Share sale profits treated as revenue income where trading pattern and books showed dealer status, not investment.

Profit from the sale of shares was assessable as revenue income where the assessee failed to show that the shares were separately treated as investment in its books or otherwise kept apart from trading stock. Repeated share transactions over successive years supported the conclusion that the assessee had moved beyond mere investment and was carrying on business as a dealer in shares. The character of particular share holdings as investment or stock-in-trade was primarily a question of fact for the Tribunal, and the High Court could not reappraise that factual finding on a new basis not raised before the fact-finding authorities.

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Issues: Whether the profit arising from the sale of shares was taxable as revenue profit in the course of the assessee's business as a dealer in shares.

Analysis: The assessee had not established that the shares sold were kept apart as investment or treated differently in its books from other shares held by it. The surrounding circumstances, including repeated share dealings over successive years, supported the view that the assessee had ceased to be merely an investor and had become a dealer in shares. The question whether particular holdings formed part of investment or stock-in-trade was essentially one of fact for the Tribunal, and the High Court was not justified in reappraising that factual issue on a new basis not raised before the fact-finding authorities.

Conclusion: The profit was assessable as revenue profit arising in the course of the assessee's business as a dealer in shares, and the answer had to be in favour of the Revenue.

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