9911796707
TMI Blog2009 (2) TMI 115X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... otice under section 17 of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957, was issued and served upon the assessee for the valuation of the Hotel Nagpal in question, against book value. The property known as Nagpal Hotel was referred to the valuation cell of the Department and the Valuation Officer, vide his order dated September 20, 1977, valued the interest of the assessee in the property. The Wealth-tax Officer issued demand under section 16(3)/17 of the Wealth-tax Act vide his order dated March 26, 1980. The order of the Wealth-tax Officer was challenged by way of appeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner of Wealth-tax who upheld the order of the Wealth-tax Officer. Against the appellate order, further appeal was preferred before the Income-tax Appel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s. The dictionary meaning of "house" reads as under: "In New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, the word 'house' is defined as follows : 'a building for human habitation, a dwelling, a home'. In Legal Thesaurus by William C. Burton, a house is defined as 'abode, dwelling place, home, habitation, living place, living quarters, residence, etc." In Chapman v. Royal Bank of Scotland [1881] 7 QB 136, 140, it was held that a house means 'a permanent building in which the tenant, or the owner and his family, dwells or lies." 6. Learned counsel for the respondent-assessee has submitted that the order of the Appellate Tribunal is just and proper and in support of his plea, he has relied upon the judgment delivered in case titled CWT v. Smt. Shush ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d upon the judgment delivered in the case title CWT v. Tulsi Dass reported in [2002] 256 ITR 73 (Raj) of the Rajasthan High Court and the case title CWT v. Smt. Shushila Devi Tamakuwala [1995] 212 ITR 203 (Patna) and decided in favour the assessee observing as under (page 78): "Thus, while construing that section, it has been held that the house should be used for residential purposes which would necessarily mean-the house is a residential house for claiming exemption. The decision of the Full Bench has also no application to the present section wherein the assessee is entitled to exemption under clause (iv) of section 5(1) in regard to one house or part of a house belonging to the assessee. It is not required that the house should be excl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Revenue has relied upon the judgment of this court where a different view has been taken to that what has been taken by the earlier Division Bench in the case title Prakash Chand Modi v. CWT [1997] 225 ITR 541 (Raj). This judgment has been referred to in the judgment delivered in Tulsi Dass' case [2002] 256 ITR 73 (Raj). We find from the perusal of both the judgments that the judgment delivered in Tulsi Dass' case [2002] 256 ITR 73 (Raj) is mainly based on the circular letter of the Department. The circular letter (iv) of the Wealth-tax Act mean the house used for commercial purposes and would the assessee be entitled to get the benefit of exemption. On a perusal of the circular letter, we find that a doubt was raised where some observat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and not immovable property. Thus, the aforesaid decision is not applicable." 10. In view of the aforesaid position of law, we are of the considered view that the hotel cannot be said to be a house. A factory building, hotel or a cinema house are different and distinct things and cannot fall within the definition of house. House has been explained in the dictionary as noted above. Therefore, we have no hesitation in holding that the findings recorded by the learned Division Bench in Tulsi Dass' case [2002] 256 ITR 73 (Raj) are not based on correct interpretation of statutes rather it is based on a circular letter which is not having statutory force. Therefore, we hold that it is not a correct law. The correct law has been laid down in the c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
