Lease rent deduction dispute remanded where statutory versus contractual liability needed fresh factual and legal examination.

The dispute over whether lease rent was a statutory or contractual liability, and the correct year for claiming the deduction under the Income-tax Act, required unresolved factual and legal examination. The statutory-liability argument was raised for the first time before SC, and the assessee had not been given an opportunity to answer it with relevant documents. Because the existing record was insufficient for a final merits determination, the matter was remanded to the Tribunal for fresh adjudication after considering the parties' documents and contentions.

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Issues: Whether the dispute concerning the nature of lease rent liability and the year in which deduction could be claimed should be decided on the existing record or remanded for fresh adjudication.

Analysis: The question whether the fixation, payment and recovery of lease rent were statutory or contractual, and the consequential year of deduction under the Income-tax Act, involved factual and legal determinations that had not been examined by the authorities below. The Revenue raised the statutory-liability argument for the first time before the Court, and the assessee had not been afforded an opportunity to meet it with reference to relevant documents. In these circumstances, the record was insufficient for a final decision on merits.

Conclusion: The matter was remanded to the Tribunal for fresh decision on merits after considering the parties' documents and contentions.

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