- (1.) THIS is a reference under Section 66 (1) of the Indian Income-tax Act.
(2.) DURING the period November 1939 to January 1941 the assessee purchased 4316 tolas of gold in fourteen separate transactions each of which consisted of several purchases. During the account year 1945-46 he sold 3049 tolas of gold for Rs. 2,31,203/- recovering a sum of Rs. 1,00,096/-in excess of the price paid by him. The Income-tax Officer regarded this profit as a revenue receipt arising out of business and assessed him accordingly. The order of the income-Tax Officer was upheld by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner and later by the appellate Tribunal. The Appellate Tribunal has now stated the following question of law under the provisions of S. 66 (1) of Indian Income-tax Act, namely : "whether in the circumstances of the case there is material to justify the finding that the adventure in question was an adventure in the nature of trade?"
(3.) MR. D. N. Awasthy who appears for the assessee contends that his client had no intention of embarking on an adventure in the nature of trade. The Second World War was declared in the year 1939 and there was widespread panic in the country. His sole object was to put his money in a safe investment and thereby to avoid the risk of War involved in bank deposits. The assessee who is a man of the world realised that circumstances may compel him to leave the shelter of his roof and to seek his fortunes elsewhere. He accordingly decided to avoid the risk involved in bank deposits, to liquefy his assets, and to convert every penny he had into gold. With this object in view he cashed before maturity the bank and postal cash certificates. He called in or realised deposits with banks and business houses and raised loans on the security of fixed deposits of which the terms were yet to expire. He retained the gold in his custody during the first 51/2 years of the War. Germany collapsed on 7-5-1945 and the assessee sold his first lot of 20181/2 tolas on 12-5-1945. Japan capitulated in August 1945 and the assessee made another sale of gold on 9-12-1945. It is true that the gold was purchased at the average price of Rs. 43/-per tola and that it was sold at the average price of Rs. 75/12/-per tola yielding a substantial profit to the assessee, but the mere fact that the assessee recovered a profit on these transactions does not indicate necessarily that the adventure was in the nature of trade. Had the purchases been made with the sole object of making a profit, the assessee would have parted with his gold in the year 1943 when the prices were at their peak and would not have waited till the year 1945 when the prices had fallen. He did not sell gold in small quantities but in large blocks. These circumstances, it is contended make it quite clear that gold was purchased for the purpose of safe investment and not for the purpose of resale.;