NISHANT EXPORT Vs. ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX

JUDGEMENT

(1.) We are often faced with situations in which, considering an appeal under section 260A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 [for brevity "IT Act"] on pure questions of law the assessee and the Department are both disabled in having a finality to the matter for reason of the entire questions arising in the lis having not been decided by the Tribunal. The instant cases are one such instance which would have warranted a remand after 10 years of the appeal pending in this Court.

(2.) The appellant has raised the following questions of law, in both the appeals, for our consideration and decision:

(3.) The assessment years are 2003-04 and 2005-06 and the appeals before the Tribunal itself were filed in the year 2006 and 2007 respectively. The issue was as to the eligibility of the assessee to claim deduction under Section 10B of the IT Act as a hundred per cent export-oriented unit, which deduction is available to the extent of 90% of the profits and gains derived from the export business. The assessee was engaged in the procurement and export of pepper. The assessee procured un-garbled pepper, which by a process got garbled; making it fit for human consumption and was exported. The assessee had been claiming allowance under Section 80HHC for its export turnover as computed under sub-section (3); when it also had sale in the domestic market. In the relevant assessment year the assessee turned out to be a hundred per cent export-oriented unit, which is one of the conditions for claiming the benefit under Section 10B.