The Appellate Tribunal held that income earned from investments...

The Appellate Tribunal held that income earned from investments in cooperative banks, which are not cooperative societies, is not eligible for deduction u/s 80P(2)(d) of the Act. The argument that cooperative banks are also cooperative societies was deemed baseless. The Tribunal directed the Assessing Officer to examine if investments with cooperative banks were made due to statutory compulsions and, if so, to consider granting deduction u/s 80P(2)(a)(i) of the Act. If not eligible under 80P(2)(a)(i), the AO should assess eligibility u/s 80P(2)(d) in light of a recent Supreme Court judgment. If neither section applies, the AO should consider a deduction u/s 57 for the cost of funds. The Tribunal relied on the Karnataka High Court judgment for granting deduction for the cost of funds and ordered consideration of the assessee's claim in ground 4.1.

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