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Judgment
B.C. Patel, J.—The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Surat, has referred the following question for the opinion of this court :
"Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was right in law in holding that the assessee is entitled to deduction u/s 80P(2)(a)(i) and u/s 80P(2)(d) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 ?"
The assessee claimed certain benefits such as deduction of Rs. 4,04,400 u/s 80P(2)(a)(i) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), and Rs. 1,417 u/s 80P(2)(d) of the Act in respect of interest received from the members of the co-operative societies and dividend and interest received from the co-operative societies. The Income Tax Officer by his order, dated August 28, 1981, rejected the claim of the assessee. Being aggrieved by the order passed by the Income Tax Officer, the assessee preferred appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals). The Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) by his order dated February 25, 1983, confirmed the assessment order passed by the Assessing Officer for the reasons recorded in the order, that is to say, that the views taken in the earlier orders have been confirmed. The assessee approached the Tribunal and the Tribunal by its order, dated January 19, 1984, allowed the appeal. The Tribunal has placed reliance on the assessment order for the assessment year 1974-75. The Revenue carried the matter further and the Division Bench of this court in Income Tax Reference No. 124 of 1984 decided on July 20, 1998 answered the reference in favour of the Revenue and against the assessee. There, the claim was made for deduction of Rs. 2,89,855 u/s 80P(2)(d)(i) and Rs. 233 u/s 80P(2)(d) of the Act. Considering the judgment of the apex court reported in the matter of Commissioner of Income Tax, Tamil Nadu-V, Madras Vs. Kotagiri Industrial Co-operative Tea Factory Ltd., Kotagiri, it seems the court answered the question in favour of the Revenue and against the assessee. The question framed by the Division Bench-reads as under :
"Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in holding that the assessee was entitled to deduction as contemplated under sections 80P and 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961 ?"
The Division Bench hearing the said reference pointed out in para. 4 as under :
"4. Almost in similar circumstances, the Supreme Court held that before considering the matter of deduction u/s 80B(5), the Income Tax Officer rightly set off the credit loss of earlier years in accordance with section 72 of the Act and finding that the same exceeded, the Income Tax Officer did not allow the deduction u/s 80P of the Act. The principle laid down by the Supreme Court in Commissioner of Income Tax, Tamil Nadu-V, Madras Vs. Kotagiri Industrial Co-operative Tea Factory Ltd., Kotagiri, will apply to the facts of the present case also."
Having gone through the judgment of the apex court and the decision of this court, we answer the reference in favour of the Revenue and against the assessee. No order as to costs.