TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1979 (12) TMI 46
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....ase, the Tribunal was right in law in holding that the Punjab State Elecricity Board is a licensee within the meaning of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948, and was thus entitled to the allowance of development rebate without creating the reserve contemplated by proviso (b), Explanation 2, to section 10(2)(vib) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 ? " The previous year for the assessment year in the case is the financial year 1960-61. The Punjab State Electricity Board came into being under the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as " the Act "), and started functioning with effect from February 1, 1959. The Board is a company for the purposes of the Indian I.T. Act, 1922, and is liable to income-tax and super-tax accor....
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....t was, therefore, not necessary for it to create a development rebate reserve under sub-clause (b) of the proviso to s. 10(2)(vib) of the Indian I.T. Act, 1922. He, consequently, allowed the appeal of the assessee and directed the ITO to give necessary relief to it. The revenue having felt aggrieved against the order of the AAC went up in appeal before the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal which affirmed the order of the AAC and dismissed the same. The Commissioner filed an application before the Tribunal for referring the question of law for the opinion of the High Court under s. 256(1) which was declined. He thereafter moved an application in this court under s. 256(2) which was accepted and the question mentioned above was referred to thi....
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..... (b) except where the assesses is a company being a licensee within the meaning of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 (LIV of 1948), or where the ship has been acquired or the machinery or plant has been installed before the 1st day of January, 1958, an amount equal to seventy-five per cent. of the development rebate to be actually allowed is debited to the profit and loss account of the relevant previous year and credited to a reserve account to be utilised by him during a period of ten years next following for the purposes of the business of the undertaking, except,--..." (Emphasis supplied) " 2. In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context--... (6) 'licensee' means a person licensed under Part II of....
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....nally said that the assessee-company should be a licensee as defined in the Act. If it had that intention it could say so. It, therefore, emerges that the word " licensee " as defined in s. 2 of the Act need not be taken into consideration while interpreting the proviso, but it is to be seen whether the Board fulfils the requirement of a licensee according to any section of the Act. Section 26 confers on the Board all the powers and obligations of a licensee under the Indian Electricity Act, 1910. It further says that the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948, shall be deemed to be a licence of the Board for the purposes of the Act. The only inference that can be drawn from the language of the section is that the Board is a licensee within its mea....