assessment without including the said jewellery in the net wealth chargeable to tax. In exercise of his powers under section 25(2) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 the Additional Commissioner of Wealth-tax initiated revision proceedings in view of the amendment of clause (viii) of section 5(1) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957, by the Finance (No. 2) Act of 1971. By the said Act the said clause was amended with retrospective effect from 1st April, 1963, so as to exclude jewellery from the scope of the exemption under that clause. By the same Act an Explanation 1 was inserted in the clause with effect from 1st April, 1972. By the said Explanation an extended meaning was given to the word " jewellery ". The Additional Commissionier held that the assessee's ornaments of all descriptions were jewellery and as such liable to be included in his chargeable net wealth in the assessment year in question and directed the Wealth-tax Officer to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... recious metals :...... Explanation 1.--For the purposes of this clause and clause (xiii) ' jewellery ' includes-- (a) ornaments made of gold, silver, platinum or any other precious metal or any alloy containing one or more of such precious metals, whether or not containing any precious or semi-precious stone. and whether or not worked or sewn into any wearing apparel ; (b) precious or semi-precious stones, whether or not set in any furniture, utensil or other article or worked or sewn into any wearing apparel." Mr. B. L. Pal, learned counsel for the revenue, drew our attention to the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1971, which resulted in the amendment of section 5 of the Wealth-tax Act as noted hereinabove and also cited a decision of the Gujarat High Court in the case of Commissioner of Wealth-tax v. Jayantilal Amratlal [1976] 102 ITR 105. In the case before the Gujarat High Court, the very same question as the one before us was involved in the background of the following facts. The assessee was a Hindu undivided family. In the relevant assessment years, viz., 1962-63 to 1964-65, the assessee claimed that the value of its jewellery and ornaments amounting to over Rs. 1,85,000 was ex ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tionary, unabridged edition, page 767, where the meaning of the word " jewellery " was given as follows : " 1. a number of articles of gold, silver, precious stones, etc., for personal adornment. 2. any ornament for personal adornment, as a necklace, cuff-links, etc., including those of base metals, glass, plastic, or the like........" The other was the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, page 1064, where the term " jewellery " was explained as " jewellers ' work ; gems or ornaments made or sold by jewellers ; jewels collectively, or as a form of adornment." From the above, the High Court came to the conclusion that the dictionary meaning of " jewellery " was clear enough to include " ornaments " irrespective of whether they were of precious metal and contained precious stones or not. The Gujarat High Court further held that the Explanation to section 5(1)(viii) of the Wealth-tax Act having come into force only with effect from April 1, 1972, could not be considered as being in the statute book in the earlier years and for all intents and purposes would be a later Act of Parliament. The natural meaning of the term " jewellery " would, however, remain unaffec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... which would be favourable to the assessee. In our opinion, the question of preference does not arise as the interpretation canvassed on behalf of the assessee cannot be said to be reasonable or possible interpretation." Mr. B. L. Pal adopted the entire reasons in this judgment and rested his argument on the above case. Dr. D. Pal, learned counsel for the assessee, contended on the other hand that the conclusion of the Gujarat High Court that the ordinary meaning of the term " jewellery " included " ornaments " was not acceptable. According to him, the term jewellery in the ordinary parlance did not include ornaments without precious stones and for that reason the Explanation to the said section was promulgated and deliberately given a prospective effect in the Finance (No. 2) Act of 1971. He drew our attention to the reply given by the Finance Minister in Parliament in the debate on this particular Finance Act. The relevant part of the reply is as follows : " In giving an extended meaning to the term ' jewellery ' and excluding furniture, utensils and other articles falling under the categories described above from the scope of the exemption, it is not the intention to ente ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... se. Popular sense means ' that sense which people conversant with the subject-matter with which the statute is dealing, would attribute to it '. In the present case, section 10(5) enlarges the definition of the word ' plant ' by including in it the words which have already been mentioned before. The very fact that even books have been included shows that the meaning intended to be given to ' plant ' is wide. The word ' includes ' is often used in interpretation clauses in order to enlarge the meaning of the words or phrases occurring in the body of the statute. When it is so used, these words and phrases must be construed as comprehending not only such things as they signify according to their nature and import, but also those things which the interpretation clause declares that they shall include. The word ' include ' is also susceptible of other constructions which it is unnecessary to go into. " (d) Commissioner of Wealth-tax v. Smt. Binapani Chakraborty [1978] 114 ITR 82 (Orissa). The Orissa High Court in this case dealt with a question identical to the question before us in the present case, that is, whether the word " jewellery " in section 5(1)(viii) of the Wealth-tax Act, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , (a) jeweller's work, (b) gems or ornaments made or sold by jewellers especially precious stones in mountings, (c) jewels collectively. In Stroud's judicial Dictionary, 3rd edition, the words " jeweller's work " vis-a-vis the statute, Plate (Offences) Act, 1738, have been held to mean any gold or silver wherein any jewels or other stones are or shall be set. In Webster's Third New International Dictionary, 1971 edition, the word jewellery " is stated to mean ornament pieces made of materials that may or may not be precious, often set with genuine or imitation gems and worn for personal adornment. It appears to us that the dictionary meaning of the word " jewellery " is not so wide or clear as to bring in all valuable ornaments within its fold. On the contrary it appears to us that in the popular parlance " jewellery " connotes use of stones, precious, semi-precious or even imitation in the ornament concerned. Furthermore, in construing this word, it will not be safe to go only by the original or modern English meaning. We have to keep in view the widespread use of ornaments and jewellery in our country and the specific connotation of various types of jewellery in use in th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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