Escorts Limited And Anr. Etc. Etc vs Union Of India And Ors on 22 October, 1992
In the context of the above legal provision and as evident from the ground of appeal itself, Revenue's reliance on the judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Escorts Ltd. v. Union of India appears to be misplaced. No doubt, the said judgment lays down that double deduction cannot be a matter of inference, it must be provided for in clear and express language having regard to its unusual nature and serious impact on the revenues of the State, but then the case before us does not deal with the double deduction at all. The basic issue here is whether the exemption under Section (15)(iv)(fa) is on net basis or on gross basis and Revenue's objection is that in case the exemption is to be allowed on gross basis, the same will be inequitable inasmuch as cost of funds for earning of the said interest income will also be allowable to the assessee, as deduction in computing the profits attributable to PE. Learned Departmental Representative has also relied upon the provisions of Section 14A in support of the contention that no deduction can be allowed in respect of the expenditure incurred by the assessee in relation to an income exempt from tax. Whichever way one looks at it, the basic objection of the Revenue is that effectively only net income i.e. eligible interest minus the expenditure incurred to earn the interest, can be allowed exemption from tax. This objection, however, proceeds on the assumption that there is a cost of the funds which have been invested to earn the interest exempt under Section (15)(iv)(fa) but, in the statement of facts, the assessee has made a categorical assertion that the assessee "has neither incurred any expenditure nor borrowed any amount which can be identified as towards earning of the aforesaid interest" and the CIT(A) has, on this basis, held that on these facts it was not open to the AO "to estimate the expenditure without any scientific basis". We have noted that this finding of the CIT(A) has not been challenged by the Revenue. Once the Revenue accepts this finding, as they have chosen to do in the case before us, the grievance raised before us is rendered purely academic. It does not merit any adjudication by us. In any event, no specific costs have been pointed out which are incurred by the assessee to earn the eligible interest. We, therefore, decline to entertain and adjudicate on this academic question i.e. whether the exemption under Section (15)(iv)(fa) is to be allowed on gross basis or on net basis. Revenue's grievance, therefore, must be rejected as devoid of substance and devoid of any legally sustainable merits on the facts of this case.