Meaning of plant in depreciation law excludes a water tank used merely as storage for stock-in-trade.

A water storage tank used in a water-supply business was examined for depreciation as "plant" under section 10(2)(vi) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 read with rule 8. The term "plant" was treated as an apparatus or instrument employed in carrying on business, especially in a manufacturing or industrial setting, and was not extended to a mere container for stock-in-trade. References to reservoirs in the salt-works schedule entries were confined to industrial apparatus and did not justify a wider reading. The tank was therefore not "plant", and depreciation was not allowable.

---

---

Issues: Whether a water storage tank used in the assessee's water-supply business qualified as "plant" for depreciation under section 10(2)(vi) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 read with rule 8 and the schedule thereto.

Analysis: The term "plant" was not exhaustively defined in the Act, so its ordinary and extended meanings were relevant. Even so, the word was held to connote apparatus or instruments employed in carrying on a business, especially in a manufacturing or industrial context. A water storage tank used merely as a container for the assessee's stock-in-trade did not fall within that concept. The reference to reservoirs in the salt-works entries in the schedule to rule 8 did not justify extending the term to every water reservoir used in any business, because those reservoirs formed part of industrial manufacturing apparatus. The authorities cited on the broader meaning of "plant" did not support treating the storage place of stock-in-trade as plant.

Conclusion: The water storage tank was not "plant" within section 10(2)(vi), and depreciation was not allowable.

---