SARASWATI INDUSTRIAL SYNDICATE LTD Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner-company, which is a public limited company registered under the Companies Act, was originally incorporated in the name of Saraswati Sugar Syndicate Ltd, with its registered office at Lahore. In July, 1947, the registered office of the company was shifted to Abdullapur (now Yamuna Nagar), Distt. Ambala. The name of the company was changed to Saraswati Industrial Syndicate Ltd. with the approval of the Central Govt. with effect from 2nd May, 1963.

(2.) THE petitioner-company was an assessee under the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 (hereinafter referred to as the "old Act"), as also under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter called "the Act"), and had been regularly assessed and paying income-tax on its income. During the accounting year relevant to the assessment year 1947-48, the petitioner-company deposited a sum of Rs. 1,29,953-4-0 as advance tax under Section 18a of the old Act. The advance tax was deposited in two equal instalments of Rs. 64,976-10-0 on 14th December, 1946, and 15th March 1947.

(3.) ON 15th August, 1947, partition of the country took place under Section 18 (3) of the Indian Independence Act, 1947 (hereinafter called as the " Indian Act "), the I. T. Act as it existed before the coming into force of the Indian Act', applied both to the dominions of Pakistan and India and the effect of this simultaneous application to both the dominions was that the advance tax paid by the petitioner-company was liable to be adjusted against the assessments made both in Pakistan and in India.