Suhas Chandra Sen, J. - (1.) This case relates to an assessment of income of a tea company and the relevant assessment year is the assessment year 1970-71, for which the accounting period was the year ending on March 31, 1970. The assessee is a non-resident company. It owned a number of tea estates. Under different agreements with various parties, it wanted to sell some of its tea estates. The assessee sold four tea estates, namely, (1) Seleng Tea Estate, (2) Baisahabi Tea Estate, (3) Jaipur Tea Estate and (4) Namsang Tea Estate, under different agreements and all these agreements contained more or less identical terms and conditions. One such agreements is dated September 15, 1969, for the sale of Seleng Tea Estate, a copy of which has been annexed to the statement of case.
(2.) The Tribunal has found that the assessee-company had agreed to sell Seleng Tea Estate with effect from January 1, 1969, and the other three tea estates with effect from January 1, 1970, but the deeds of conveyance in favour of the purchasers were not executed within the relevant previous year which ended on March 31, 1970. The conveyance deeds in respect of Seleng Tea Estate, Baisahabi Tea Estate, Jaipur Tea Estate and Namsang Tea Estate were executed on April 2, 1970, March 4, 1971, February 12, 1971, and December 11, 1971, respectively. The delay in execution of the deeds of conveyance was due to the delay in obtaining permission from the Reserve Bank of India and in complying with some other formalities which had to be observed because the assessee was a non-resident company.
(3.) The Tribunal found that: "Having undertaken, under the agreements, to sell the estates with effect from January 1, 1969, in the case of Seleng Tea Estate and with effect from January 1, 1970, in the case of each of the other three estates, the assessee-company got certain provisions entered into the sale agreements with regard to the management of the tea estates, the ownership of the tea manufactured in those tea estates, and the proceeds realised by the sale of the tea and the liability to pay the expenses, etc., with effect from January 1, 1969, in the case of Seleng Tea Estate and with effect from January 1, 1970, in the case of other three estates.";