TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
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2024 (5) TMI 1172
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....eals have been heard at length on 16.04.2024 and 18.04.2024 and the judgement has been reserved on 18.04.2024. Although by order dated 17.05.2005 the appeal was admitted on three substantial questions of law, but the learned counsel for the appellant has pressed and argued only on substantial question of law no. (a) which is reproduced below;- "(a) Whether on a true and proper interpretation of the provisions of sections 2 (22A) and 90 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 read with CBDT circular No. 333 dated April 2, 1982 and CBDT letter dated November 21, 1994 and Article 24 (2) of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement India and Netherlands, the Tribunal was justified in law in holding that the appellant was liable to income tax at the higher rate applicable to a foreign company and not at the rate of tax applicable to a domestic company;" Particular of Afore-Noted Appeals:- 3. Afore-noted leading Income Tax Appeal No. 155 of 2005 arises from the impugned order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, 'E' Bench, Kolkata (for short ITAT) dated November, 2003 passed in (i) ITA No. 58 (Cal) of 2001 (Assessment year 1992-93), (ii) ITA No. 690 (Kol) of 2002 (Assessment year 1993 -94), (iii)....
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....ld that the appellant/ assessee is liable to Income Tax at the rate specified for company "other than domestic company". Case set up by the appellant is that in terms of Article 24 (2) of DTAA between India and the Netherlands, containing provision of non-discrimination, the appellant/assessee is liable to Income Tax at the rate applicable to a domestic company. The ITAT has held that the rate of Income Tax as provided in the Finance Act applicable to a domestic company shall not apply to the appellant/assessee and instead the appellant/assess is liable to tax at the rate prescribed by the Finance Act for a company other than domestic company. Aggrieved with the order of the ITAT the appellant has filed the present appeal raising the afore-quoted common substantial question of law. 7. Relevant portions of the order of ITAT (subject matter of Income Tax Appeal No. 155 of 2005) dealing with the rate of tax applicable to the appellant/assessee are reproduced below;- "46. We have given our careful consideration to the rival contentions. The issue relating to the applicability of rate of tax in the case of the assessee had come up for consideration of the Tribunal in the assessee'....
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....o the application of rate of tax. 48. It will be useful to quote Section 90 as under :- "90.(1) The Central Government may enter into an agreement with the Government of any country outside India - (a) for the granting of relief in respect of income on which have been paid both income-tax under this Act and income-tax in that country, or (b) for the avoidance of double taxation of income under this Act and under the corresponding law in force in that country, or (c) for exchange of information for the prevention of evasion or avoidance of income-tax chargeable under this Act or under the corresponding law in force in that country, or investigation of cases of such evasion of avoidance, or (d) for recovery of income tax under this Act and under the corresponding law in force in that country, and may by notification in the Official Gazette, make such provisions as may be necessary for implementing the agreement. 2. Where the Central Government has entered into an agreement with the Government of any country outside India under sub-section (1) for granting relief of tax, on as the case may be avoidable of double taxation, then in relation to the assessee to whom such agr....
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.... if Parliament has said no to a principle of international law. National Courts will endorse international law but not if it conflicts with national law. National courts being organs of the National State and not organs of international law must perforce apply national law if international law conflicts with it. But the Courts are under an obligation within legitimate limits, to so interpret the Municipal Statute as to avoid confrontation with the comity of Nations or the well-established principles of International law. But if conflict is inevitable, the latter must yield." 50. Section 90 of the Income Tax Act empowers the Central Government to enter into an agreement with the Government of any country outside India for granting of relief or for avoidance of double taxation of income, etc. Thus the source of double taxation avoidance agreement with Nederland is Section 90 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Section 90 has been quoted in para 48 above. 51. It is note worthy that Sub-Section (2) of Section 90 provides for application of beneficial provisions of the agreement in contrast to the contrary provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961. It has, however, to be borne in mind that in....
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....Sur-tax) Act and Wealth-tax Act. Thus, it is evident that the DTAA derives its source from the Income-tax Act, 1961 itself, overrides the provisions of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 within the limits provided under the said Act. The limit provided under the Act, as pointed out earlier, is that in the event of conflict between the provisions of the DTAA and the provision of the Income Tax Act, the beneficiary provision of the Act shall prevail in regard to the taxation of the subjects. It thus become abundantly clear that when there is no conflict between DTAA and the Income Tax Act, 1961 in regard to any aspect of the matter, the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961 shall have to be implemented with full force. Section 90 was amended as pointed out earlier, by the Finance Act, 2001 w.r.e.f. 1.4.1962 incorporation the Explanation which has been quoted in para 48 above. At this stage it will be relevant to refer to Article 24 of the DTAA, which reads as under :- "ARTICLE 24 - Non-discrimination 1. Nationals of one of the states shall not be subjected the other State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith, which is other or more burden some than the taxation and conne....
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....the rate at which a domestic company is chargeable shall not be regarded as less favourable charge. In the DTAA, there is no (illegible) of "less favourable charge". Therefore, the Explanation to Section 90 cannot be said to be in conflict with the provisions of the DTAA. On the facts and in the circumstances of this case, there is no escape from the conclusion that there is no conflict between the provisions of the DTAA and the Income Tax Act, 1961 in regard to the non-discrimination. 54. As has been pointed out earlier, the provisions of DTAA incorporation specific provisions contrary to the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961 are to prevail in so far as such incorporation is authorised under the Income Tax Act, 1961 itself. However, in regard to the subsequent amendments, the only requirement is to notify the amendments to the respective countries and in the event of there being no conflict, the amended provisions shall have to be given effect to. In this connection, it will be relevant to refer to Article 2, para-4 of the DTAA which reads as under: "4. The Convention shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes which are imposed after the date of sign....
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....half of the assessee in this regard. 59. It is evident from the letter dated 24.11.1994 that the CBDT was of the view that the tax rate applicable in the case of the appellants would be the same as applicable to India companies. However, this opinion was changed before the law was amended vide letter dated 24.3.2000 referred to above. We have referred to the contentions advanced on behalf of the assessee in regard to these two letters issued by the CBDT. It is evident from the content the letters that the opinion of the Board is expressed in the aforementioned letters. If the how were not amended, perhaps we would have no difficulty in holding that the A.O. could not have overlooked the opinion of the Board in regard to the taxation of the appellants. So, however, the law has been amended retrospectively. Therefore, the only issue that requires to be considered is as to whether the circular of the CBDT prevails over the statutory law passed by the supreme legislature. The CBDT is the creation of Statute. The instructions issued u/s. 119 of the I.T. Act, 1961 is under the delegated power by the Parliament. Therefore, it is futile to suggest that the CBDT circulars would prevail ov....
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....Power Corpn. of India Ltd. -Vs- Union of India [192 I.T.R. 187 at page 189] held that the opinion of the Board expressed in its administrative capacity can under no circumstances be binding on the appellate authorities or the High Courts on a reference. 61. In the case of C.I.T. -Vs- Swedish Enst. Asia Co. Ltd. [(1981) 127 I.T.R. 148, at page 165], their Lordships of the Calcutta High Court held that when the section is clear, one cannot take aid of the circulars to interpret the law. This view is in consonance with the view expressed by their Lordships of the Supreme Court in the case of State Bank of Travancore (Supra). 62. We may further refer to the observations of Sri K. Srinivasan, author of the book on Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements contained in para 7.2 of the book as under :- "7.2. While a treaty may supersede the existing law in so far as its specific terms are concerned, its scope cannot be obviously be widened by provisions covering future enactments, for no sovereign Legislature will ever agree to be eternally bound by such executive stipulations. There is nothing in law preventing the Legislature from revising its own views and amending the existing enactm....
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....avoidance of taxation which is not in accordance with the Convention. Any agreement reached shall be implemented notwithstanding any time limits in the context of Law of the States. 3. The competent authority of the States shall endeavour to resolve by mutual agreement any difficulties or doubts arising as to the interpretation or application of the Convention. They may also consult together for the elimination of double taxation in cases and provided for in that Convention. 4. The competent authorities of the States may communicate with each other directly for the purpose of reaching an agreement in the sense of the preceding paragraphs. When it seems advisable in order to reach agreement to have an oral exchange of opinions, such exchange may take place through a Commission consisting of representatives of the competent authorities of the two States." We admit our failure to appreciate as to how a letter written to the CBDT seeking opinion about the rate of tax chargeable in the case of the appellant fits in within the framework of reference under Article 25 of the DTAA. We find no merit in the contention in this regard advanced on behalf of the appellants. 65. Our decisi....
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....ble to tax at the rates applicable to either a domestic company or cooperative society as elaborated herein. Section 90 of the Act empowers the Central Government to enter into Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (hereinafter referred to as "DTAA/DTAAS"). Sub-Section (2) to Section 90 lays down as under- "(2) Where the Central Government has entered into an agreement with the Government of any country outside India or specified territory outside India, as the case may be, under sub-section (1) for granting relief of tax, or as the case may be, avoidance of double taxation, then, in relation to the assessee to whom such agreement applies, the provisions of this Act shall apply to the extent they are more beneficial to that assessee. [Emphasis added] It is well settled that the provisions in the DTAAs prevail over the provisions of the Act. This principle is recognised by the Central Board of Direct Taxes ("CBDT") as far back as in 1982 in Circular No. 333 dated April 2, 1982 (set out at Pgs. 90-91 of the paper book) as well as by the following judgments- a. Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi Ltd. v. Commissioner of Income Tax, reported in 108 taxmann.com 242 (Calcutta High Court) at ....
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.... of the Central Board of Direct Taxes dated November 21, 1994 (Pg. 222/509A of the Paper Book). ii. Decision of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Kolkata (hereinafter referred to as "the Tribunal") dated March 30, 2001 in the appellant's own case for the assessment year 1996-97 (Pg. 397 @ Pgs. 426 to 441 of the Paper Book). The said order has become final since the appeal of the Department against the said order, being ITA 217 of 2001, has been dismissed on June 2, 2014 as would appear from the case status records on the website of the Calcutta High Court. iii. Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi vs. CIT (supra). iv. The Tribunal in para 47 of the impugned order at page 87 notes that it would normally have followed the earlier order for the assessment year 1996/97 but for the amendment to the domestic law by insertion of the Explanation below section 90 with retrospective effect. 5. In light of the above, it is stated that the Explanation inserted below section 90 of the Act by the Finance Act, 2001 with retrospective effect from April 1, 1962 as amended by the Finance Act, 2004 (hereinafter referred to as "the said Explanation"), which is set out below, especially in light of th....
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....sion that would override a treaty provision specific language to that effect was used. Attention is invited to sub-section (2A) of section 90 of the Act which reads thus:- "(2A) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2), the provisions of Chapter X-A of the Act shall apply to the assessee even if such provisions not beneficial to him." 9. In the absence of a similar non-obstante clause in the Explanation below section 90, the said Explanation cannot override the provisions of the DTAA. Reliance in this behalf is placed on the following judgment- a. Sanofi Pasteur Holding SA v. Department of Revenue & Ors. (supra) at Para 105 Pgs. 427-428 of the Reports. 10. The term levy' as appearing in the said Explanation as well as in Article 24 (2) of the India-Netherlands DTAA includes the applicability of the appropriate rate of tax. The rate of tax imposes a substantive liability and is an essential component for any valid levy of tax. Reliance in this behalf is placed on the following judgment- a. Govind Saran Ganga Saran v. Commissioner of Sales Tax & Ors., reported in (1985) 155 ITR 144 (Supreme Court) at Pg. 148 of the Reports. 11. Even assuming the Explanati....
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....ent admits that it cannot unilaterally amend the DTAAS by merely amending the Act. Otherwise, negotiations and renegotiations, as the case may be, for incorporation of the said Explanation in other DTAAS would be otiose. On a perusal of the list of dates showing the DTAAS entered into by India, it would be evident that India has taken different stands with different countries with respect to the Article on non-discrimination and the same is illustratively summarised as under- a. DTAAS with non-discrimination clause similar to the India-Netherlands DTAA-Libya (Pg. 42), Zambia (Pg. 44), Japan (Pg. 92- 93), Denmark (Pg. 95-96), France (Pg. 137), Italy (Pg. 147-148) etc. b. DTAAS with non-discrimination clause similar to the India-Netherlands DTAA amended later to state that charging a higher rate of tax will not amount to discrimination-Tanzania (Pg. 40, 351), Sri Lanka (Pg. 46-47, 380-381), New Zealand (Pg. 68-69, 248), Swiss Federation (Pg. 172, 255) etc. c. DTAAs giving power to tax at a higher rate to only one country initially and/or by amendment-Belgium (Pg. 37-38), Kenya (Pg. 59- 60), Sweden (Pg. 219), Korea (Pg. 410-411), Canada (Pg. 180-181) etc. d. DTAAS laying down ....
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....flict with domestic law but such an accommodation/incorporation does not extend to a scenario in which the provisions of domestic law are clearly contrary to the international law. In the instant case however, it is the Act itself that provides that the provisions of a duly notified DTAA under the scheme of section 90 will override the provisions of the Act. In other words, it is by operation of section 90 (2) of Act and not due to the general principles of extending respect to international conventions and treaties, that the provisions of the DTAA override the provisions of the Act. 16. For the reasons aforesaid, it is respectfully submitted that questions (a) and (b) on which the said appeal was admitted be decided in the negative and against the Revenue and in favour of the appellant." 9. Learned counsel for the respondent merely stated that she supports the impugned order of the Tribunal and the impugned order is correct and does not required interference. Discussion and Findings:- 10. We have carefully considered the submissions of the learned counsels for the parties and perused the paper book. Before we proceed to examine the rival submissions, it is appropriate to repr....
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....elating to companies formerly in force in any part of India (other than the State of Jammu and Kashmir [and the Union territories specified in sub-clause (iii) of this clause]); [(ia) a corporation established by or under a Central, State or Provincial Act ; (ib) any institution, association or body which is declared by the Board to be a company under clause (17) ;] (ii) in the case of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, a company formed and registered under any law for the time being in force in that State ; [(iii)in the case of any of the Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa†, Daman and Diu, and Pondicherry, a company formed and registered under any law for the time being in force in that Union territory:] Provided that the registered or, as the case may be, principal office of the company, corporation, institution, association or body in all cases is in India ; (iv) Section 4 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 "Charge of income-tax. 4. (1)Where any Central Act enacts that income-tax shall be charged for any assessment year at any rate or rates, income-tax at that rate or those rates shall be charged for that year in accordance with, and *[subject to the p....
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....ction 90 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 "90. [Agreement with foreign countries. (1) The Central Government may enter into an agreement with the Government of any country outside India or specified territory outside India,- [(a) for the granting of relief in respect of- (i) income on which have been paid both income-tax under this Act and income-tax in that country or (ii) income-tax chargeable under this Act and under the corresponding law in force in that country or specified territory, as the case may be, to promote mutual economic relations, trade and investment, or] [substituted by the Finance Act, 2003, w.e.f. 1.4.2004. Prior to its substitution, clause (a) read as under: "(a) for the granting of relief in respect of income on which have been paid both income-tax under this Act and income-tax in that country, or"] (b) for the avoidance of double taxation of income under this Act and under the corresponding law in force in that country or (c) for exchange of information for the prevention of evasion or avoidance of income-tax chargeable under this Act or under the corresponding law in force in that country or specified territory, as the case may be, or investigat....
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....ely from 1st April, 1962 and accordingly, applies in relation to the assessment year 1962-1963 and subsequent assessment years." (viii) Section 2 (1) of The Finance (No. 2) Act, 2004 "2.(1). Subject to the provisions of sub-sections (2) and (3), for the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April, 2004, income-tax shall be charged at the rates specified in Part I of the First Schedule and such tax as reduced by the rebate of income-tax calculated under Chapter VIII-A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) (hereinafter referred to as the Income-tax Act) shall be increased by a surcharge for purposes of the Union calculated in each case in the manner provided therein." (ix) Sub-section 12(a) of Section 2 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2004 "(12) for the purpose of this section and the First Schedule,- (a) "domestic company" means an Indian company or any other company which, in respect of its income liable to income-tax under the Income-tax Act for the assessment year commencing on the 1st day of April, 2004, has made the prescribed arrangements for the declaration and payment within India of the dividends (including dividends on preference shares) payable out of such....
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....'s action of not applying Article 24 (2) of the DTAA on account of the reasoning that there is no conflict between the provisions of the Act and the DTAA is erroneous and vitiated in law. (IV) The Learned Tribunal erred in not appreciating that there is a conflict in section 90 read with section 2 (22A) of the Act which requires a foreign company to fulfil the requirement of prescribed arrangements for the declaration payment of dividends within India to entitle it for the lower rate of tax applicable to domestic company as it is impossible for any foreign company to fulfil the conditions prescribed under rule 27 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 ("the Rules"). (V) The Learned Tribunal erred in overlooking the fact that the CBDT instructed the Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax -II (CCIT) vide its letter dated 21 November 1994 that "the Board is of the opinion that the tax applicable in case of ABN AMRO Bank would be the same as for an Indian company, at the relevant tax rates applicable for the concerned assessment years" Whether appellant is a domestic company;- 2. The word 'domestic company' has been defined in Section 2 (22A) of the Act, 1961 which has been reproduced above....
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....under the other class i.e. "a company other than a domestic company" as classified in paragraph E of the Finance Act. In ground no. (IV) of the Memorandum of Appeal (afore-quoted) the appellants have admitted themselves to be a foreign company i.e. "company other than a domestic company". Thus, it is admitted case of the appellant that it is not a domestic company as it is neither an "Indian Company" nor "any other Company" as it has not made prescribed arrangement in respect of its income liable to income tax under the Income Tax Act for declaration and payment within India of the dividends including dividend on preference shares payable out of such income. The classification made in paragraph E of the First Part of the First Schedule to the Finance Act, has not been questioned by the appellants. The classification so made is a valid classification. 14. In Amalgamated Tea Estates Co. Ltd. v. State of Kerala, (1974) 4 SCC 415 (para 15 and 16) a Constitution Bench of the Hon'ble Supreme Court considered the challenge to the validity of classification of a domestic company and of a foreign company for rate of tax under the Kerala Agricultural Income Tax Act and held that the classif....
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....ls of interpretation, namely, contextual or purposive interpretation cannot be applied nor any resort be made to look to other supporting material, especially in taxation statutes. Indeed, it is well settled that in a taxation statute, there is no room for any intendment; that regard must be had to the clear meaning of the words and that the matter should be governed wholly by the language of the notification. Equity has no place in interpretation of a tax statute. Strictly one has to look to the language used; there is no room for searching intendment nor drawing any presumption. Furthermore, nothing has to be read into nor should anything be implied other than essential inferences while considering a taxation statute. 34. The passages extracted above, were quoted with approval by this Court in at least two decisions being CIT v. Kasturi and Sons Ltd. [CIT v. Kasturi and Sons Ltd., (1999) 3 SCC 346] and State of W.B. v. Kesoram Industries Ltd. [State of W.B. v. Kesoram Industries Ltd., (2004) 10 SCC 201] (hereinafter referred to as "Kesoram Industries case", for brevity). In the later decision, a Bench of five Judges, after citing the above passage from Justice G.P. Singh's ....
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....her well-recognised principle. In this country, as is the case in England, the treaty or International Protocol or convention does not become effective or operative of its own force as in some of the continental countries unless domestic legislation has been introduced to attain a specified result. Once, Parliament has legislated, the Court must first look at the legislation and construe the language employed in it. If the terms of the legislative enactment do not suffer from any ambiguity or lack of clarity they must be given effect to even if they do not carry out the treaty obligations. But the treaty or the Protocol or the convention becomes important if the meaning of the expressions used by the Parliament is not clear and can be construed in more than one way. The reason is that if one of the meanings which can be properly ascribed is in consonance with the treaty obligations and the other meaning is not so consonant, the meaning which is consonant is to be preferred. Even where an Act had been passed to give effect to the convention which was scheduled to it, the words employed in the Act had to be interpreted in the well-established sense which they had in municipal law. ....
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....de the prescribed arrangements for declaration and payment within India of the dividends including dividends on preferential shares, payable out of its income in India so as to fall within phrase "any other company" used in Section 2 (22A) of the Act, 1961 defining the term "domestic company". Had the appellant complied with the terms of "any other company" as used in Section 2 (22A), the appellant would have become a domestic company. This position of law regarding domestic company (Indian Company or any other company) has existed at all relevant point of time which is evident from the definition of Section 2 (22A) of the Act, 1961, Clause (a) of Sub-section 12 of Section 2 of the Finance Act read with Paragraph E of First Part of the First Schedule to the Finance Act. The Explanation to Section 90 is in consonance with Section 2 (22A) of the Act, 1961, Section 2 (12) (a) and Para E of Part I of the Finance Act. Thus, there is neither any ambiguity nor conflict in these provisions or the charging Section 4 of the Act, 1961. There is no ambiguity at all, in so far as the aforesaid statutory provisions are concerned with regard to rate of tax applicable to a "domestic company" and "....
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....g under another class. The phrase "shall not be less favourably levied" used in Article 24 (2) of the DTAA simply means that taxation on a company falling under "any other company" under Section 2 (22A) of the Act, 1961 shall not be less favourably levied than an" Indian company" which both fall under one and the same class i.e. Domestic Company under Section 2 (22A) of the Act, 1961 read with Section 2 (1), Section 2 (12) (a) and Paragraph "E' of Part I of the First Schedule of the Finance Act, which provisions existed even prior to the DTAA in question and the clarificatory retrospective insertion of the Explanation in Section 90 by the Finance Act, 2001. Thus, there is no conflict between the Explanation to Section 90 of the Act, 1961 and Article 24 (2) of the DTAA. 23. Apart from the above, with regard to the question of conflict, the appellant has taken ground nos. (II) and (III) of the Memorandum of Appeal (reproduced above) in which it has been alleged that Section 90 read with Section 2 (22A) requires a foreign company to fulfil requirement of prescribed arrangement for declaration and payment on dividend within India to entitle it for the rate of tax applicable to dom....
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....come, the same should be followed, irrespective of the provisions in the Income Tax Act. Where there is no specific provision in the agreement, it is the basic law, i.e. the Income Tax Act, that will govern the taxation of income." 27. The aforesaid circular of the CBDT deals with the situation where there is a specific provision in the DTAA then that provision will prevail over the general provisions contained in the Income Tax Act, 1961. We find that there is no specific provision in the DTAA providing for rate of tax applicable to a "domestic company" or a "company other than domestic company" as defined under the Act, 1961 and as prescribed in and paragraph E of the First Part of the First Schedule to the Finance Act read with Section 2 (1) and Section 2 (12) (a) of the Finance Act. We further find that the aforesaid circular states that the DTAA also provides that the laws in force in either country will continue to govern the assessment and taxation of income in the respective country except where provisions to the contrary have been made in the Agreement. We find that the DTAA in question including Article 24 (2) does not contain any provision contrary to the provisions of ....
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....he legislature to make a departure from the general principle of chargeability to tax under Section 4 and the general principle of ascertainment of total income under Section 5 of the Act, then there was no purpose in making those sections "subject to the provisions of the Act". The very object of grafting the said two sections with the said clause is to enable the Central Government to issue a notification under Section 90 towards implementation of the terms of DTACs which would automatically override the provisions of the Income Tax Act in the matter of ascertainment of chargeability to income tax and ascertainment of total income, to the extent of inconsistency with the terms of DTAC. 32. The niceties of the OECD Model of tax treaties or the Report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Stock Market Scam and Matters Relating Thereto, on which considerable time was spent by Mr Jha, who appeared in person, need not detain us for too long, though we shall advert to them later. This Court is not concerned with the manner in which tax treaties are negotiated or enunciated; nor is it concerned with the wisdom of any particular treaty. Whether the Indo-Mauritius DTAC ought to ha....
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..... Aberdeen Steam Trawling & Fishing Co. Ltd. [[1933] A.C. 402])" 49. The legal position discernible from the previous discussion, therefore is that upon India entering into a treaty or protocol does not result in its automatic enforceability in courts and tribunals; the provisions of such treaties and protocols do not therefore, confer rights upon parties, till such time, as appropriate notifications are issued, in terms of Section 90 (1)." (Emphasis supplied) 32. In Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions) vs. Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (2023) 4 SCC 561 (Para 136) Hon'ble Supreme Court considered the binding effect of circular, and after referring to its earlier judgements in Navnit Lal C. Javeri Vs. K,K, Sen, AIR 1965 SC 1375, CCE Vs. Ratan Melting and Wire Industries ( 2008) 13 SCC 1, Keshavji Ravi and Co. vs. CIT (1990) 2 SCC 231 and Commissioner of Customs vs. Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., ( 2004) 3 SCC 488 explained the binding effect of circular and held, as under;- "136. In the opinion of this Court, the views expressed in Keshavji Ravji [Keshavji Ravji & Co. v. CIT, (1990) 2 SCC 231 : 1990 SCC (Tax) 268 : (1990) 183 ITR 1] , Indian Oil Corpn. [Comm....