Commissioner of Wealth Tax vs P.V. Varghese

Om Prakash, C.J.—Heard senior standing counsel for the Revenue.

This is an application made by the Revenue u/s 27(3) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957, requiring us to direct the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal to refer the following question for the opinion of this court :

"Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal was right in holding that the assessee is entitled to exemption u/s 5(1)(xxxii) of the Wealth-tax Act ?"

We have carefully gone through the order of the Appellate Tribunal, which has found that the assessee was a partner in two firms dealing in jewellery ; that these firms used to purchase old gold ornaments and hand them over to goldsmiths to manufacture new gold ornaments ; that the assessee has produced the goldsmith vouchers showing the ornaments making charges paid ; weight of old gold and its purity, wastage, etc. ; that from the vouchers produced by the assessee, it is clear that the firms in which the assessee was a partner were engaged in the business of manufacture of new gold jewellery from old gold ornaments purchased from various people and that the goldsmiths worked under the firms'' premises.

In view of the above factual background, the Appellate Tribunal reached the conclusion that the firms in which the assessee was a partner, being engaged in the business of manufacture of new gold jewellery from old gold ornaments, are entitled to get exemption u/s 5(1)(xxxii) of the Wealth-tax Act. Such finding recorded by the Appellate Tribunal is a clear finding of fact.

The submission of learned senior standing counsel before us is that the firms in which the assessee was a partner, were engaged only in polishing old gold ornaments and no new gold ornaments were being manufactured by the firms. No basis for this argument is shown to us. On the contrary, the finding of the Appellate Tribunal is that the firms in which the assessee was a partner were engaging goldsmiths at their own premises and they made new jewellery from old gold ornaments.

The finding recorded by the Appellate Tribunal being a finding of fact, no question of law arises.

The application, therefore, fails and is rejected.