Dipak Kumar Sen, J. - (1.) This reference arises out of the assessment of M/s. Karam Chand Thapar & Sons Ltd., the assessee, to income-tax for the assessment years 1964-65 and 1965-66, the relevant accounting years ending on the 30th June of 1963 and 1964.
(2.) In the assessment year 1964-65, the assessee sold certain shares of other companies held by it at a loss of Rs. 22,969. The assessee contended that it had held shares by way of investment and claimed the loss as capital loss. The Income-tax Officer, however, held that the assessee was a dealer in shares and, accordingly, treated the loss as a business loss.
(3.) Being aggrieved, the assessee preferred an appeal against the said decision to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. Following the decision of the Tribunal in the case of the assessee in earlier years, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner held that the assessee was holding the shares by way of investment and that there was nothing to show that the assessee dealt in shares in the said assessment year by way of business. The Appellate Assistant Commissioner held that the loss was a capital loss.;