Motor car depreciation includes a jeep under the agricultural income-tax rules, following binding High Court interpretation.

The Kerala High Court interpretation of entry III-B(i) of rule 9 of the Agricultural Income-tax Rules, 1951 treated the expression "motor cars" as including a jeep for depreciation purposes under the Kerala Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950. The court applied its earlier binding construction of the same statutory entry, holding that the same meaning governed subsequent assessment years because the statutory setting was unchanged. On that basis, the jeep qualified for depreciation at the rate applicable to motor cars, and the reference was answered in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue.

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Issues: Whether the expression "motor cars" in entry III-B(i) of rule 9 of the Agricultural Income-tax Rules, 1951 includes a jeep for the purpose of depreciation allowance under the Kerala Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950.

Analysis: The issue was governed by an earlier binding decision of the same High Court which had already held that the expression "motor car" in the relevant entry under rule 9 takes within its scope a jeep for purposes of deduction under section 5 of the Kerala Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950. As the statutory setting and the relevant entry were the same, that interpretation was applied to the present assessment years as well.

Conclusion: The expression "motor cars" in entry III-B(i) includes a jeep, and the assessee is entitled to depreciation at the rate applicable to motor cars.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue on the depreciation classification of the jeep.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a relevant taxing entry has already been judicially construed to include a jeep within the expression "motor car", that construction governs subsequent cases involving the same statutory provision and confers the corresponding depreciation benefit.

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