Standard deduction for multiple employers barred under amended income tax law; only one deduction can be claimed for salary income.

Under section 16 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, as retrospectively amended from 1 April 1975, standard deduction could not be claimed separately for each salary source merely because an employee received salary from more than one employer in the same year. The binding statutory interpretation required a single deduction in respect of salary income, so the Tribunal erred in allowing multiple deductions. The question was answered against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

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Issues: Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, standard deduction was allowable separately in respect of each source of salary received from different employers.

Analysis: The question stood covered by the binding interpretation of section 16 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, as retrospectively amended with effect from 1 April 1975. In view of that amendment, separate deductions could not be claimed merely because salary was received from more than one employer during the relevant year.

Conclusion: The Tribunal was not justified in allowing separate standard deductions for each source of salary, and the question was answered in the negative, against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

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