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TMI Blog1962 (11) TMI 46X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on that the Agricultural Income-tax (Amendment) Act, 1961 (IX of 1961), hereinafter called the Amendment Act, enacted by the Kerala State Legislature, is null and void and for the issue of appropriate orders to the respondents, viz., the State of Kerala and the Assistant Commissioner of Agricultural Income tax, Kottayam, restraining them, their agents and servants from enforcing or acting upon the provisions of the aforesaid Amendment Act against the company and for refund of tax illegally assessed and collected from the company. The business of the company consists of owning and managing rubber and tea estates situate in Kerala State. The company was assessed to agricultural income-tax under the Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950 [original ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to have come into effect from April 1, 1951. By its section 2, Explanation 2 was added to section 5 of the Agricultural Income-tax Act. That Explanation reads : "Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to entitle a person deriving agricultural income to deduction of any expenditure laid out or expended for the cultivation, upkeep or maintenance of immature plants from which no agricultural income has been derived during the previous years." By section 3, assessments previously made on the basis that such expenses were not to be allowed in computing agricultural income were deemed to be valid. On February 22, 1961, the company, on the basis of the judgment of this court, wrote to the Income-tax Commissioner for refunding the exc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lusively for the purpose of deriving the agricultural income. The State Legislature has full powers to tax such income as come within the expression "agricultural income" as defined in the Agricultural Income-tax Act, the definition being in conformity with the definition of "agricultural income" in the Income tax Act. It is for the State Legislature to provide such deductions from such income as it considers fit. Section 5 of the Agricultural Income-tax Act makes provisions for the deductions considered necessary by the legislature. Explanation 2 added to section 5 by the Amendment Act makes it clear that the Legislature was of opinion that no deduction should be allowed for the expenses incurred in the upkeep and maintenance of immature ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... atlal v. Commissioner of Income tax [1954] 26 I. T. R. 758,761,764; [1955] 1 S.C. R. 829. Das J., as he then was, said at page 833 : "Our attention has not, however, been drawn to any enactment other than fiscal statutes like the Finance Act and the Income-tax Act where the word 'income' had been used and, therefore, it is not possible to say that the critical word had acquired any particular meaning by reason of any legislative practice. Reference has been made to several cases where the word 'income' has been construed by the courts. What is, therefore, described as legislative practice is nothing but judicial interpretations of the word 'income' as appearing in the fiscal statutes mentioned above.... These guarded observation quite clea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to section 5 to the agricultural income derived from tea plantation was before us for determination in Karimtharuvi Tea. Estates Ltd. v. State of Kerala [1963] 48 I. T. R. (S. C.). 83. We have held in that case that Explanation 2 to to section 5 does not apply to the agricultural income from tea plantations. It was argued that if such be the view of this court, the Explanation would bring about discrimination between agricultural income arising from rubber plantations and similar income arising from tea plantation and that therefore the Explanation would contravene the provisions of article 14 of the Constitution. It was, however, fairly conceded that in case the decision that this Explanation does not apply to agricultural income from tea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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