COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX Vs. HLS INDIA LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY way of this judgment, we are disposing off 13 different Income Tax Appeals, ranging from assessment year 1989-90 to assessment year 2003-2004, pertaining to the same assessee M/S HLS India Ltd. These appeals, all filed under section 260 A of the Income Tax Act, 1961(hereinafter referred to as the Act), have been clubbed together on the ground that the legal issues involved in these matters are similar, though the financial figures have been kept varying with the assessment years.

(2.) BEFORE coming to these legal issues it would be pertinent, in the light of facts and circumstances of these cases, first of all to succinctly narrate the genesis of instant prolonged tax dispute between the Revenue and the assessee.

(3.) AS for as the claim regarding deduction under section 80-IA is concerned, which is available in respect of profits and gains from industrial undertakings or enterprises engaged in infrastructure development, it was made for the first time in the assessment year 1991-92, but the same was denied by the AO on the similar grounds as the assessee, as per AO's view, is not an industrial undertaking engaged in manufacturing or producing an article or a thing. Though, this claim got an affirmative approval at the level of CIT (A), but the ITAT while hearing the appeals of the revenue pertaining to assessment years 1991-92 and 1992-93, restored the matter back to the desk of AO to verify as to whether the other conditions regarding 80-IA are satisfied because it has held in its own decision pertaining to assessment year 1989-90 and 1990-91 that the assessee is an industrial undertaking engaged in manufacturing or production of an article or thing for the purpose of section 32A. Claims regarding 80-IB, as made in the assessment years 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002- 03 and 2003-04, were also denied by the AO on the ground that neither the assessee is an industrial undertaking nor it fulfills the basic criteria of employing certain number of persons as required by this section. Forming a contrary opinion against that formed by its predecessors in previous assessment years, the CIT(A) this time held that the assessee is not engaged in manufacturing or production of any article or thing. On appeal ITAT, following its own decision dated 23.09.99 restored the matter back to the desk of AO. Since then, this cat and mouse game is on between the revenue authorities and the assessee and this issue has been a part of almost every appeal listed before us in the instant batch of appeals.