Wp(C)/20332/2007 Of C.t.rajan v. The Agricultural Income Tax Officer

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE C.N.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR TUESDAY, THE 3RD JULY 2007 / 12TH ASHADHA 1929 WP(C).No. 20332 of 2007(U) -------------------------- PETITIONER: ------------ C.T.RAJAN, M/S. CHEMMANRIKKAT PLANTATIONS, SHORNUR. BY ADV. SRI.V.V.ASOKAN SMT.S.AMINA RESPONDENTS: ------------- 1. THE AGRICULTURAL INCOME TAX OFFICER, MANNARKKAD. 2. THE DEPUTY TAHSILDAR (REVENUE RECOVERY), TALUK OFFICE, OTTAPPALAM. BY ADV. SHRI.C.K.GOVINDAN, GOVERNMENT PLEADER THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 03/07/2007, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: C.N.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR, J. ----------------------------------- WP(C) No. 20332 of 2007 ------------------------- Dated, this the 3[rd] day of July, 2007 J U D G M E N T The petitioner an assessee is challenging demand ofagricultural income tax under the Agricultural Income Tax Act, 1991in respect of income from rubber for the assessment years 2005-06and 2006-07 and the recovery proceedings initiated under Exts.P9and P9(a) on the ground that petitioner is entitled to exemptionfrom payment of agricultural income tax by virtue of Exts.P3(b) andP4 notifications issued by the Government. 2.I heard counsel for the petitioner and GovernmentPleader. The petitioner has produced Ext.P3 series of notificationsand Ext.P4 notification by which exemption is granted by theGovernment from payment of agricultural income tax for variousperiods. While under Exts.P3 and P3(a) exemption is granted for allassessees except companies from payment of agricultural incometax in respect of income from all crops for the assessment years2002-03 and 2003-04, Ext.P3(b) notification which is issued for theassessment years 2004-05 and 2005-06 provides for exemption forassessees other than companies only for income derived from WP(C) No. 20332/2007 -2- cultivation of tea and coffee. For the assessment year 2007-08which is covered by Ext.P4 notification, exemption is granted notonly for income derived from cultivation of coffee and tea, but forpepper and cardamom also. The petitioner has not produced anynotification pertaining to assessment year 2006-07. According tothe petitioner, by virtue of Exts.P3(b) and P4 petitioner is entitled toexemption from payment of agricultural income tax in respect ofincome derived from cultivation of rubber. In fact, petitioner hasthrough rectification application made before the officer claimedrefund of tax paid for the year 2004-05 also. In order to appreciatethe contentions raised by the petitioner, it is enough to refer to onenotification and therefore Ext.P4 is extracted hereunder. “S.R.O. No. 377/2007 :- In exercise of the powers conferred bysection 17 of the Kerala Agricultural Income Tax Act, 1991 (15of 1991), the Government of Kerala, having considered itnecessary in the public interest, so to do, hereby make anexemption in respect of Agricultural income tax payable underthe said Act by all assessees except companies, on theAgricultural income derived from the cultivation of coffee, tea,pepper and cardamom for the previous year 2006-07corresponding to the assessment year 2007-08.” It is obvious from the above that exemption is available to allassessees except companies in respect of income derived from the WP(C) No. 20332/2007 -3- “S.R.O. No. 377/2007 :- In exercise of the powers conferred bysection 17 of the Kerala Agricultural Income Tax Act, 1991 (15of 1991), the Government of Kerala, having considered itnecessary in the public interest, so to do, hereby make anexemption in respect of Agricultural income tax payable underthe said Act by all assessees except companies, on theAgricultural income derived from the cultivation of coffee, tea,pepper and cardamom for the previous year 2006-07corresponding to the assessment year 2007-08.” It is obvious from the above that exemption is available to allassessees except companies in respect of income derived from the WP(C) No. 20332/2007 -3- cultivation of coffee, tea, pepper and cardamom. ObviouslyGovernment did not want to grant exemption for the incomederived from cultivation of rubber after assessment year 2003-04.According to the petitioner, all assessees except companies areentitled to exemption from payment of tax on income from all cropsand so far as companies are concerned, exemption available is onincome from cultivation of tea, coffee, pepper and cardamom. I amunable to accept this contention because none of the notificationsprovide for exemption from payment of tax by companies in respectof income from any crop. In other words, companies were liable topay tax on the income from all crops including tea, coffee,cardamom and pepper. Complete exemption was initially grantedfor limited periods only to assessees other than companies. For thesake of clarity the scheme of exemption available under thenotifications is as follows :- (1)S.R.O. 800/2001 and (2) S.R.O. 09/2002 :- Exemptionfrom payment of agricultural income tax is available for theassessment years 2002-03 and 2003-04 to all assessees other thancompanies, in respect of income derived from all crops. (3)S.R.O. 392/2005 :- Exemption from payment of WP(C) No. 20332/2007 agricultural income tax is available for the assessment years 2004-05 and 2005-06 to all assessees other than companies, only inrespect of income derived from the cultivation of tea and coffee. (4)S.R.O. 377/2007 :- Exemption from payment ofagricultural income tax is available for the assessment year 2007-08to all assessees other than companies, only in respect of incomederived from cultivation of coffee, tea, pepper and cardamom. 3. In view of the above findings, petitioner is not entitled toany exemption from payment of agricultural income tax in respectof the income derived from cultivation of rubber for the assessmentyears 2004-05 onwards. This writ petition is therefore dismissed. (C.N.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR, JUDGE.)