21 September 1977
Supreme Court
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R. DALMIA Vs C.I.T., DELHI, NEW DELHI

Bench: FAZALALI,SYED MURTAZA
Case number: Appeal Civil 283 of 1972


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PETITIONER: R. DALMIA

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: C.I.T., DELHI, NEW DELHI

DATE OF JUDGMENT21/09/1977

BENCH: FAZALALI, SYED MURTAZA BENCH: FAZALALI, SYED MURTAZA BHAGWATI, P.N.

CITATION:  1977 AIR 2394            1978 SCR  (1) 537  1977 SCC  (4) 329

ACT: Income Tax Act 1922, s. 12(2)-Assessee borrowed money from a bank  and  bought shares-Agreement  provided  that  dividend etc., on shares declared after a certain date shall be  held by the bank for the benefit of the assessee Shares not taken delivery of by the assessee by the stipulated  date-Dividend declared, it accrued to the assessee. Section  12(2), scope of-Interest paid on loan  and  damages paid-If permissible deduction.

HEADNOTE: The  assessee borrowed a large sum of money from a bank  and purchased  shares from it; but did not take delivery of  the transfer  forms and share certificates by making payment  of the  purchase price.  Clause (3) of the agreement,  however, stipulated that if the shares were not taken delivery of  by a certain date, dividends, rights, bonuses etc. which  might be  declared after that date would be held by the  bank  for the benefit of the assessee; and that the assessee would  be liable  to pay interest on the purchase price.   Clause  (4) provided  that if the assessee did not take delivery of  the shares  by a certain date, the bank would be at  liberty  to sell the undelivered shares and to hold the assessee  liable for the difference in the. price fetched by the shares. The assessee paid to the bank over two lacs of rupees by way of interest and more than a lac of rupees by way of  damages for  failure to take delivery of the shares.  A sum  of  Rs. 95,000  odd  was earned as dividend by the assessee  on  the shares. The Income Tax Officer disallowed the claim of the  assessee for  deduction Linder s. 12(2) of the Indian Income Tax  Act 1922 of the interest on the loan and damages paid by him  to the  bank but included the dividend earned on the shares  in his  total  income.   On  appeal  the  Appellate   Assistant Commissioner  affirmed the view of the Income  Tax  Officer. The  Tribunal, on the other hand, held that since there  was no transfer of equitable title in the shares to the  assesee he was not entitled to any deduction of interest; disallowed the  deduction of damages paid by the assessee but  excluded the dividend from his total income on the ground that it was not  dividend earned by him.  On reference, the  High  Court affirmed the findings of the Tribunal.

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Allowing the appeal in part, HELD  :  (1) The High Court and the Tribunal were  wrong  in taking  the  view  that  the  Income  Tax  Officer   rightly disallowed  the  interest  claimed by  the  assessee.   This amount was a permissible deduction under s.12(2) of the  Act and  should  have  been allowed.  There is  a  direct  nexus between the amount paid by the assessee as interest and the earning of the dividend income. [546 A-B] (2)  In  the  Bank of India v. J. A. H. Chinoy  A.I.R.  1950 P.C.  90  at 97, the Privy Council held that even  though  a transaction  may not amount to an acquisition  of  equitable interest, yet as between the vendor and the purchaser a term regarding  payment of the declared dividend would  be  fully effective because once the dividends are declared, they will be deemed to have accrued to the purchaser even though there may  not  have been any transfer of equitable title  to  the purchaser.  Clause (3) of the agreement read in the light of this  decision shows that even if there was no  transfer  of equitable title to the assessee, since the dividend declared would be an additional source of income to him, the assessee would  be entitled to deduct the interest paid on  the  loan for acquiring the shares. [541 E & H] 538 (3)  An  analysis  of s.12(2) of the Indian Income  Tax  Act 1922  shows  that  before this provision  could  apply,  the following conditions must be fulfilled; (i) the  expenditure must have been incurred solely and exclusively for the  pur- pose   of  earning  income  or  making  profit;   (ii)   the expenditure  should  not  be  is the  nature  of  a  capital expenditure;  (iii) the amount in question should not be  in the  nature of personal expenses of the assessee;  (iv)  the expenditure  should be incurred in the accounting year;  and (v  there  must  be a clear nexus  between  the  expenditure incurred and the income sought to be earned. [542 E-G] In the instant case (i) a genuine and bona fide contract had been  entered  into between the assessee and  the  bank  for transfer  of a large number of shares to the assessee;  (ii) the assessee, in pursuance of this agreement raised the loan from the bank and paid interest for this purpose; and  (iii) under  cl.(3)  of the agreement the  dividends,  rights  and bonuses  etc., were held by the bank for the benefit of  the assessee after they were declared. Eastern Investments Ltd. v. Commissioner of Income Tax, West Bengal  20 I.T.R. 1 and Bombay Steam Navigation  Co.  (1963) Private Ltd. v. Commissioner of Income-tax, Bombay 56 I.T.R. 52, 59, followed. J.   K.  Commercial  Corporation  Ltd.  v.  Commissioner  of Income-tax, U.P. 72.     I.T.R.  296  and  Commissioner   of Income-tax,  Bombay  City I v. H. M.  Maharani  Vijaykuverba Saheb of Morvi 100 I.T.R. 67, approved. Ormerods (India) Private Ltd. v. Commissioner of Income-tax, Bombay  City  36 I.T.R. 329 and Smt.  Nirmala  M.  Doshi  v. Commissioner  of Income-tax, Bombay City 11 82  I.T.R.  648, referred to. (4)  Since  the assessee’s main business was not dealing  in shares,  damages  were paid by him due to his  own  default. The  damages paid would, therefore, be capital  expenditure. [546 C] (5)  The dividend earned by the assessee should be  included in his total income. [546 F]

JUDGMENT: CIVIL  APPELLATE  JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal  No.  1519  of

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1971. Appeal  by Special Leave from the Judgment and  Order  dated 22-1-1971 of the Delhi High Court in 1. T. Reference No.  25 of 1966. Bishamber Lal for the Appellant. V.   P. Raman, Addl.  Sol.  Genl. and J. Ramamurthi for  the Respondent. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by FAZAL ALI, J. In this appeal by special leave, the  assessee who is an individual had purchased a large number of  shares from  the Bharat Bank Ltd. for Rs. 44,14,990/- by  borrowing this  amount from the, Bharat Bank and he paid  interest  of Rs. 2,04,744/- on the said amount.  In fact four years  back i.e. in 1944-45 the joint family of which the assesses was a member had sold these very shares along with other shares to the  Bharat Bank Ltd.  The agreement by which  the  assessee purchased  these shares is dated February 5, 1948 and is  to be found at Annexure A on p. 19 of the Paper Book.  In spite of  the fact that the assessee had agreed to buy the  shares from  the Bharat Bank Ltd. he did not take delivery of  the transfer forms and the share certificates by making  payment of the purchase price.  Under the agree- 539 ment  dated February 5, 1948 it was agreed that  the  shares would be taken delivery of on or before March 31, 1948.   It was  further  agreed  that  if the  shares  were  not  taken delivery  of  by this date, the dividends,  rights,  bonuses etc.  which may be declared after that date,  namely,  March 31,  1948  will be held by the Bank for the benefit  of  the assessee and the assessee would be liable to pay interest at the rate of 6% p.a. on the purchase price from April 1, 1948 till  actual  delivery  of the shares’  Clause  (4)  of  the agreement  provided that if for any reason the  shares  were not taken delivery of by March 31, 1951, the Bank will be at liberty to sell the then undelivered shares and to hold  the assessee  liable for the difference in the price fetched  by the  shares.  The assessee did not take delivery of some  of the  shares  until  March 31, 1951 and paid  a  sum  of  Rs. 1,05,000/-  as damages for his failure to take  delivery  as stipulated in the agreement between the parties.  It is also the admitted case of the parties that the assessee earned  a dividend income of Rs. 95,664/-.  The assessment year in the instant  case  is  1953-54 i.e.  the  previous  year  ending September  30,  1952.   The assessee  claimed  that  be  was entitled  to  deduct  the interest paid  for  acquiring  the shares  worth Rs. 44,14,990/- and, therefore, a sum of  Rs., 2,04,744/-  was deductible under s. 12(2) of the  Income-tax Act,  1922-hereinafter  referred to as ’the  Act’.   It  was further  alleged  by  the assessee  that  even  the  damages amounting to Rs. 1,05,000/- which he had paid to the  Bharat Bank  for  not  taking  delivery of  the  shares  were  also deductible   because  this  was  a   business   expenditure. Finally,  the  assessee  also claimed that the  sum  of  Rs. 95,664/ being the dividend income was not to be included  in the  total income of the assessee.  The  Income-tax  Officer rejected all the pleas taken by the assessee and  disallowed the  deductions claimed by the assessee as mentioned  above. The Income-tax Officer also included the sum of Rs. 95,664/- in the total income of the assessee. The assessee filed an appeal before the Appellate  Assistant Commissioner  who  affirmed  the  order  of  the  Income-tax Officer, though on slightly different grounds with which  we are  not concerned here.  Thereafter the assessee  filed  an appeal  before the Tribunal which gave a finding that  under the facts and circumstances of the present case there was no

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transfer  of equitable title in the shares to  the  assessee and, therefore, he was not entitled to any deduction of  the interest paid by him on the capital amount which constituted the purchase money of the shares.  The Tribunal further held that  the interest paid was of a capital nature and did  not fall  within the ambit of s. 12(2) of the Act.   As  regards the assessee’s claim to the dividend income of Rs. 95,664/-, the Tribunal held that as the said income had been  credited to  the account of the assessee in terms of cl. (3)  of  the agreement  dated February 5, 1948 it bad not  been  actually earned  by the assessee and the receipt of the  dividend  by the Bank was only taken into account for finalisation of the price.   The Tribunal accordingly directed deletion of  this amount  from the total income of the assessee.   As  regards the third point, namely, the sum of Rs. 1,05,000/- which the assessee paid as damages to the Bank, the Tribunal held that as the assessee was not doing business exclusively in shares he  was not entitled to set off the interest paid by him  as revenue loss. 540 Thereafter  the  appellant moved the Tribunal for  making  a reference  to the High Court and after hearing  counsel  for the  parties the Tribunal referred the  following  questions for the opinion of the High Court               "(1)   Whether  on  the  facts  and   in   the               circumstances  of  case the  tribunal  rightly               rejected  the assessee’s claim  for  deduction               of, the interest payment of Rs. 2,04,744/- ?               (2)   Whether   on  the  facts  and   in   the               circumstances of the case the tribunal rightly               held  that the revenue was not  estopped  from               disallowing the claim for the deduction of the               interest  amount in view of the  allowance  of               such claim in the past ?               (3)   Whether   on  the  facts  and   in   the               circumstances of the case the tribunal rightly               disallowed the loss of Rs. 1,05,000/in respect               of  7500  preference  shares  of  the   Dalmia               Investment Company Ltd. ?               (4)   Whether   on  the  facts  and   in   the               circumstances of the case the tribunal rightly               held that the dividend amount of Rs:  95,664/-               did not constitute the income of the  assessee               ?" Out  of  these  questions, Question No.  (2)  has  not  been pressed  by  the appellant because it is well  settled  that there is no question of estoppel or res judicata in relation to  the  assessment  of  different  years.   Thus  the  only questions that were to be determined by the High Court  were Questions Nos. (1), (3) and (4).  The High Court agreed with the  Tribunal  that in the facts and circumstances of  the case there was no transfer of equitable title of the  shares to the assessee and, therefore, he was not entitled to claim deduction of Rs. 2,04,744/-.  The finding of the Tribunal on Question  No. (3) was also upheld and the High Court  agreed that the loss of Rs. 1,05,000/- was rightly disallowed.   On Question  No. (4) the High Court, also agreed with the  view of  the  Tribunal  and held that this amount  could  not  be included in the total income of the assessee.  The  assessee has  come up to this Court,, after obtaining  special  leave from this Court. Both  the  Tribunal and the High Court have  gone  into  the question  of  transfer  of equitable  title  at  very  great length,  but  in the facts and circumstances  of  this  case after  hearing the parties and going through the  record  we

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feel  that the question of transfer of equitable title is  a vexed  question  of  law and is not  free  from  difficulty. Having regard to the peculiar facts of this case, it is  not necessary for the Court to decide the question of  equitable transfer  in  order  to  give relief  to  the  appellant  on Question  No.  (1).  In other words, we are of  the  opinion that  the  question as to whether or not  the  appellant  is entitled  to  a deduction of Rs. 2,04,744/- can  be  decided without  touching or affecting the question of  transfer  of equitable  title  to  the assessee.  This  can  be  done  by examining  the  scope and ambit of S. 12(2) of  the  Act  in order  to  find out if the assessee’s case  for  payment  of interest  can come within the four corners of that  section. In  these  circumstances we do not propose to  go  into  the question of transfer of equitable title which had occupied a greater part of the judgments of the High Court and 541 the Tribunal.  We would, however, like to make it clear that we should not be taken to have affirmed the decision of  the High Court on this point, but we refrain from expressing any opinion  thereon  in the view that we take  in  the  present case. In  Bank  of  India v. J.A.H.  Chinoy,(1),  Lord  MacDermott pointing  out  the  extent of the doctrine  of  transfer  of equitable title to a purchaser observed as follows :               " Their Lordships do not desire to case  doubt               on  the proposition that in India a  purchaser               of  shares  (which under the  Indian  Sale  of               Goods  Act  come within the  definition  of  "               goods") does not acquire an equitable interest               by  virtue of the contract of sale.  But  they               cannot  agree  with the  application  of  this               proposition  which  commended  itself  to  the               Appellate  Court.   No  doubt  as  between   a               company and a purchaser of shares therein  the               date  of completion is all important.  But  as               between  vendor and purchaser, where the  con-               tract does not otherwise provide, the term  to               be implied as to dividends is not confined  to               dividends still to be declared in respect of a               period  or periods prior to the contract.   It               includes  such  dividends  but  that  is   not               because  the period in which they were  earned               is  crucial;  what is crucial is the  date  or               dates of declaration." It  would appear from the observations of the Privy  Council that   even  though  the  transaction  may  not  amount   to acquisition  of equitable interest, yet between  the  vendor and the purchaser the term regarding payment of the declared dividend would be fully effective because once the dividends are  declared  they will be deemed to have  accrued  to  the purchaser  even though there may not have been any  transfer of  equitable title to the purchaser.  In the instant  case, cl. (3) of the agreement by which the assessee purported  to acquire shares from the Bank runs thus :               "That if the shares are not taken delivery  of               by  31-3-48  the dividends,  rights,  bonuses,               etc.,  that may be declared after  that  date,               will  be  for your benefit, but  you  will  be               liable  to  pay interest at 6%  from  1-4-1948               till the date of actual delivery on the  price               of  the shares calculated at the  rates  above               mentioned." A perusal of the statement made in this paragraph manifestly reveals that even if the shares are not taken delivery of by

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the assessee, the dividends, rights, bonuses etc. which  may be declared after that date were to be held by the Bank  for the  benefit of the purchaser.  Thus the principle which  is deducible  from the decision of the Privy Council in  J.A.H. Chinoy’s  case  (supra) fully applies to the  facts  of  the present   case.   It  follows,  as  a   logical   corollary, therefore,  that even if there was no transfer of  equitable title to the assessee, since a Company declared the dividend etc. which would be an additional source (1)  A.I.R.1950P.C90., 97. 542 of  income  to the assessee, would he not  be  entitled  to, deduct  a sum of Rs. 2,04,744/- being the interest  paid  on the loan for acquiring the shares ? The position will become clear  if we extract s. 12(2) of the Act as it stood at  the relevant time               "(2)  Such income, profits and gains shall  be               computed   after  making  allowance  for   any               expenditure incurred solely for-the purpose of               making  or  earning such  income,  profits  or               gains provided that no allowance shall be made               on account of--               (a)   any personal expenses of the  assessees,               or               (b)   any  interest chargeable under this  Act               which   is   payable   without   the   taxable               territories,  not  being interest  on  a  loan               issued for public subscription before the  1st               day  of April, 1938, or not being interest  on               which tax has been paid or from which tax  has               been deducted under section 18, or               (c)   any  payment which is  chargeable  under               the  head "Salaries" if it is payable  without               the  taxable territories and tax has not  been               paid  thereon  nor  deducted  therefrom  under               section 18." An analysis of this sub-section would show that in computing the  income  under  this head the assessee  is  entitled  to deduction in respect of the expenditure incurred solely  for the purpose of earning such income, provided the expenditure is not of a capital nature and does not include any personal expenses  incurred by the assessee.  In other words,  before this provision could apply the following conditions must  be fulfilled :               (i)   the expenditure must have been  incurred               solely  and  exclusively for  the  purpose  of               earning income or making profit;               (ii)  the  expenditure  should not be  in  the               nature of a capital expenditure;               (iii) the amount in question should not be  in               the   nature  of  personal  expenses  of   the               assessee;               (iv)  that the expenditure should be  incurred               in the accounting year; and               (v)   there must be a clear nexus between  the               expenditure incurred and the income sought  to               be earned. In  Eastern Investments Ltd. v. Commissioner of  Income-tax, West Bengal(1) the facts were that the assessee which was an Investment  Company  was formed for acquiring.  holding  and dealine in shares and Government securities belonging to  C. C  died and S was appointed Administrator of his estate  and in that capacity he sold 50,000 ordinary shares.  Money  was required  by  the  Executor  of C and  he  entered  into  an agreement with the assessee Company by which the assessee

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(1)  20 I.T.R. 1 543 agreed to reduce its share capital by Rs. 50 lakhs by taking over  from the Administrator 50,000 shares at Rs. 100/-  per share and to receive instead debentures of the face value of Rs.  50  lakhs  carrying  interest at  5%  per  annum.   The agreement   was  sanctioned  by  the  High  Court  and   was ultimately  carried  out.  The transaction was  held  to  be genuine.  The Appellate Tribunal and the Calcutta High Court took  the view that in computing the income of the  assessee the  interest paid on the debentures could not  be  deducted under  s. 12 (2) of the Act as this was not  an  expenditure for  the purpose of earning the income.  This  Court,  while reversing the judgment of the Calcutta High Court, held that once the transaction was held to be a genuine one it clearly fell  within  the  purview of s. 12(2) of the  Act  and  the interest  paid by the assessee was a  permissible  deduction under  s. 12(2) of the Act.  In this connection, this  Court observed as follows :-               "On  a  full review of the facts it  is  clear               that this transaction was voluntarily  entered               into  in  order indirectly to  facilitate  the               carrying on of the business of the company and               was   made   on  the  ground   of   commercial               expediency.   It  therefore falls  within  the               purview  of  Section 12(2) of  the  Income-tax               Act, 1922, before its amendment.               This  being  an  investment  company,  if   it               borrowed  money and utilised the same for  its               investments  on  which it earned  income,  the               interest paid by it on the loans will  clearly               be a permissible deduction under Section 12(2)               of the Income lax Act." The aforesaid case appears to be on all fours with the facts in  the  present case.  In the instant case also it  is  not disputed  before us that the agreement entered into  between the  parties  was a genuine one.  In fact the  Tribunal  had also held that the agreement was actually acted upon.   Once this  was so, then the interest which the assessee  paid  on the loan of Rs. 44,14,990/- which came to Rs. 2,04,744/- was really  paid for the purpose of earning income, namely,  the dividends, bonuses etc. which were held by the Bank for  the benefit  of  the assessee.  The interest of  Rs.  2,04,744/- paid  by the appellant could not be said to be of a  capital nature,  nor  could it be, deemed to  be  personal  expense& incurred   by   the  assessee.   In   these   circumstances, therefore,  the essential ingredients of s. 12(2) are  fully satisfied in this case and on the authority of this Court in Eastern Investments Ltd.’s case (supra) the appellant’s case squarely  falls  within the four corners of s.  12(2)  as  a result of which the amount of interest of Rs. 2,04,744/- was a permissible deduction under s. 1 2 (2) of the Act. In  Bombay  Steam  Navigation Co.  (1953)  Private  Ltd.  v. Commissioner  of Income-tax Bombay(1), in  somewhat  similar circumstances,  this  Court  allowed the  expenditure  as  a deduction under s. 10(2) (xv), and observed as follows :               "But  in  our judgment interest  paid  by  the               assessee-company  is a  permissible  deduction               under Section 10(2) (xv)               (1)   56 I.T.R. 52. 59.               544               which  permits  any expenditure not  being  an               allowance  of the nature described in  any  of               the  clauses  (i) to (xiv) inclusive  and  not               being in the nature of capital expenditure  or

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             personal expenses of the assessee laid out  or               expended   wholly  and  exclusively  for   the               purpose   of  such  business,  profession   or               vocation"  as a permissible allowance  in  the               computation,  of  profits  or  gains  of   the               business   carried   on   in   the   year   of               account......  The  expenditure  was  incurred               after  the commencement of the business.   The               expenditure is not for any private or domestic               purposes  of the assessee-company.  It  is  in               the capacity of a person carrying on- business               that this interest is paid."               This Court further observed               "Whether  a particular expenditure is  revenue               expenditure   incurred  for  the  purpose   of               business must be determined on a consideration               of all the facts and circumstances, and by the               application   of  principles   of   commercial               trading.   The question must be viewed in  the               larger   context  of  business  necessity   or               expediency.  If the outgoing or expenditure is               so  related to the carrying on or  conduct  of               the  business, that it may be regarded  as  an               integral  part of the profit--earning  process               and not for acquisition of an asset or a right               of  a permanent character, the  possession  of               which is a condition of the carrying on of the               business,  the expenditure may be regarded  as               revenue expenditure." Apart  from  these  decisions of this  Court,  a  number  of decisions of the High Courts have also taken the same  view. In Ormerods (India) Private Ltd. v. Commissioner of  Income- tax,  Bombay City(1), the Bombay High Court allowed  certain sums  of money paid as interest on borrowed capital for  the purchase of shares and held that the word "  purpose" in the expression  "expenditure incurred solely for the purpose  of making  or  earning such income, profits or gains"  did  not mean  motive  for  the transaction, much less  can  it  mean ulterior motive, or ulterior object.  The Court held that as the investments were made for the purpose of earning income, the interest paid thereon would be deductible under s. 12(2) of the Act. A  similar  view was taken by the Allahabad High  Court  in. J.K. Commercial Corporation Ltd. v. Commissioner of  Income- tax, U.P.(2) where it was held that any expenditure incurred for  preservation  or  protection of  a  capital  asset  was revenue in nature.  The Court held that legal and travelling expenses  incurred by the assessee for  protecting  dividend income and to ensure the prospective dividend earning  capa- city  were clearly allowable under S. 12(2) of the Act.   We find ourselves in complete agreement with the view taken  by the Allahabad High Court in that case. (1)  36 I.T.R. 329. (2)  72 I.T.R. 296. 54 5 In  Smt.   Nirmala K. Doshi v. Commissioner  of  Income-tax, Bombay  City II(1), the Bombay High Court held that  payment of interest for earning dividend income was deductible under s. 12(2) of the Act.  Commissioner  of  Income-tax,  Bombay  City  I  v.   H.  H. Maharani Vijaykuverba Saheb of Morvi(2), a Division Bench of the  Bombay  High  Court held that the  deduction  which  is permissible  under  sub-s. (2) of s. 12 is  all  expenditure incurred  solely  for the purpose of making or  earning  the income  which  has been subjected to tax  and  the  dominant

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purpose of the expenditure incurred must be to earn  income. It  was  further  held  that  the  connection  between   the expenditure  and the earning of income need not  be  direct, and  even  an  indirect connection  could  prove  the  nexus between  the expenditure incurred and the income.  We  fully agree with the view taken by the Bombay High Court. In  view  of the direct decision of this  Court  in  Eastern Investments Ltd.’s case (supra), it is not necessary for  us to  multiply authorities.  Summarising therefore, the  facts of  the  present  case, the position  which  emerges  is  as follows               (1) that a genuine and bona fide contract  had               been entered into between the assessee and the               Bank for transfer of large number of shares to               the assessee;               (2)   that  the assessee in pursuance of  this               agreement had raised a loan of Rs’ 44,14,990/-               from  the Bank in order to acquire the  shares               and  had paid interest of Rs.  2,04,744/-  for               this purpose-, and               (3)   as    a   result   of   the    aforesaid               acquisition,  under cl. (3) of  the  agreement               the  dividends, rights,  bonuses          etc.               held by the Bank were held for the benefit  of               the  assessee after they were declared. it  is               obvious  that if the assessee would  not  have               paid the interest on the loan raised by him he               would  not have been able to get the  dividend               income. In these circumstances, therefore, there was a   direct nest between  the expenditure of Rs. 2,04,744/- incurred  by  the assessee as interest and the earning of the dividend income. The  assessee has clearly established that  the  expenditure aforesaid was incurred solely and wholly for the purpose  of earning the bonuses and dividend income.  As the shares were not the stock-in-trade of the appellant it could not be said that  the interest paid by the assessee to the Bank  was  an expenditure of a capital nature, nor was there any  material to  show  that  the expenditure  incurred  by  the  assessee amounted to his personal expenses.  In these  circumstances, we  are satisfied that the case of the appellant  in  paying the  interest  amounting  to Rs.  2,04,744/-  falls  clearly within  s.  12(2)  of  the Act and  the  conditions  of  the aforesaid provision being fulfilled the assessee was in  law entitled to deduction of the amount of (1)  82 I.T.R. 648. (2)  1 00 I.T.R. 67. 11-930SCI/77 546 Rs.  2,04,744/-  under-  s.  12 (2) of  the  Act.   We  are, therefore,  of  the  opinion that the  High  Court  and  the Tribunal  were wrong in taking the view that the  Income-tax authorities rightly disallowed the amount of Rs.  2,04,744/- as  claimed by the assessee.  We are clearly of the  opinion that this amount was a permissible deduction under s.  12(2) of  the Act and should have been allowed by  the  Income-tax authorities.  In these circumstances, therefore, we bold  on question  No. (1) that both the Tribunal and the High  Court should have held that the assessee’s claim for deduction  of interest  amounting to Rs. 2,04,744/was wrongly rejected  by the Income-tax authorities. So  far  as  Question  No. 3  relating  to  damages  of  Rs. 1,05,000/paid  to the Bank by the assessee for  non-delivery of  the  shares is concerned, we are unable  to  agree  with counsel  for  the  appellant  that  this  was  a  deductible

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expenditure.    We  have  already  pointed  out   that   the assessee’s  main  business was not dealing  in  shares  and, therefore, the damages paid were due to his own default  and would,  therefore,  be a capital expenditure rather  than  a revenue one.  The High Court and the Tribunal were right  in disallowing this amount. As  regards  question  No.  (4)  the  position  is  somewhat obscure.   While the Tribunal had deleted the amount of  Rs. 95,664/-  from  the total income of the assessee,  the  High Court  also  agreed  with the  Tribunal  and  answered  this question  in the affirmative against the  Revenue.   Learned counsel  for the Revenue has, however, submitted that if  we are of the opinion that the appellant should be entitled  to the  deduction of Rs. 2,04,744/- under S. 12(2) of the  Act, then it automatically follows that he cannot claim exemption in  respect  of  the dividend income.  In  our  opinion  the argument of Mr. V. P. Raman, learned counsel for the Revenue is  well founded and must prevail.  Even Mr. ’Bishamber  Lal appearing  for  the assessee/appellant was  fair  enough  to concede that if we hold that the interest of Rs.  2,04,744/- was  a permissible deduction under S. 12(2) of the Act  then he   would  not  press  his  claim  before  the   Income-tax authorities  for  deletion  of the dividend  income  of  Rs. 95,664/- and he would have no objection if this.  Court sets aside  this  deletion.  In this view of the  matter  we  set aside  the  order  of the High Court as  also  that  of  the Tribunal  deleting the amount of Rs. 95,664/- which will  be included in the total income of the assessee. The  result  is that the appeal is allowed in part  and  our finding  on Question No. (1) is that the High Court and  the Tribunal  were  wrong in disallowing the  deduction  of  Rs. 2,04,744/-  as  claimed by the assessee.  The  assessee  is, therefore,  entitled to a deduction of this amount from  his total  income.  We affirm the judgment of the High Court  in disallowing  the  claim of Rs. 1,05,000/-  which  forms  the basis  of  Question No. (3).  As the  appeal  has  partially succeeded and partially failed, we leave the parties to bear their own costs in this Court. P.B.R.                           Appeal allowed in part. 547