TMI Blog2003 (2) TMI 415X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... L. DAVE. Order of the Appellate Tribunal S.K. YADAV (Judicial Member).-All these five appeals have been filed by the Revenue against the consolidated order of the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) dated July 31, 1996, for the assessment years 1990-91 to 1994-95. Since all these appeals pertain to the same assessee and the issue involved is common, these appeals were heard together and are being disposed by this common order for the sake of convenience. The common ground in all these appeals is as under: "On the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law the learned Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) erred in directing to tax the income derived by the assessee from house property as 'income from business', as agains ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... building as a commercial asset and not as an investment and therefore the income from the said building would not be treated as income from house property. The services to be provided to the said tenants were as under: (a) Services of lift; (b) Services of receptionist to greet the visitors of members and accept the message on behalf of the members; (c) Telephone services for directing the calls; (d) Secretarial services/assistance like steno services; (e) Data processing and word processing facility; (f) Conference room facility; and (g) Message service and local transport facility. The Assessing Officer examined the accounts of the assessee and found that no electricity expenses have been claimed in the profit and loss acc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tal income of the assessee as Rs. 53,500. The main issue in the appeal is the treatment of the receipt of service charges from the different members as income from house property or business income. 1.04. The assessee had taken on lease the premises situated at Jabalpur with an old structure. After taking the lease, your assessee has spent sizeable amount and developed an absolutely modem office building complex. The assessee had further spent in putting lift in the building so that all the areas can be covered as business centre. Further the assessee had spent enormous amount on acquiring air cooling plant for the same building. The assessee has also spent sizeable amount in acquiring furniture and fixtures to be fitted in the same build ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... further the assessee submitted herewith the letter received from M/s. Mohanlal Hargovandas confirming the payment made by them regarding electricity bills of the said premises. 1.07. The assessee further informed that regarding the services related to data processing, word processing and local transport facility, the present members had not shown any interest into it; hence it was not provided to them. Otherwise services of lift, services of receptionist, telephone services, conference room facility, message services and security services were provided by the assessee." Besides this, the assessee relied on the following decisions before the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals): (i) Sultan Bros. (P.J Ltd. v. CIT [1964] 51 ITR 363 (SC); ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... conference room and telephone services. In the opinion of the appellant the whole object of constructing the office premises was that facilities are provided with the building. This amounts to an organised activity and is in the same class as that provided by a hotel. On the other hand, the Assessing Officer was of the view that the appellant had arranged its affair in such a way that it can take the benefit of the decisions of various High Courts and the Supreme Court. The Assessing Officer had also argued that as the electricity was not paid by the appellant no services were provided by the appellant and therefore the income should be assessed under the head 'Income from house property'. The appellant's arguments are that the expenses we ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... directed to determine the business loss and allow the depreciation in accordance with the rules to the appellant" Before us the learned Departmental Representative supported the order of the Assessing Officer and, on the other hand, learned counsel for the assessee relied on the order of the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) and argued the matter at length. After considering the rival submissions and going through the material on record, we are not inclined to interfere with the findings of the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals). The Revenue has not brought anything on record that the assessee is the owner of the property in question. So, it is difficult to believe that the assessee is earning income from the property as far as thi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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