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2017 (3) TMI 895 - HC - Income TaxDepreciation on "Jetty" at 100% under the head "Building - Temporary Structure" - Held that:- A bare perusal of the meaning of the word Jetty would show that, it is, in the nature of a construction, which is used, either as a landing stage, a small pier, bridge, staircase or a construction, built into the water to protect the harbour. The utility of a Jetty is limited by its construct. It is used to obtain either access to a Vessel, or, protect the harbour.The provisions of the contract, as quoted by the Tribunal, would show that, the Jetty/loading platform was constructed, in this particular case, by the Assessee, on BOT basis, for a period of three (3) years, from the date of commencement of the vessel loading operation. Jetty/loading platform, in this case, was erected by the Assessee, in order to effectuate its business under the contract, entered into with MMTC, which was tenure based, and, therefore, could not have been treated as anything else, but a temporary erection. Upon completion of the contract, the Assessee was required to dismantle it. The fact that the Jetty had other contraptions attached to it, such as, a conveyor belt, to facilitate the process of loading, cannot convert such a structure into a plant. Therefore, even, if, the functional test is employed, the main function of a Jetty, in the facts of the instant case, was to provide a passage or, a platform to ferry articles onto the concerned Vessels. This could have been done manually. That it was done by using a conveyor belt, would not, to our minds, convert a Jetty into a plant. In sum, the Tribunal has reached the same conclusion and, thus, reversed the decision of the Assessing Officer and CIT(A) by allowing depreciation at the rate of 100%. We agree with the conclusions reached by the Tribunal, which, according to us, is a pure finding of fact.
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