COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURAL INCOME TAX Vs. RAJA JAGADISH CHANDRA DEO DHABAL DEB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) : This is a reference under s. 63(1) of the Bengal Agricultural IT Act, 1944. For the asst. yr. 1944-45 the assessee submitted a return for the accounting period 1350 B. S. including therein various items of agricultural income. While going through the books of accounts the ITO traced from the ledger, produced by the assessee, that receipts from forest by sale of Sal trees, amounting to Rs. 90,220-1-0, had not been included by the assessee in the return. The taxing officer considered this item to be assessable to agricultural income-tax and made the assessment accordingly. On an appeal by the assessee before the AAC this assessment was upheld as being " agricultural income from rent and revenue. " The assessee preferred an appeal before the Tribunal and by an order dt. 9th Oct., 1947, it was held that the income from forest in this particular case was not agricultural income, and therefore, not assessable under the Agricultural IT Act. On an application by the Commr. of Agrl. IT this reference has been made for determining the question :-

(2.) AGRICULTURAL income is defined in s. 2(1) of the Bengal AGRICULTURAL IT Act. The relevant portion of the section which requires consideration in the present case is in the following terms :-

(3.) ACCORDING to Murray in the Oxford Dictionary "agriculture" means "the science or art of cultivating soil including the allied pursuit of gathering the crop and rearing live stock, tillage, husbandry, farming in the widest sense."