Section 23A applicability and rebate eligibility under the Finance Act turned on factual justification, not class-wide exclusion.

A private limited company distributing dividends above the relevant threshold remained entitled to the rebate under item B of Part I of the First Schedule to the Finance Act, 1955. The phrase "cannot be made applicable" in relation to section 23A of the Income-tax Act was construed to mean cases where, on the facts and statutory conditions, an order under section 23A would not be justified, rather than excluding private companies as a class. The legislative history indicated that the amendment was intended to simplify rebate administration and avoid delay, not to deny the rebate to private companies generally.

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Issues: Whether a private limited company, which had distributed dividends exceeding 60% of its total income reduced by tax, was entitled to the rebate of one anna per rupee under item B of Part I of the First Schedule to the Finance Act, 1955, despite the possibility that section 23A of the Income-tax Act could be made applicable.

Analysis: The expression "cannot be made applicable" in item B of Part I of Schedule I to the Finance Act, 1955 was construed as referring to the factual and legal circumstances in which an order under section 23A(1) would not be justified, and not as referring only to companies that were absolutely the scope of section 23A in every event. The scheme of section 23A showed that applicability depended upon the Income-tax Officer's satisfaction on the statutory conditions and, if those conditions were met, a private company could still be subject to an order under section 23A. The legislative history of earlier Finance Acts supported the view that the 1955 amendment was intended to simplify the rebate mechanism and avoid delay, not to deprive private companies as a class of the rebate.

Conclusion: The company was entitled to the rebate claimed, and the objection based on section 23A failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a fiscal provision grants rebate to companies to which section 23A of the Income-tax Act "cannot be made applicable", the phrase refers to cases in which, on the facts and statutory conditions, an order under section 23A would not be warranted, and not to a permanent exclusion of an entire class of companies.

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