- (1.) The following question has been referred for our opinion : "Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was correct in law in holding that the income from the leasehold property should be assessed as income from 'house property' and not from 'other sources' ?"
(2.) The point indeed is very simple. Under Section 22 of the Income-tax Act the value of the property which is chargeable to income-tax shall be chargeable to income-tax under the head "Income from house property", if the assessee is the owner of the property. The admitted facts in this case was that the assessee was the lessee of the property at 302A, Rabindra Sarani, Calcutta, which was leased out to it by one Jai Durga Investment Company, its owner, for a period of 80 years. The lessee had the option to build or rebuild the structure over the leased land and also had the right to demolish the existing structure. Relying upon the judgment of this court in Ballygunge Bank Ltd. v. CIT [1946] 14 ITR 409, the Tribunal has held that on the true interpretation of the terms and conditions of the lease deed, the assessee could be held to be the owner of the property and thus falling within the purview of Section 22 of the Act since it had the right to demolish the structure over the land and to raise new construction thereon.
(3.) Earlier the assessee's claim under Section 22 was rejected by the Assessing Officer and the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) on the ground that the assessee was only the lessee of the property and not its owner.;