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TMI Blog1973 (4) TMI 14X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h. Both the assessees are individuals having their separate income from properties and other sources and their incomes have been assessed separate from that of Dr. Karan Singh. The assessment which is the subject-matter of the two references pertained to the assessment years 1968-69 and 1969-70, for which the accounting years ended on March 31, 1968, and March 31, 1969. The assessee, Maharani Yashorajya Lakshmi, filed her returns for both these years declaring incomes from property and interest at Rs. 71,919 and Rs. 89,420, respectively. In her return the assessee claimed collection charges of Rs. 4,529 and Rs. 4,404 against income from property known as Bangalore House Ranbir Mahal and Bombay flat for the assessment years 1968-69 and 1969 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... curred not by the assessee himself, but by his father, who is a separate assessee). The department then filed an application before the Tribunal for making a reference to this court and hence the following point of law has been referred to this court for decision : In the case of Maharaj Kumar : " Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was right in law in allowing Rs. 4,135 and Rs. 4,032 as collection charges in respect of the assessee's income from house property for the assessment years 1968-69 and 1969-70 respectively ? " In the case of the Maharani :- " Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was right in law in allowing Rs. 4,529 and Rs, 4,404 as collection charges ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... way as to advance the object of the Act and to achieve the object which the legislature has in view. We are fortified in our view by a recent decision of the Supreme Court in Commissioner of Wealth-tax v. Kripashankar Dayashanker Worah wherein their Lordships observed as follows: "It is true that a taxing provision must receive a strict construction at the hands of the courts and if there is any ambiguity, the benefit of that ambiguity must go to the assessee. But that is not the same thing as saying that a taxing provision should not receive a reasonable construction. If the intention of the legislature is clear and beyond doubt then the fact that the provision could have been more artistically drafted cannot be a ground to treat any par ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ntion that the sums spent to collect the rent should be spent by the assessee himself, but since these are deductions claimed by a person who is the owner of the property on the basis that he has incurred certain expenses for collecting rent of that property, he is entitled to a deduction thereof. Indeed if an owner of the property is allowed to claim deduction with respect to the expenses incurred on his property by somebody else gratuitously, then there is no reason why the owner should get the benefit of such a deduction. The deduction is given by the statute to the assessee because he spends an amount of money for the purpose of preserving his property or deriving income from it. In these circumstances the deduction is purely personal t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a specific provision for amounts to be paid by the assessee, where the intention is that the assessee should incur the expenditure personally. Our attention was drawn to sections 16 and 19 of the Act. Section 16 deals with income from salaries and refers to certain statutory deductions which are allowed on the actual expenditure incurred by the assessee. Section 19, which runs thus: " Subject to the provisions of section 21, the income chargeable under the head ' Interest on securities ' shall be computed after making the following deductions : (i) any reasonable sum expended by the assessee for the purpose of realizing such interest ; (ii) any interest, payable on moneys borrowed for the purpose of investment in the securities by the as ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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