PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, KOLKATA-4, KOLKATA Vs. AKZO NOBLE INDIA LIMITED (FORMERLY KNOWN AS ICI INDIA LIMITED)

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Two grounds are sought to be raised by the Revenue in assailing an order of the Appellate Tribunal passed on June 10, 2016. The first ground is that the additional expenses incurred by the assessee for restructuring its business should have been reckoned to be a capital expenditure. The second ground is that when a particular unit was sold and the obligation in respect of such unit was taken over by the purchaser for a period of two months prior to the actual date of transfer, the expenses incurred by the assessee in respect of such unit for the relevant period had to be disregarded.

(2.) As to the issue of restructuring, the Revenue says that the Appellate Tribunal has decided the matter on the strength of a judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and without appreciating the contents of the judgment.

(3.) Indeed, it does not appear from the tribunal's order that it refers to the ratio decidendi in any judgment or even attempts to undertake an exercise to discern the same from a judgment carried to it by any party. The tribunal's treatment of the judgments of superior fora cited before it is rather peculiar. The tribunal merely quotes the head-note without making an effort to ascertain the circumstances in which the legal issue arose or the extent of operation of the dictum laid down in the judgments.