{"id":1154,"date":"1999-09-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1999-09-20T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/general-insurance-corporation-of-vs-commissioner-of-income-tax-on-21-september-1999"},"modified":"2017-07-23T16:39:54","modified_gmt":"2017-07-23T11:09:54","slug":"general-insurance-corporation-of-vs-commissioner-of-income-tax-on-21-september-1999","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/general-insurance-corporation-of-vs-commissioner-of-income-tax-on-21-september-1999","title":{"rendered":"General Insurance Corporation Of &#8230; vs Commissioner Of Income-Tax, &#8230; on 21 September, 1999"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Supreme Court of India<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">General Insurance Corporation Of &#8230; vs Commissioner Of Income-Tax, &#8230; on 21 September, 1999<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_author\">Author: R.C. Lahoti<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_bench\">Bench: S.Rajendra R.C.Lahoti<\/div>\n<pre>           PETITIONER:\nGENERAL INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA .\n\n\tVs.\n\nRESPONDENT:\nCOMMISSIONER OF INCOME-TAX, BOMBAY\n\nDATE OF JUDGMENT:\t21\/09\/1999\n\nBENCH:\nS.Rajendra R.C.Lahoti\n\n\n\n\nJUDGMENT:\n<\/pre>\n<p>      R.C.  LAHOTI, J<\/p>\n<p>      General  Insurance Corporation of India, the appellant\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; assessee is 100 % Central Government Undertaking formed as<br \/>\na  Government Company under The General Insurance Business (<br \/>\nNationalisation)  Act,\t1972  ( hereinafter G I B  Act,\t for<br \/>\nshort ).  It carries on general insurance business in India.<br \/>\nAt  the\t time of nationalisation, there were  107  companies<br \/>\ncarrying  on  the business of general insurance.  They\twere<br \/>\nall  merged together into four subsidiaries of the appellant<br \/>\nCorporation viz.  National Insurance Co.  Limited, New India<br \/>\nAssurance Co.  Limited, Oriental Insurance Co.\tLimited, and<br \/>\nUnited India Insurance Co.  Limited.  The Central Government<br \/>\ncontributed  to the capital of the appellant in the form  of<br \/>\npreference  shares  and\t equity shares for  the\t purpose  of<br \/>\npaying\tcompensation to the shareholders and the  management<br \/>\nof  the merged companies.  The preference shares were to  be<br \/>\nredeemed  in  such  time as the Board of  Directors  of\t the<br \/>\nappellant Corporation may deem fit.  The controversy relates<br \/>\nto  the\t assessment  year   1977-78,  corresponding  to\t the<br \/>\naccounting  year ending 31.12.1976.  It is not disputed that<br \/>\nthe income of the appellant assessee is to be computed under<br \/>\nRule 5 of First Schedule to the Income-tax Act, 1961.\n<\/p>\n<p>      The Income-tax Act, 1961 makes a special provision for<br \/>\ncomputing  the\ttaxable\t income of an  assessee\t engaged  in<br \/>\nbusiness of insurance.\tIt provides as under:-\n<\/p>\n<p>      Insurance business<\/p>\n<p>      44.    &#8220;Notwithstanding  anything\t to   the   contrary<br \/>\ncontained  in  the  provisions of this Act relating  to\t the<br \/>\ncomputation  of income chargeable under the head &#8221;  Interest<br \/>\non  securities,&#8221;  &#8221;  Income from house\tproperty&#8221;,  &#8220;Capital<br \/>\ngains&#8221;\tor &#8220;Income from other sources&#8221;, or in section 199 or<br \/>\nin  sections  28  to  [43 A] the profits and  gains  of\t any<br \/>\nbusiness  of insurance, including any such business  carried<br \/>\non  by\ta  mutual  insurance company or\t by  a\tco-operative<br \/>\nsociety,  shall\t be  computed in accordance with  the  rules<br \/>\ncontained in the First Schedule.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>      Inasmuch\tas  the\t appellant  &#8211;  assessee\t carries  on<br \/>\nbusiness  of  insurance\t other than life insurance,  we\t are<br \/>\nconcerned  with Rule 5 of the First Schedule which reads  as<br \/>\nunder:\n<\/p>\n<p>      B- Other insurance business<\/p>\n<p>      Computation  of  profits and gains of other  insurance<br \/>\nbusiness.\n<\/p>\n<p>      5.  The profits and gains of any business of insurance<br \/>\nother  than life insurance shall be taken to be the  balance<br \/>\nof  the profits disclosed by the annual accounts, copies  of<br \/>\nwhich  are  required  under the Insurance Act, 1938 (  4  of<br \/>\n1938),\tto  be\tfurnished to the  Controller  of  Insurance,<br \/>\nsubject to the following adjustments:-\n<\/p>\n<p>      (a)  subject to the other provisions of this rule, any<br \/>\nexpenditure  or allowance which is not admissible under\t the<br \/>\nprovisions of sections 30 to [43 A] in computing the profits<br \/>\nand gains of a business shall be added back;\n<\/p>\n<p>      (b) xxx xxx xxx<\/p>\n<p>      (c)  such\t amount\t carried  over\t to  a\treserve\t for<br \/>\nunexpired risks as may be prescribed in this behalf shall be<br \/>\nallowed as a deduction.\n<\/p>\n<p>      [\t Note:- Sec.  44 and Rule 5 (a) of First Schedule as<br \/>\nreproduced  hereinabove\t are as they stood at  the  relevant<br \/>\ntime.  Later by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act 1987 `43<br \/>\nB&#8217;  has\t been  substituted in place of `43 A&#8217;  in  both\t the<br \/>\nprovisions]<\/p>\n<p>      The  problem  is\tcreated\t by Rule 2 (2)\t(a)  of\t the<br \/>\nGeneral\t Insurance  Business  (Nationalisation)\t Rules\t1973<br \/>\n(hereinafter  G I B Rules, for short) framed by the  Central<br \/>\nGovernment in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 39<br \/>\nof the G I B Act, the relevant part whereof reads as under:-\n<\/p>\n<p>      &#8220;39.  (1) The Central Government may, by Notification,<br \/>\nmake rules to carry out the provisions of this Act.\n<\/p>\n<p>      (2)  In  particular,  and\t without  prejudice  to\t the<br \/>\ngenerality  of\tthe foregoing power, rules made\t under\tthis<br \/>\nSection may provide for :-\n<\/p>\n<p>      (a) the manner in which the profits, if any, and other<br \/>\nmoneys received by the Corporation may be dealt with.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>      xxx xxx xxx xxx<\/p>\n<p>      Rule 2 (2) (a) referred to hereinabove reads as under:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>      &#8220;2.   Profits  and  receipts of  the  Corporation\t and<br \/>\nacquiring companies how to be dealt with &#8212;\n<\/p>\n<p>      &#8230;..  &#8230;..  &#8230;.\n<\/p>\n<p>      (2)  (a)\tIn  arriving  at   the\tnet  profit  of\t the<br \/>\nCorporation,   the  amount  set\t  apart\t for  redemption  of<br \/>\npreference  shares to such extent as the Board of  Directors<br \/>\nof  the Corporation may consider expedient shall be  treated<br \/>\nas an item of expenditure in the Profit and Loss Account.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>      In Profit and Loss Account, the appellant assessee had<br \/>\nmade  a\t debit entry for an amount of  Rs.3,00,30,700\/-\t and<br \/>\ntransferred   the  amount  to\tpreference   share   capital<br \/>\nredemption  account.  The Income-tax Officer added back\t the<br \/>\namount\tto the income of the assessee on the reasoning\tthat<br \/>\nthis amount was to be treated as revenue expenditure in view<br \/>\nof  Rule 2 (2) (a) of G I B Rules.  The assessee appealed to<br \/>\nthe Appellate Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)<br \/>\nwho agreed with the assessee and deleted the addition in the<br \/>\nincome\tfollowing his own order on a similar claim made\t for<br \/>\nthe assessment year 1976-77.  The department appealed to the<br \/>\nIncome\tTax  Appellate Tribunal.  The Tribunal followed\t its<br \/>\nown  order dated 26.9.1978 in respect of this very  assessee<br \/>\nfor the assessment year 1974-75 and dismissed the appeal.  A<br \/>\nperusal\t of  the order of the Tribunal ( Annexure P-3 )\t for<br \/>\nthe assessment year 1974-75 shows that in the opinion of the<br \/>\nTribunal  the  amount  set apart as a reserve could  not  be<br \/>\ntreated as expenditure or allowance and assuming it to be an<br \/>\namount\tof  expenditure, it was not an item  of\t expenditure<br \/>\ndealt  with  by the provisions of Sections 30 to 43A of\t the<br \/>\nIncome-tax  Act.  Accordingly, the claim of the assessee was<br \/>\nliable to be upheld.\n<\/p>\n<p>      On  a  request  made  by the  Revenue,  the  following<br \/>\nquestion was referred by the Tribunal for the opinion of the<br \/>\nHigh Court under Section 256 (1) of the Income-tax Act:-\n<\/p>\n<p>      &#8220;Whether\ton the facts and in the circumstances of the<br \/>\ncase  the Tribunal was justified in law in holding that\t the<br \/>\nsum  of\t Rs.3,00,30,700\/- being provision for redemption  of<br \/>\npreference  shares  was not liable to be added back  in\t the<br \/>\ntotal  income of the assessee for the assessment year  1977-<br \/>\n78&#8221;.   The  High  Court\t has answered the  question  in\t the<br \/>\nnegative,  that is, in favour of the Revenue.  In doing\t so,<br \/>\nthe  High  Court  has  purported to treat  the\tquestion  as<br \/>\ncovered\t by  two decisions of the Supreme Court in  Anarkali<br \/>\nSarabhai vs.  C.I.T (1997) 224 ITR 422, Associated Power Co.<br \/>\nLtd.   vs.   C.I.T.  ( 1996) 218 ITR 195, and a decision  of<br \/>\nthe  Bombay  High  Court  in  Colaba  Central\tCo-operative<br \/>\nConsumers&#8217;  Wholesale  and Retail Stores Ltd.\tvs.   C.I.T.<br \/>\n(1998) 229 ITR 209 Bom.\n<\/p>\n<p>      The  aggrieved  assessee\thas  filed  this  appeal  by<br \/>\nspecial\t leave granted under Article 136 of the Constitution<br \/>\nof India.\n<\/p>\n<p>      We  have heard Shri T.R.\tAndhyarujina, learned senior<br \/>\nadvocate   for\tthe  assessee  &#8211;  appellant  and  Shri\tT.L.<br \/>\nViswanatha  Iyer,  learned senior advocate for the  Revenue.<br \/>\nHaving\theard the learned counsel for the parties, we are of<br \/>\nthe opinion that the appeal deserves to be allowed.\n<\/p>\n<p>      Section  44  of  the  Income-tax\t Act  is  a  special<br \/>\nprovision  governing  computation of taxable  income  earned<br \/>\nfrom  business\tof insurance.  It opens with a\tnon-obstante<br \/>\nclause\tand  thus  has\tan   overriding\t effect\t over  other<br \/>\nprovisions  contained in the Act.  It mandates the assessing<br \/>\nauthorities  to\t compute the taxable income for business  of<br \/>\ninsurance  in  accordance with the provisions of  the  First<br \/>\nSchedule.   A  plain  reading  of Rule\t5(a)  of  the  First<br \/>\nSchedule  makes\t it  clear  that in  order  to\tattract\t the<br \/>\napplicability  of  the\tsaid  provision\t the  amount  should<br \/>\nfirstly be an expenditure or allowance.\t Secondly, it should<br \/>\nbe one not admissible under the provisions of Sections 30 to<br \/>\n43A.   If the amount is not an expenditure or allowance, the<br \/>\nquestion  of  testing  its  eligibility\t for  adjustment  by<br \/>\nreference  to  Rule  5 (a) to the First Schedule  would\t not<br \/>\narise at all.  A perusal of the order dated 26.9.1978 passed<br \/>\nin  ITA No.2699\/1977-78 by the ITAT in the case of this very<br \/>\nassessee  and  relied on and followed by the Tribunal  while<br \/>\ndisposing  of the appeal for the assessment year in question<br \/>\n(AY  1977-78)  shows three submissions having been  made  on<br \/>\nbehalf\tof the assessee before the Tribunal:  firstly,\tthat<br \/>\nthe  amount  set  apart by the assessee\t for  redemption  of<br \/>\npreference  shares was only a reserve or a provision and not<br \/>\nan  expenditure and therefore its allowability for deduction<br \/>\ncannot\tbe  considered under Sections 30 to 43A;   secondly,<br \/>\nassuming  it was an expenditure, this expenditure was not of<br \/>\nthe  category of expenditure contemplated in Sections 30  to<br \/>\n43A  and  therefore unless there was a specific\t prohibition<br \/>\nfor  such  an allowance, the departmental authorities  would<br \/>\nnot  be\t justified  in\tadding back the\t amount\t under\tthat<br \/>\nclause;\t  and  thirdly,\t if  Rule  2(2)(a)  of\tthe  General<br \/>\nInsurance  Business (Nationalisation) Rules, 1973 be read as<br \/>\nproviding  that\t the amount so set apart for  redemption  of<br \/>\npreference  shares was an expenditure, the fiction should be<br \/>\ntaken  to  its\tlogical conclusion so as to  hold  that\t the<br \/>\nexpenditure  was allowable as deduction under Sections 30 to<br \/>\n43A  of\t the  Income-tax  Act.\t  The  Tribunal\t upheld\t the<br \/>\ncontention  that  the  provision made by  the  assessee\t was<br \/>\nneither\t an  expenditure  nor an allowance in  the  ordinary<br \/>\ncommercial sense and Rule 5 (a) of First Schedule would have<br \/>\nno application at all and further, as admittedly Sections 30<br \/>\nto  43A do not deal with an amount set apart for  redemption<br \/>\nof  preference shares so also the amount could not have been<br \/>\nadded back.\n<\/p>\n<p>      The  term\t `expenditure&#8217; came up for consideration  of<br \/>\nthis  Court  in\t Indian\t Molasses Company  Pvt.\t  Ltd.\t Vs.<br \/>\nCommissioner of Income-tax 1959 (37) ITR 66.  It was held :-\n<\/p>\n<p>      &#8220;&#8221;Spending&#8221;  in  the sense of &#8220;paying out or away&#8221;  of<br \/>\nmoney\tis   the    primary    meaning\t of   &#8220;expenditure&#8221;.<br \/>\n&#8220;Expenditure&#8221;  is what is paid out or away and is  something<br \/>\nwhich\tis  gone  irretrievably.    Expenditure,  which\t  is<br \/>\ndeductible for income- tax purposes, is one which is towards<br \/>\na  liability actually existing at the time, but the  putting<br \/>\naside of money which may become expenditure on the happening<br \/>\nof an event is not expenditure.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>      In  Pandyan Insurance Co.Ltd.  Vs.  CIT Madras  (1965)<br \/>\n55 ITR 716 also this Court has held that &#8220;expenditure&#8221; meant<br \/>\n&#8220;disbursement&#8221; and hence did not include depreciation.\n<\/p>\n<p>      It is therefore clear that the sum of Rs.3,00,30,700\/-<br \/>\nset  apart as provision for redemption of preference  shares<br \/>\ncould  not have been treated as an expenditure.\t It is\talso<br \/>\nnot  an\t expenditure or allowance of the nature\t covered  by<br \/>\nSections  30  to  43A  of the  Income-tax  Act,\t 1961.\t The<br \/>\nquestion  of  determining its admissibility by reference  to<br \/>\nRule  5\t (a) of First Schedule to the Income-tax  Act,\t1961<br \/>\ndoes  not  arise  nor could it have been added back  by\t the<br \/>\nassessing  authority  by purporting to exercise power  under<br \/>\nthe  said  Rule.   Rule 2 (2) (a) of GIB  Rules\t undoubtedly<br \/>\nspeaks\tof the amount set apart for redemption of preference<br \/>\nshares being treated as an item of expenditure in the profit<br \/>\nand  loss  account.  However, the purpose and extent of\t the<br \/>\nprovision  has\tto be kept in view.  These rules  have\tbeen<br \/>\nframed\tin exercise of the power conferred by clause (a)  of<br \/>\nsub-section  (2) of Section 39 of the G I B Act.  The object<br \/>\nof  these rules is entirely different.\tThese rules lay down<br \/>\nthe  manner  in which the profits, if any, and other  monies<br \/>\nreceived  by the General Insurance Corporation may be  dealt<br \/>\nwith.\tThe  concept behind Rule 2 (2) (a) is to permit\t the<br \/>\nCorporation to enter the amount of reserve in the profit and<br \/>\nloss  account  in the expenditure side which would not\thave<br \/>\nbeen permissible otherwise because the amount set apart in a<br \/>\nreserve\t cannot\t be expenditure.  The rule puts a  stamp  of<br \/>\npermissibility on something not permissible otherwise.\tThis<br \/>\nrule  itself  is suggestive of the fact that the amount\t set<br \/>\napart  in a reserve is not an expenditure in its  commercial<br \/>\nsense.\t The  extent  of the GIB Rules does  not  go  beyond<br \/>\nproviding  an  accounting  method.  These  Rules  cannot  be<br \/>\npressed into service for altering the basic character of the<br \/>\namount\twhich is not an expenditure.  Merely because Rule  2<br \/>\n(2)  (a)  of  GIB  Rules permits the amount  set  apart\t for<br \/>\nredemption  of preference shares being debited to the profit<br \/>\nand  loss  account, the amount so set apart does not  become<br \/>\nthe  amount of an expenditure for all intent and purposes so<br \/>\nas  to fall within the meaning of the term `expenditure&#8217;  as<br \/>\nemployed  in  Rule 5(a) of First Schedule to the  Income-tax<br \/>\nAct, 1961.\n<\/p>\n<p>      If  the view taken by the High Court is accepted there<br \/>\nwould  be a conflict between the provisions of Rule  2(2)(a)<br \/>\nof  GIB Rules and Rule 5(a) of First Schedule to  Income-tax<br \/>\nAct.   The object of Rule 2(2)(a) is to reduce the amount of<br \/>\nprofit\tof Corporation by the amount set apart as reserve by<br \/>\nartificially  treating\tthe amount of reserve as an item  in<br \/>\nexpenditure  column.   If the same amount was allowed to  be<br \/>\nadded  back to profits under Rule 5(a) of First Schedule  to<br \/>\nIncome-tax Act then the object sought to be achieved by Rule<br \/>\n2(2)(a) abovesaid is defeated.\tThe non-obstante clause with<br \/>\nwhich  Section\t44 of Income-tax Act opens and gives  it  an<br \/>\nover-riding  effect only on the provisions of Income-tax Act<br \/>\nwould earn an overriding effect on the provisions of another<br \/>\nenactment  also though the Parliament has not chosen to give<br \/>\nSection\t 44 of the Income-tax Act such an effect.  It is  to<br \/>\nbe  noted  that Section 44 does not say\t &#8211;  `notwithstanding<br \/>\nanything to the contrary contained in the provisions of this<br \/>\nAct or any other law for the time being in force&#8217;.\n<\/p>\n<p>      Nor  does\t the  Rule  2(2)(a) of\tGIB  Rules  have  an<br \/>\noverriding  effect on the provisions of Income-tax Act.\t The<br \/>\ntwo  provisions\t contained  in\t two  enactments  have\tthus<br \/>\ndifferent   purposes  to  achieve.    Rule   of\t  harmonious<br \/>\nconstruction  would  therefore\tsustain\t  neither  what\t the<br \/>\nIncome-tax  officer did nor the view of the law taken by the<br \/>\nHigh Court.\n<\/p>\n<p>      There  is another approach to the same issue.  Section<br \/>\n44  of\tthe Income-tax Act read with the Rules contained  in<br \/>\nthe  First Schedule to the Act lays down an artificial\tmode<br \/>\nof  computing  the profits and gains of insurance  business.<br \/>\nFor  the purpose of income-tax, the figures in the  accounts<br \/>\nof  the assessee drawn up in accordance with the  provisions<br \/>\nof  the First Schedule to the Income-tax Act and  satisfying<br \/>\nthe  requirements  of  Insurance  Act  are  binding  on\t the<br \/>\nassessing  officer  under the Income-tax Act and he  has  no<br \/>\ngeneral\t power\tto correct the errors in the accounts of  an<br \/>\ninsurance business and undo the entries made therein.\n<\/p>\n<p>      In  the  Life Insurance of India Vs.  CIT &#8211; 1964\t(51)<br \/>\nITR  773  SC  their  Lordships were dealing  with  the\tpari<br \/>\nmateria\t provisions  contained in the Income-tax Act,  1922.<br \/>\nThe  Court  analysed  the  scheme  underlying  the  relevant<br \/>\nprovisions  of\tthe Insurance Act, 1938 and  the  Income-tax<br \/>\nAct,  1922 and held that where the accounts of an  insurance<br \/>\ncompany\t engaged  in insurance business are required  to  be<br \/>\nsubmitted  and approved by the Controller of Insurance,\t the<br \/>\nIncome-tax Officer has no power to change the figures in the<br \/>\naccounts  of the assessee.  A.K.  Sarkar,J.  recorded in his<br \/>\nopinion :\n<\/p>\n<p>      &#8220;The  assessment\tof  the\t  profits  of  an  insurance<br \/>\nbusiness is completely governed by the rules in the Schedule<br \/>\nand  there  is no power to do anything not contained in\t it.<br \/>\nThe reason may be that the accounts of an insurance business<br \/>\nare  fully  controlled by the Controller of Insurance  under<br \/>\nthe  provisions\t of the Insurance Act.\tThey are checked  by<br \/>\nhim.   He  has power to see that various provisions  of\t the<br \/>\nInsurance  Act\tare complied with by an insurer so that\t the<br \/>\npersons\t who have insured with it are not made to suffer  by<br \/>\nmismanagement.\t A tampering with the accounts of an insurer<br \/>\nby an Income-tax Officer may seriously affect the working of<br \/>\ninsurance  companies.  But apart from this consideration, we<br \/>\nfeel  no  doubt that the language of section 10(7)  and\t the<br \/>\nSchedule  to  the Income-tax Act makes it perfectly  certain<br \/>\nthat  the  Income-tax Officer could not make the  adjustment<br \/>\nthat he did in these cases.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>      M.Hidayatullah,J.\t (as His Lordship then was) observed<br \/>\n:\n<\/p>\n<p>      &#8220;the  Income-tax Act contemplates that the  assessment<br \/>\nof  insurance companies should be carried out not  according<br \/>\nto  the ordinary principles applicable to business  concerns<br \/>\nas  laid  down\tin  section 10, but  in\t quite\ta  different<br \/>\nmanner.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>      The  view so taken has been followed by this Court  in<br \/>\nPandyan\t Insurance Company Ltd.\t Vs.  CIT, Madras 1965\t(55)<br \/>\nITR  716 SC and CIT, West Bengal Vs.  Calcutta Hospital\t and<br \/>\nNursing\t Home Benefits Association Ltd.\t &#8211; 1965 (57) ITR 313<br \/>\nSC.  In the later case, their Lordships have also observed :<br \/>\n&#8220;the  balance  of  profits  as\tdisclosed  by  the  accounts<br \/>\nsubmitted to the Superintendent of Insurance and accepted by<br \/>\nhim  would be binding on the Income-tax Officer, except that<br \/>\nthe   Income-tax  Officer  would  be  entitled\tto   exclude<br \/>\nexpenditure  other  than expenditure permissible  under\t the<br \/>\nprovisions of section 10 of the Act.  It is common ground in<br \/>\nthis  case that the reserves which were added to the balance<br \/>\nof profits were not expenditure.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>      The  cases  relied  on  by  the  High  Court  have  no<br \/>\napplicability to the facts of the case and the issue arising<br \/>\nfor  decision herein.  In Anarkali Sarabhai&#8217;s case (supra) ,<br \/>\nthe  question arising for decision was whether redemption by<br \/>\na  company  of\ta preference share amounts to  sale  of\t the<br \/>\nshares by the shareholder to the company so as to be taxable<br \/>\nfor  capital  gains  as\t amounting to  transfer\t within\t the<br \/>\nmeaning\t of  Section  2 (47) of the  Income-tax\t Act,  1961.<br \/>\nTheir Lordships held that such redemption amounted to a sale<br \/>\nand  hence  was covered by the definition of  transfer.\t  In<br \/>\nAssociated  Power Co.  Ltd&#8217;s case (Supra) monies standing to<br \/>\nthe  credit  of\t the contingencies reserve set apart  to  be<br \/>\nutilised  by  the  electricity company to meet\texpenses  or<br \/>\nrecoup loss of profits arising out of accidents, strikes, or<br \/>\nother\tcircumstances  etc.   were   claimed   as   business<br \/>\nexpenditure  entitled  to deduction.  It was also  submitted<br \/>\nthat  the amount so set apart in the reserve had resulted in<br \/>\ndiversion of income by reason of an overriding title.  Their<br \/>\nLordships  held that the amount had reached the hands of the<br \/>\ncompany\t and inspite of having been set apart by creating  a<br \/>\nreserve\t was still available with the company and  therefore<br \/>\ncould neither be treated as an expenditure nor excluded from<br \/>\ncomputing  the income of the assessee by application of\t the<br \/>\ndoctrine  of diversion of income by reason of an  overriding<br \/>\ntitle  or  obligation.\t In  Colaba  Central  Co-  operative<br \/>\nConsumers&#8217;  Wholesale and Retail Stores Ltd.&#8217;s case  (Supra)<br \/>\ndecided\t by  a Division Bench of Bombay High Court also\t the<br \/>\namount\tin question was set apart by the society as  capital<br \/>\ncontribution  redemption  fund.\t  The\tHigh  Court   having<br \/>\nexamined the nature of the amount and the accounts held that<br \/>\nthe amount so set apart was neither business expenditure nor<br \/>\nliable to be excluded from computation of income by applying<br \/>\nthe doctrine of diversion of income by overriding title.  In<br \/>\nour  opinion, none of the cases has any applicability to the<br \/>\ncase  at hand.\tIn none of the three cases, the question  of<br \/>\ndetermining  applicability  of\tSection\t 44  and  the  First<br \/>\nSchedule of the Income-tax Act arose for consideration.\n<\/p>\n<p>      To  sum up, the amount set apart by general  insurance<br \/>\ncorporation  for redemption of preference shares and treated<br \/>\nas expenditure under Rule<\/p>\n<p>      2(2)(a)\t  of\t General      Insurance\t    Business<br \/>\n(Nationalisation)  Rules, 1973 is so treated for the purpose<br \/>\nof  Insurance Act, 1938.  The reserve is not an\t expenditure<br \/>\nin  ordinary  commercial  sense of the term.  It  cannot  be<br \/>\nadded  back  for computing profits and gains of business  by<br \/>\nincluding  it  in  `expenditure\t not  admissible  under\t the<br \/>\nprovisions  of\tSections  30 to 43A of\tIncome-tax  Act&#8217;  by<br \/>\nreference  to Rule 5(a) of the First Schedule to  Income-tax<br \/>\nAct,  1961.  The question referred to the High Court  should<br \/>\nhave been answered in affirmative.\n<\/p>\n<p>      The appeal is allowed.  The judgment of the High Court<br \/>\nis set aside and in supersession thereof it is directed that<br \/>\nthe  question  referred\t by the Tribunal to the\t High  Court<br \/>\nshall  stand answered in the affirmative, i.e., in favour of<br \/>\nthe assessee and against the Revenue.  No order as to costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court of India General Insurance Corporation Of &#8230; vs Commissioner Of Income-Tax, &#8230; on 21 September, 1999 Author: R.C. Lahoti Bench: S.Rajendra R.C.Lahoti PETITIONER: GENERAL INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA . Vs. RESPONDENT: COMMISSIONER OF INCOME-TAX, BOMBAY DATE OF JUDGMENT: 21\/09\/1999 BENCH: S.Rajendra R.C.Lahoti JUDGMENT: R.C. LAHOTI, J General Insurance Corporation of India, the appellant [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supreme-court-of-india"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>General Insurance Corporation Of ... vs Commissioner Of Income-Tax, ... on 21 September, 1999 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/general-insurance-corporation-of-vs-commissioner-of-income-tax-on-21-september-1999\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"General Insurance Corporation Of ... vs Commissioner Of Income-Tax, ... on 21 September, 1999 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; 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