Appeals dismissed as not pressed; properties treated as commercial establishments excluded from "assets" under Section 2(ea) Wealth Tax Act

SC dismissed the appeals as not pressed, upholding the HC and ITAT conclusion that the assessee's properties at Connaught Circus and Sardar Mohan Singh Building are "commercial establishments or complexes" and thus excluded from "assets" under Section 2(ea) of the Wealth Tax Act, 1957. The Court rejected Revenue's contention that the phrase must be read only in the plural, finding no legislative intent to restrict the exemption to particular types of commercial establishments or complexes. Pending applications disposed.

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These appeals were instituted by the Revenue and were not pressed "on the ground of low tax effect." The court noted that the appellants did not pursue the matters substantively and accordingly held that "The appeals are dismissed as not pressed." All pending applications connected to the appeals were similarly disposed of. The decision is purely procedural: dismissal for want of prosecution/pressing by the appellant (Revenue), with no adjudication on the merits of the underlying tax issues. No party appeared for the respondent. The order records final procedural disposition and termination of the appeals without reaching substantive legal questions, leaving any merits issues open to renewal only if procedurally permissible under applicable rules.

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