TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2004 (12) TMI 682
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....ommissioner granting exemption to the payments received in lieu of leave encashment to the assessee while in service? 2.Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, learned Tribunal was justified in law in not giving effect in the cases under consideration to the amendment to section 10(10AA) by Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 1984 (Part 1) which has been amended retrospectively w.e.f. the assessment year 1978-79." The assessment year 1983-84 is involved in the present reference. The brief facts of the case are as follows:- 2. The assessee respondent, an employee of District Co-operative Bank Limited, Bijnore for the accounting period ended on 31st March, 1983 relevant to the assessment year 1983-84 received certain su....
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....rd of July, 1981 issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on the subject of cash equivalent of leave salary payable on the death of a Government servant to his legal heirs. Para 2 of the said circular provides that the family of a Government servant, who dies in harness and received the cash equivalent of the leave salary of the deceased employee is not income in hands of the family as it is not in the nature of income from an employer to employee. The deceased had no right or interest in this receipt. This payment is only by way of financial benefit to the family of the deceased Government servant, which would not have been due or paid had the Government servant been alive. In view thereof the amount will not be liable to income-tax. 6....
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....ection 10, it shows that the Legislature by way of abandoned precautions refers to them in section 10 - See Rani Amrit Kunwar v. CIT [1946] 14 ITR 561 (All.). 8. It may be noticed here that the clause (1)(va) was inserted by the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 1984 w.e.f. 1st of April, 1978. Simulta-neously section 10(10AA) was inserted by the Finance Act, 1982 w.e.f. 1st of April, 1978. In it, at all places, "whether on superannuation" was substituted for "on superannuation" by the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 1984 w.e.f. 1st of April, 1978. Section 10(10AA) as it stood at the relevant point of time provided that the receipt by way of leave encashment paid to the employee at the time of the retirement on superannuatio....
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.... than to expound those words in their ordinary and natural sense. 10. Interpretation postulates the search for the true meaning of the words used in the statute as a medium of expression to communicate a particular thought. The task is not easy as the language is often misunderstood even in ordinary conversation or correspondence. The tragedy is that although in the matter of correspondence or conversation the person who has spoken the words or used the language can be approached for clarification, the Legislature cannot be approached as the legislature, after enacting a law or Act, becomes functus officio so far as that particular Act is concerned and it cannot itself interpret. No doubt, the Legislature retains the power to amend or repe....
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....n (1) the statute enumerates the specific words, (2) the subjects of enumeration constitute a class or category, (3) that class or category is not exhausted by the enumeration, (4) the general terms follow the enumeration, and (5) there is no indication of a different legislative intent" (P. 304) 12. In the case of Kamlesh Kumar Sharma v. Yogesh Kumar Gupta J.T. 1998 (1) SC 642 the Supreme Court interpreted the word "otherwise" occurring in section 13(4) of U.P. Higher Education Services Commission Act, 1980. This section provides for the filling of vacancy "occurring due to death, resignation or otherwise." An argument was raised before the Supreme Court that the word "otherwise" should not be read as a ....
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....is in consonance of the legislative history of the section as well as it also manifests the intention of the legislature to give a limited benefit to an employee with respect to the income received by the employee at the time of his retirement or superannuation of severance of relationship. In the case of M. Krishna Murthy (supra) the High Court interpreting the phrase "profits in lieu of salary" held that the expression "salary" will include the sum received by the assessee towards the leave encashment amount. With a view to give a limited relief to a retiring employee clause 10(10AA) was inserted in section 10 of the Act. Reference was made by the learned Standing Counsel towards the Circular No. 394, dated September 1....