A. Chockalingam Chettiar vs The Commissioner of Income Tax

Alfred Henry Lionel Leach, C.J.—The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Calcutta Bench, has referred to this Court for answer the following

question:

Whether the income from agricultural land in Burma is covered within the definition given in Section 2(1)(a) of the Indian Income Tax Act?

Section 2(1)(a) reads as follows:

Agricultural income '' means any rent or revenue derived from land which is used for agricultural purposes, and is either assessed to land revejiue in

British India or subject to a local rate assessed and collected by officers of the Crown as such.

The assessee says that agricultural land in Burma is subject to a local rate assessed and collected by officers of the Burma Government who are

officers of the Crown. That may be the case, but we cannot accept that officers of the Crown in Burma are officers of the Crown within the

meaning of the Indian Income Tax Act. Agricultural income is exempt from Income Tax in British India because it pays tax in another form to a

Government in India and that tax is assessed and collected by officers of the Crown in British India. Exemption from Income Tax of agricultural

income can only mean exemption of agricultural income in British India.

The answer which we give to the question is that income from agricultural land in Burma is not covered by the definition given in Section 2(1)(a)

of the Act.

The assessee will pay the Commissioner''s costs, Rs. 250.

The same question has been referred in C.R. No. 19 of 1944 and consequently the same answer will be given. There will be no order as to

costs here.