1972 (6) TMI 12

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.... lease was the patta land of the assessee. In a compromise decree in 1953, the mine was valued at Rs 3,09,931. The question of valuing this mine for the years 1959-60 to 1964-65 arose in proceedings before the Wealth-tax Officer. Ultimately, when the proceedings culminated in an appeal before the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, the Tribunal took the value given in the compromise decree by the assessee herself, as the value of the mine at the commencement of the lease. It then directed that the value for the relevant years should be ascertained by deducting Rs. 15,000 (representing 1/20th of the total value, twenty years being the term of the lease), for every year subsequent to 1954, thus arriving at the value for each of the years from 1959....

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.... as on the valuation date and making such adjustments therein as the circumstances of the case may require. " Under this section the Wealth-tax Officer is empowered to value the business as a whole instead of following the estimate as he is required to do under section 7(1). While valuing the business as a whole this sub-section directs that he should have regard to the balance-sheet of such business as on the valuation date and also make such adjustments therein as the circumstances may require. The wording of the section itself clearly indicates that the value given in the balance-sheet is not to be taken as conclusive. All that the Wealth-tax Officer is required to do is " to have regard to the value " and he is further expected " to ....

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.... by the assessee at all to show as to whether the figure of Rs. 3,09,931 mentioned in all the balance-sheets was an inflated figure and if so, whether it was done for any acceptable reasons. It is true that prima facie the statement made by the assessee in the balance-sheet may be taken as correct by the Wealth-tax Officer, but under the very terms, under section 7(2(a), the Wealth-tax Officer is expected not only to have regard to the figure mentioned in the balance-sheet, but also to make adjustments in arriving at the true value. In this case, the Tribunal, on appeal, made such adjustments by deducting the proportionate amount of Rs. 15,000 from the amount shown in the balance-sheet, which really represented the value of the mine at the ....