Net interest, not gross receipts, is excluded under surtax rules for Government securities and Indian concern interest.

Rule 1(x) of the First Schedule to the Companies (Profits) Surtax Act was construed to cover interest on Central Government securities and interest from Indian concerns only to the extent that such amounts formed part of total income under the Income-tax Act. Interest on Government securities was held to fall within income by way of interest from Government. However, exclusion under rule 1(x) applied only to net interest after permissible deductions and proportionate expenses, not to gross receipts. The later Explanation to Rule 1 was treated as clarificatory. The claim to deduct gross interest was rejected, and only net interest could be excluded.

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Issues: (i) Whether interest on Central Government securities constituted income by way of interest from Government within rule 1(x) of the First Schedule to the Companies (Profits) Surtax Act, 1964; (ii) whether, for exclusion under rule 1(x), the entire gross amount of interest on such securities was deductible or only the net amount after proportionate expenses; (iii) whether, for the same purpose, the entire gross interest received from Indian concerns was deductible or only the net amount after proportionate expenses.

Issue (i): Whether interest on Central Government securities constituted income by way of interest from Government within rule 1(x) of the First Schedule to the Companies (Profits) Surtax Act, 1964.

Analysis: The question was treated as concluded by an earlier decision in the assessee's own case, which had held that rule 1(x) was wide enough to include interest from taxable Government securities. The provision was read as covering such interest for surtax purposes.

Conclusion: The answer was in the affirmative and in favour of the assessee.

Issue (ii): Whether, for exclusion under rule 1(x), the entire gross amount of interest on such securities was deductible or only the net amount after proportionate expenses.

Analysis: Rule 1(x) was construed in the setting of the surtax scheme, under which chargeable profits are computed from total income as determined under the Income-tax Act and then adjusted under the First Schedule. The exclusion under rule 1(x) was held to apply only to that part of the interest which actually formed part of the total income, meaning the net income after permissible deductions. Earlier authorities on gross dividend or gross interest were held not to control the interpretation of this rule because the later Supreme Court approach required each provision to be read on its own language and context. The subsequent Explanation to Rule 1 was treated as clarificatory and not as creating a new rule.

Conclusion: The entire gross amount was not deductible. Only the net interest was to be excluded, so the answer was against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

Issue (iii): Whether, for the same purpose, the entire gross interest received from Indian concerns was deductible or only the net amount after proportionate expenses.

Analysis: For the same reasons, the expression "income by way of any interest ... received from Government ... or any Indian concern" was held to refer to interest as included in total income under the Income-tax Act, not to gross receipts standing apart from statutory deductions. The provision was construed as excluding only the net interest that had entered the total income computation.

Conclusion: The entire gross amount was not deductible. Only the net interest was to be excluded, so the answer was against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

Final Conclusion: The reference was disposed of by allowing the assessee's claim only on the first question and rejecting the claims to exclude gross interest on the remaining questions; rule 1(x) operates on net income included in total income, not on gross receipts.

Ratio Decidendi: For exclusion under rule 1(x) of the First Schedule to the Companies (Profits) Surtax Act, 1964, the relevant interest is the net interest actually forming part of the total income computed under the Income-tax Act, and not the gross receipt before permissible deductions.

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