COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX Vs. BENARASHILAL KATARUKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) AT the instance of the Commissioner of income-tax, questions of law have been referred to this court under Section 256(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, for the assessment year 1977-78.

(2.) THE Income-tax Officer did not accept the claim of the assessee, On a perusal of the income-tax and wealth-tax records of the assessee, details of which are given below, the Income-tax Officer found that the assessee was not a man of such affluence as to use silver utensils weighing more than 200 kgs. as common utensils of the kitchen or dining table. THE Income-tax Officer observed that the income-tax and wealth-tax records of the assessee clearly indicated that these utensils were owned by him as items of decoration to give pride of possession. Particulars of the income and wealth of the assessee of the past three years :

(3.) ON appeal, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner accepted the assessee's claim holding that the silver utensils in question were for the personal or household use of the assessee according to the ordinary ideas, habits, customs and notions of the class of the society to which the assessee belongs and as such, according to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, those are not capital assets within the meaning of Section 2(14)(ii) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.