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TMI Blog1966 (9) TMI 4X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d by section 2(1)(q), no classification of land for composition was possible under section 66, and so no composition could be sought under section 67. In this writ petition, the petitioner calls in question the order made by the Income-tax Officer in this way. It is asserted on behalf of the petitioner by his learned advocate, Mr. Krishnaswamy Rao, that, since the petitioner grew on his land areca, he was clearly entitled to seek composition, since areca is a commercial crop, notwithstanding the fact that some subsidiary income was derived by the petitioner in the form of income from plantation crops such as pepper and cardamom. It is admitted before us by Mr. Krishnaswamy Rao that the petitioner does grow pepper and cardamom on the land with which we are concerned. But his submission was that the main crop which he was growing on the land was the areca crop. It would now be necessary to allude to the relevant statutory provisions. It is seen from the preamble to the Act that its purpose is to charge income-tax on agricultural income from lands on which commercial crops are raised. Section 2(1)(a) defines agricultural income as including income derived from a land by agriculture ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t II. The land which belongs to the petitioner is in the second class since the land is used by him for growing areca. So, in order to be able to seek composition, the extent of the land on which he grows areca should not exceed 15 acres according to the formula of equivalents which Part II to the Act incorporates. That formula reads : " B. Formula for determining equivalent extent of land of different classes. ----Fifty acres of eighth class of land = 25 acres of seventh class of land = 18 acres of sixth class of land= 15 acres of fifth class of land = 12 acres of fourth class of land=6 acres of third class of land=5 acres of second class of land=3 acres of first class of land." So, fifty acres of the eighth class are equivalent to five acres of second class and hundred and fifty of the eighth class will, therefore be equivalent to fifteen acres of the second class. So if the land of the petitioner did not exceed 15 acres in extent, he could seek composition under section 67. It is not disputed that the area of the land belonging to the petitioner measures 8 acres and 21 guntas, and so the extent was well within the limit prescribed by the section. But the Income-tax Officer ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... xclusive use. If we can say that a land which is mainly used for growing commercial crops, other than plantation crops, ganja or timber, is a land in respect of which a classification could be made under section 66, it would be easy to say that a composition could be sought under section 67 in respect of the agricultural income derived from such land. If, on the contrary, section 66 speaks of a land which is exclusively used for growing a commercial crop other than plantation crops, ganja or timber, no composition under section 67 would be permissible. Now, the land to which section 66 refers is a land used for growing commercial crops other than plantation crops, ganja or timber. The petitioner also grows pepper and cardamom on his land in addition to areca. Areca is a commercial crop, and pepper and cardamom are plantation crops. It is, however, clear that the main crop is the areca crop and pepper and cardamom crops are the subsidiary crops. So the question is whether, notwithstanding the fact that the land is used for growing areca which is the main crop grown by the petitioner, the fact that he also grows subsidiary crops like pepper and cardamom would disentitle him to comp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and a land used for growing chillies is in the fourth class. In respect of both classes of land, a classification is possible and so a composition. But in the case of a land on which both crops are grown, the question would be whether the land is in the second class because areca is grown on it, or, whether it is in the fourth class because chillies are also grown on it. The solution to the difficulty so presented, in the context of the purpose and the scheme of sections 66 and 67, is to understand the user to which section 66 refers as the dominant or main use for which the land is employed. The word "used" occurring in that section has reference to the employment or application of the land for a particular purpose, and remembering the difficulty presented, if that word is literally understood as having reference to exclusive user, it would be proper and reasonable to say that the main or dominant user is what determines the application or otherwise of the provisions of the section. We, therefore, think that a land is used for the purpose to which the section refers, when it is mainly or primarily used for that purpose, although a subsidiary use of the land was also made. This vi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oval of the Explanation to section 2(1)(q), the land became one on which a plantation crop was grown and was taken outside the orbit of the 66th section. This submission at first sight might appear to provide some sustenance to the interpretation suggested by Mr. Narayana Rao. But we are of the view that the amendment made to the definition makes no difference to the question whether a land on which a subsidiary crop such as pepper and cardamom is grown, when the main crop grown is areca, is or is not within the second class in Part II. We are of the opinion that it continues to be within that classification, and we may state briefly the reasons for our saying so. The view that we take is that our interpretation of the 66th section and of the words " lands used for growing commercial crops " therein should not in any manner be made to depend upon the definition of a plantation crop occurring in section 2(1)(q) or the transformation which that definition underwent in consequence of such amendment. If the word " used " occurring in section 66 has reference to the main or the primary or dominant use, as we think it to be, whether pepper and cardamom became plantation crops even when ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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