COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX Vs. NEBA RAM HANSRAJ

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The following questions of law arising from the assessment year 1985-86, have come to this court at the instance of the Revenue on a reference under section 256(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 :

(2.) On a close examination of the facts and circumstances of the case, however, we find that the real questions of law to which this court is required to address itself are formulated at serial Nos. 3 and 4 above. What are posed as questions of law at serial Nos. 1 and 2 are actually not questions of law which may be required to be examined by this court and those in fact related to the manner in which the Appellate Tribunal has expressed itself in its judgment and order.

(3.) As regards the first question all that the Appellate Tribunal meant to say was, that although the Supreme Court's decision in CIT/CEPT v. Shamsher Printing Press [1960] 39 ITR 90, at first appeared to support the Revenue's contention, on a deeper consideration of the facts and circumstances it transpired that that decision had no application to the facts and circumstances of this case. Similarly, as regards the second question, what the Tribunal actually said was that though the tenancy right was not quite akin to goodwill, applying the same principles that it was not possible to apply the computation section for quantifying the profits and gains on the transfer of leasehold rights, any amount received for the surrender of the tenancy right must also be held to be exempt from payment of tax. Thus we are of the view that in so far as the first two questions are concerned, all that can be said is that perhaps the Tribunal could have expressed itself with greater clarity. Those, however, do not involve any questions of law and hence there is nothing for this court to answer in so far as, those two questions are concerned.