TMI Blog1967 (1) TMI 18X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er the assessee is entitled to development rebate on the 50 new kolhus added during the relevant previous year ? " The material facts are these : The assessee is a firm which, inter, alia, carries on business of letting out kolhus on hire. The relevant assessment year is 1960-61, the accounting year whereof was the year ending 30th of October, 1959. During the said previous year, the assessee let out 829 kolhus, out of which 779 kolhus were old ones and 50 were new additions manufactured during the previous year. The original cost of the said additions of kolhus amounted to Rs. 15,032. New kharad machines were also added during the previous year whose original cost was Rs. 4,000. The assessee claimed development rebate in respect of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y business carried on by him. But, as the assessee carried on the business of letting kolhus on hire to others in order that they may make use of them for the purpose of their business, the Tribunal' opined that it cannot be said that the kolhus were installed and used for the purposes of the assessee's business of hiring. To support the conclusion that the installation and the user of the plant or machinery must be by one and the same person, reference was made by the Tribunal to the provisions of section 12(3) of the Act, which catalogues the allowances to which an assessee who lets on hire machinery belonging to him is entitled to and, as that makes no reference to the allowance of development rebate under section 10(2)(vib), it was conc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... out above makes it clear that the words " plant and machinery " in section 10(2) have to be given a very wide meaning. Even for the purposes of section 10(2)(vib), as it stood at the relevant time and before the Income-tax Act of 1961, wherein by section 33, which corresponded to the old section 10(2)(vib), a specific provision was added excluding office appliance or a road transport vehicle definition of " plant ". In any case, kolhus are neither office appliance nor " vehicles " and, therefore, if not machinery would certainly be a " plant " and as such qualify for depreciation and development rebate provided the other conditions of section 10(2)(vib) are satisfied. There cannot also be much doubt that depreciation as well as development ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e dictionary meaning is permissible. In Webster's New Internatiotial Dictionary the word " installed " has several meanings, such as the "installation " of a person in office ; more appropriately, when dealing with plant or machinery it means to induct ; give a place to ; to set up and fix in position for use as such setting up or placing in position for service or use." What constitutes installation will depend upon the nature of the business and the article that has to be installed. A boiler in a factory cannot be said to be installed until it is set up and fixed in position for use as such. On the other hand, a truck or a car which is a plant or machinery within the meaning of section 10(5) of the Act would be installed the moment, it is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e the word " business " and thus came to the conclusion that kolhus must be used by the assessee for crushing sugarcane and no one else. This violates the fundamental canon of construction of fiscal statutes as adumbrated by Rowlatt J. in Cape Brandy Syndicate v. Commissioners of Inland Revenue that in a taxing Act one has to look merely at what is clearly said. There is no room for any intendment ; there is no equity about a tax ; there is no presumption as to a tax nothing is to be read in, nothing is to be implied, one can only look fairly at the language used. The interpretation sought to be placed by the Tribunal and reiterated by the learned standing counsel before us would certainly require some words to be inserted into section 10 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Act. The view we are taking finds some support from the decisions of the Madras and Bombay High Courts. In Fomra Brothers v. Commissioner of Income-tax where certain cars were being hired out by an agent of Burmah Shell for the use of Burmah Shell officials and development rebate on new cars purchased for this purpose was held to qualify for development rebate. In Commissioner of Income-tax v. Saraspur Mills Ltd. Shah J., as he then was, interpreted the word " installed " to also mean " inducted or introduced " and not necessarily " fixed in position " and held that a manufacturer of cloth who had purchased certain motor-cars and bicycles for use in its business was entitled to development rebate. In Commissioner of Income-tax v. Sri Ram ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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