Liquidation does not change trading character when post-liquidation sales continue the company's ordinary commercial pattern.

Sale proceeds of casuarina trees and charcoal realised by a liquidator after commencement of liquidation were treated as trading receipts because the post-liquidation sales followed the same commercial pattern as the company's pre-liquidation business. There was no material to show a slump realisation or any change in the character of the sales merely because liquidation had begun. The receipts were therefore assessable to tax and not exempt as mere winding-up realisations. The court found it unnecessary to decide the wider question on the scope of agricultural income under section 2(a), as the facts themselves brought the receipts within taxable trading activity.

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Issues: Whether the sale proceeds of casuarina trees and charcoal realised by the liquidator after commencement of liquidation were assessable as agricultural income at the company rate under the Madras Act, V of 1955.

Analysis: The decisive question was whether the sales made after liquidation were mere realisation of assets or a continuation of the company's normal trading activity. The pattern of post-liquidation sales was found to be the same as the pre-liquidation sales, and there was no material to show that the goods were sold as a slump realisation or that the sales had a character different from the company's ordinary business. On those facts, the liquidator's dealings were treated as trading sales, not as mere winding-up realisations. The court found it unnecessary to decide the broader contention on the scope of agricultural income under section 2(a) because the facts themselves brought the receipts within taxable trading activity.

Conclusion: The sale proceeds were rightly assessed and were not exempt merely because they were realised during liquidation.

Final Conclusion: The revision failed, and the Tribunal's order was sustained, leaving the assessment undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a liquidator continues the same commercial pattern of sales as the company's pre-liquidation business, the receipts are trading receipts rather than mere realisation proceeds, and liquidation by itself does not alter their taxable character.

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