Court affirms individual bottles as depreciable plants under Income-tax Act

The High Court of Delhi upheld the Tribunal's decision that each bottle given on lease constituted a plant for depreciation purposes under section 260A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for the assessment year 1987-88. The court rejected the Revenue's argument that only bulk purchases should be considered as plants, ruling that even individual bottles could qualify as plants for depreciation. The appeal challenging the rate of depreciation on the bottles was dismissed as no substantial question of law arose from the Tribunal's order.

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Issues involved: Challenge to the rate of depreciation on bottles given on lease under section 260A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for the assessment year 1987-88.

Summary:
The High Court of Delhi heard an appeal challenging the rate of depreciation on bottles given on lease to another concern for the assessment year 1987-88. The assessee claimed depreciation at 100%, but the Assessing Officer allowed only 15% depreciation. The dispute centered around whether each bottle constituted a plant for depreciation purposes. The Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) and the Assessing Officer held that only bulk purchases of bottles constituted a plant, not individual bottles. However, the Tribunal reversed this decision, stating that each bottle could be considered a plant for depreciation. The Revenue argued that in the case of a leasing company, only bulk purchases should be considered as plants, not individual bottles. On the other hand, the assessee's counsel cited precedents to support the view that each bottle could be treated as a plant. The court referred to previous judgments and the definition of "plant" to determine that even a single bottle could qualify as a plant for depreciation purposes. The Tribunal's decision was upheld, and the appeal was dismissed as no substantial question of law arose from the Tribunal's order.

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