JUDGMENT
K.S. Paripoornan, J.
1. At the instance of the Revenue, the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Cochin Bench, has referred the following question of law for the decision of this court :
“Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in deleting the sum of Rs. 1,92,232 received by the assessee during the year of account relevant to the assessment year 1985-84 ?”
2. The respondent, a registered firm, is an assessee under the Income-tax Act, 1961. We are concerned with the assessment year 1983-84. The accounting period ended on March 31, 1983. Admittedly, the assessee keeps its accounts on the mercantile basis. The assessee-firm was having the business of transport of levy sugar of the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation. In the assessment, the Income-tax Officer made an addition of Rs. 1,92,232 towards “value of additional claim relating to the earlier years which had not been accounted earlier”, the proceeds whereof was received in the instant year. The assessee objected to the said addition. In appeal, the addition was affirmed by the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals), by order dated February 12, 1987. In second appeal, the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal held that the amount of Rs. 1,92,232 received during this year had already been accounted for by the assessee in the earlier assessment years in the bills issued to the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation from February, 1980, to May, 1982, and so there is no question of addition of this amount for this assessment year. The order of the Appellate Tribunal is dated October 16, 1987. It is thereafter at the instance of the Revenue that the question of law formulated hereinabove has been referred by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal for the decision of this court.
3. We heard counsel. The plea of the assessee, at all times, was that the amount of Rs. 1,92,232 received in this year had already been accounted for in the bills for earlier years and it is not a case where the bill amount had not been reflected in the assessee’s accounts for earlier years. It was
explained that there is a short payment by the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation in the sum of Rs. 1,92,232 because the assessee used to receive payments after deducting advance at the rate of 90 per cent. and factually the actual advances made were below 90 per cent. The Income-tax Appellate Tribunal referred to this plea of the assessee and also examined the communication by the Corporation wherein the Corporation has admitted that Rs. 1,92,232.15 is due to the assessee for the transportation of levy sugar from February, 1980, to March, 1981. Details have been given as under :
Rs. Ps.
Total amount due to the contractor for the transportation of levy sugar from February, 1980, to March, 1981 (details as per annexure ‘A’)
47,14,828.90
Amount already paid on different dates against the above work (details as per annexure ‘B’)
44,95,407.65
Recovery against the cost of shortage on different bills (annexure ‘C’)
27,189.10
Total to be adjusted
45,22,596.75
Balance to be paid
1,92,232.15
4. After noticing the above, the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal concluded in paragraph 5 of its order thus :
“3. It would be seen from the correspondence between the assessee and the Corporation that this amount represented payments to be made on the bills from February, 1980, onwards. That is, these are the balances payable on bills which are already accounted for by the assessee in the respective assessment years. What has happened is that this amount was paid during this year. In view of this fact, there is no addition to be made during this accounting year.”
5. It was also found that the assessee had clearly pleaded that the claim in respect of which the payment was made arose from the bills issued to the Corporation from February, 1980, to May, 1982, and there is no material on record to show that this bill amount had not been fully reflected in the assessee’s accounts for those years.
6. A reading of the order of the Appellate Tribunal, as a whole, clearly shows that the question that arose before the Appellate Tribunal was
whether the sum of Rs. 1,92,232 received by the assessee during the relevant assessment year was one which has already been accounted for by the assessee in the earlier assessment years. The Appellate Tribunal found this in the affirmative (in favour of the assessee) after a perusal of the communication of the Corporation which demonstrated that a sum of Rs. 1,92,232 was paid to the assessee by way of transportation charges for the period from February, 1980, to March, 1981. Details were also given by the Corporation in their communication. It is based on these materials that the Appellate Tribunal held that though the payment was received during this year, the amount had already been accounted for in the earlier years. The amount was reckoned for the earlier years and so the amount received in this year in the sum of Rs. 1,92,232 cannot be added as the income for this year. The conclusion reached by the Appellate Tribunal is solely based on appreciation of facts and the finding entered by the Appellate Tribunal is a pure finding of fact based on material. We are of the view that no question of law arose out of the appellate order.
7. We hold that the Appellate Tribunal was justified in deleting the sum of Rs. 1,92,232 received by the assessee during the year of account relevant to the assessment year 1983-84, in view of the finding that this amount had already been accounted for in the bills for the earlier years. There is nothing to show that the bill amount had not been fully reflected in the assessee’s accounts for the earlier years. The question referred to this court is answered in the affirmative–against the Revenue and in favour of the assessee.
8. The reference is answered as above.
9. A copy of this judgment, under the seal of this court and the signature of the Registrar, shall be forwarded to the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Cochin Bench.