TMI Blog1976 (8) TMI 52X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ossibility of using such land for agricultural purposes in future was enough, could not be said to have discharged his onus of proof. After the assessee's admission that it was "forest land", which presumably prevented cultivation, no evidence was led, as we have already observed, to indicate any change of character of this land or its conversion into agricultural land. We, therefore, think that the Appellate Tribunal was correct in expressing the view it had taken and the conclusions it had recorded. And, no case is made out for sending the case back to the Tribunal for any fresh decision. Appeal allowed. - Civil Appeals Nos. 2000 and 2001 of 1969 - - - Dated:- 24-8-1976 - P. N. SHINGHAL., A. N. ROY., M. H. BEG., R. S. SARKARIA., JASWANT SINGH JUDGMENT BEG J.--Civil Appeals Nos. 2000-2001 of 1969 from the judgment and order of the Kerala High Court are by grant of special leave by this court filed on the ground that these appeals raise a question of wide general importance. This question was thus framed, in a reference made by the Madras Bench of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, under section 64(1) of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 : Whether, on the facts and in the circu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rough assessees to bring it under cultivation for any purpose. There is no material on record from which it can be said that this area can at all be brought under cultivation for any purpose. Even if it is assumed that there is a bare possibility of this area being brought under cultivation, the assessee has not placed any materials before us from which it can be said that a prudent owner would undertake any process of farming in respect of this land. (2) With regard to the second category of the land of the extent of 16,000 and odd acres, the report of the valuers does not throw any light upon the nature of this land, and the only information available is that these lands have been held by the Kerala Government under a perpetual lease on an annual rent of ₹ 5,000. The assessee has not shown whether this land was being cultivated by the Kerala Government or whether it was only being exploited by the Kerala Government for its timber value. On the material on record, it is not possible for these lands to come under the category of agricultural lands. The High Court had set out the provisions of section 5 of the Act as they stood before a slight amendment in 1956. It read ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... m liability to estate duty in respect of any part of his estate, yet, if he claimed immunity on the ground that the subjectmatter does not fall within the ambit of the taxing power of the legislature imposing the duty, the revenue had to establish that the subject-matter involved is taxable. It then gave its opinion in the following terms : It is well-known that the extensive areas of different varieties of plantation that we have got in this State were once forest lands ; and it is also equally well-known that year after year large areas of forest land, in this State are being cleared and converted into valuable plantations. In the absence of exceptional circumstances such as the land being entirely rocky or barren for other reasons, all forest lands in this State are agriculcultural lands in the sense that they can be prudently and profitably exploited for agricultural purposes. There is no case that the forest lands concerned in this case or any part thereof are unfit for agricultural exploitation. So far as the correct interpretation of the term agricultural land in a taxing statute, such as the one before us is concerned, we have already dealt with the question in ou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... purposes and earmarked for them by reason of a special statute for special purposes, can bear comparison with forest land with spontaneous or natural and wild growths of forest, which is involved in the case now before us. The decision in Gwalior Rayon Silk Manufacturing (Wvg.) Co. Ltd.'s case obviously depended upon the special facts of that case and the character of provisions to be interpreted. This court keeping in view the special features of that case, in the context of certain judicial pronouncements mentioned in the statement of objects and reasons for the statute to be interpreted, observed there : It is, therefore, manifest that when the legislature stated in the Preamble that the private forests are agricultural land, they merely wanted to convey that they are lands which by and large could be prudently and profitably exploited for agricultural purposes. It seems clear to us that this court, by explaining why, for certain special reasons and in an unusual context, certain land described as forest land was to be treated as though it had become agricultural , implied that ordinarily that is not so. In Rajah Anand Brahma Shah v. State of U.P. this court held ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Wealth-tax v. Officer-in-charge (Court of Wards), Paigah, in which we heard arguments together with arguments in the case now before us, we found that there was some evidence of the agricultural character of land in the shape of entries in revenue record. We do not find what could similarly constitute evidence of agricultural character of the land involved in this case. On the other hand, the assessee's admission that the land under consideration was forest land , covered by wild and natural growth of forests, constituted evidence to the contrary. We think that, unless there was evidence that such lands had been, in some way, set apart or earmarked for or linked up with an agricultural purpose by their owners or occupiers, it could not be held that they are agricultural lands. We think that the view of the Kerala High Court, that all forest lands in this State are agricultural lands in the sense that they can be prudently and profitably exploited for agricultural purposes , is too wide. It is erroneous for the reasons we have already set out in our judgment in the case from the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The question has to be decided on evidence of actual or intended user ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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