PROVINCE OF BIHAR Vs. RAJA BAHADUR HARIHARM PRASAD NARAIN SINGH OF RAJ AMAWA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) -This is case stated by the Bihar Board of Agricultural income-tax under Section 25 (2) of the Bhiar Agricultural Income-tax Act (Act VII of 1938) for the opinion of this Court upon the following questions formulated at p. 13 :

(2.) THE assessee returned his assessable income under the Bihar Agricultural Income-tax Act, hereinafter to be referred to as the Act, for the year 1345 Fasli at Rs. 27,802-15-3 after claiming certain deductions, but the Agricultural Income-tax Officer by his order darted 31st August 1939 raised the assessable income to Rs. 99,374-15-0. He refused to allow the principal deductions claimed by the assessee in the following circumstances.

(3.) BUT it is argued by the learned Advocate-General, who appears for the Agricultural Income-tax Department, that the assessee is not entitled to this deduction because in arriving at the total agricultural income in income from the zarpeshgi villages is to be ascertained after making the admissible deductions and if there is a deficit or loss by reason of the fact that the admissible deductions exceed the gross agricultural income actually realised in the previous year then the assessees income from these villages should be treated as nil and he should not be allowed to set off the other lands. He relies upon the wording of Section 6 of the Act which in his submission means - to take for instance sub-clause (a) -that the assessee is entitled to deduction of the sum actually paid in the previous year as revenue to the Crown or as rent to the landlord in respect of the land from which such agricultural income is derived. He argues that we must consider each portion of the land from which agricultural income is derived and allow a deduction of only those sums (or portions thereof) actually paid as Government revenue or rent to the landlord in respect of this and provided these payments do not exceed the gross sum realised as income therefrom.