Sabyasachi Mukharji, J. - (1.) This reference arises out of the assessment for the assessment year 1959-60 for which the corresponding accounting year is the year ending 30th June, 1958. The assessee is a public limited company deriving income from property, dividends from shares and interest on loans. For the assessment year 1959-60, the assessee claimed deduction of a sum of Rs. 14,800 as business loss arising out of sale of 1,500 shares of Elphinstone Spinnig & Weaving Mills Ltd. The Income-tax Officer disallowed this claim holding that the assessee was an investor in shares and not a dealer in shares.
(2.) There was an appeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. The Appellate Assistant Commissioner found that 1,500 shares in Elphin-stone Spinning and Weaving Mills Ltd. were purchased and sold by the assessee in one lot. Inasmuch as in the appeal for the immediately preceding year the Appellate Assistant Commissioner had considered the question whether the assessee was a dealer in shares or not and had come to the conclusion that the assessee was not a dealer in shares, he held that in the year under appeal also the assessee was not a dealer in shares. He, accordingly, upheld the order of the Income-tax Officer.
(3.) On further appeal before the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal it was contended that the assessee had purchased these shares only in 1956-57 and out of this a big lot was sold during the year of account as the assessee's expectation about a rise in value of the shares had not been fulfilled. The assessee contended that these shares constituted a part of the assessee's trading stock, and this, according to the assessee, was proved by the short intervals at which the lot was disposed of. The Tribunal for the reasons mentioned in-.its order and in view of its decision in appeal in respect of the preceding year held that the loss on the sale of these shares was not a revenue loss from business. It, therefore, upheld the disallowance of the claim.;