{"id":864,"date":"2011-11-22T08:09:53","date_gmt":"2011-11-22T08:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itatonline.org\/articles_new\/?p=864"},"modified":"2011-11-22T15:36:53","modified_gmt":"2011-11-22T15:36:53","slug":"analysis-of-three-important-decisions-june-to-october-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/analysis-of-three-important-decisions-june-to-october-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"Analysis of three important judgements (June to October 2011)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"articleblogheader\">\n<div class=\"articlepicture2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.itatonline.org\/images\/AnantNPai.jpg\" alt=\"Shri. Anant Pai\" width=\"69\" height=\"98\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Analysis of three important judgements (June 2011 to October 2011)<\/p>\n<p>    CA Anant N. Pai <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t   No practitioner can afford to be unaware of latest judgements &#038; whether experts view the judgement as being right or wrong. Towards that end, the author has agreed to take time out of his busy schedule to make an analysis of landmark judgements every quarter. In this part, the author has identified three landmark judgements analyzed them with a critical eye and identified their strengths &#038; shortcomings.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"chandrika\">\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"journal2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.itatonline.org\/articles_new\/index.php\/analysis-of-three-important-decisions-june-to-october-2011\/#link\">Link to download this article in pdf format is at the bottom<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Slump Sale &ndash; Whether breaking up of price permissible:-<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>1.1<\/strong> The  decision of the Calcutta High Court in the case of <strong>Kwality Ice Creams {I} Ltd<\/strong>  [2011] 336 ITR 100 {Cal} may provide fodder for interesting appraisal by the  readers. In this case, the assessee, an ice cream manufacturer, transferred its  marketing undertaking for a price of Rs.  3 crores. There is nothing in the  decision to suggest that the price of Rs. 3 crores was a composite price for transfer  of individual assets of the marketing  undertaking sold. On the contrary, from the facts of the case, it appears that  the price was paid for a slump sale of the  marketing undertaking as a whole. The decision related to  Assessment Year 1996-97 i.e. before the slump sale provisions of section 50B were  brought on the statute book.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--more--> <\/p>\n<div class=\"chandrika\">\n<div align=\"center\">\n<div class=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"articlequote\">\n<p>In short, the decision of the Supreme Court in the <strong>Artex<\/strong> case never carried an authority that if the sale is factually a slump sale, it is permissible for the tax authority to break down the price \u2013 even on any scientific basis \u2013 and allocate the price over the assets. The finding of the Calcutta High Court that the Apex Court in <strong>Artex<\/strong> case permitted such breaking up of the slump price does not appear manifest from a reading of the <strong>Artex<\/strong> decision<\/div>\n<p>The issues  for consideration of the High Court was whether the price of Rs. 3 crores could be severed and allocated  individually to the various assets of the marketing undertaking transferred &#8211; so  that the capital gains relating to depreciable assets could be taxed separately  u\\s 50. The High Court here has held in affirmative. In coming to this  conclusion, it was drawn support from  the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of <strong>CIT vs. Artex Manufacturing Co<\/strong>  [1997] 227 ITR 260 {SC}. According to the High Court, the Supreme Court has  specifically held that if item wise allocation of the price is possible towards  the assets of the business transferred, then capital gains should be determined  vis-&agrave;-vis the individual assets. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>1.2<\/strong> According  to me, the Supreme Court has not held in  this manner in the <strong>Artex <\/strong>decision. In the <strong>Artex<\/strong> case, though it was stated in  the transfer agreement that the business was transferred for a lump sum price,  the Assessing Officer had found that the assessee had obtained a valuation  report of the individual assets for the purpose of fixing the sale price  of the business. This meant that the  lump sum price in the agreement was, in reality, not a slump sale price for the  business as a whole, but an aggregated price of the individual assets of the  business sold. It was a composite price for the sale of a bunch of assets and not a single price for the business as a  whole. The findings of the Apex    Court are understandable because the real underlying agreement between the  parties was to transfer itemized assets at a bunched price and this was not a  case of slump sale simpliciter as made out in the written agreement. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>In fact, in  another decision of the same date of the Supreme Court in the case of <strong>CIT vs.  Elecon Control Gear Mfg. Co<\/strong>. [1997] 227 ITR 278 {SC}, the Apex Court  distinguishing its earlier decision in the Artex case, has held that the agreement  of the assessee was for a slump sale of  the business as a whole as there was nothing in the transfer agreement to  suggest that there was itemized sale of the assets.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>1.3<\/strong> Whether  a transfer agreement is of a slump sale  of a business undertaking or a sale of a  bunch of assets of the business undertaking for a composite price, should be discerned  from the terms and conditions of the agreement. If the transfer agreement shows  that the real intention of the parties was to effect a transfer of the business  as a whole for a slump price, then it would not be permissible for the Court to  read the agreement otherwise. The sale must then be assessed to tax as on slump  sale basis only. The decision of the Supreme Court in <strong>Elecon Control Gear<\/strong> is a  clear authority for this proposition. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>On the other  hand, if the real intention of the parties, as apparent from their conduct, was  sell individual assets only, the fact  that transfer agreement cites a slump sale should hardly matter. Here, it should definitely be permissible for  the Court to come to the conclusion that the price mentioned in the agreement was  merely a composite price for itemized sale of  various assets and the Court  should sever the sale consideration over the transferred assets as done by the  Supreme Court in the <strong>Artex<\/strong> Case. After all, if the substance of an agreement is  manifestly at variance from  the form in which it is projected, nothing should preclude the Court from ignoring  the form and assessing the transaction on the basis of this substance. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>In short, the decision of the Supreme Court in the  <strong>Artex<\/strong> case never carried an authority that if the sale is factually a slump sale, it is permissible for the tax  authority to break down the price &ndash; <strong><u>even on any scientific basis<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; `and allocate the price over the assets. The  finding of the Calcutta High Court that the Apex Court  in <strong>Artex<\/strong> case permitted such breaking up of the slump price does not  appear manifest from a reading of the Artex decision.\n  <\/p>\n<p><strong>There is tangible difference between<\/strong> <strong>slump sale of a business for a unit price  and composite sale of assets of the  business at an aggregated price. Whereas  in the former, it is not permissible for the tax authority to split the price  over the assets transferred even on scientific basis, in the latter case it is  permissible. This distinction, according  to me, has been well maintained in a balanced manner by the Supreme Court in  its Artex and Elecon Control decisions.<\/strong> Readers are invited to form their opinions on this issue.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Capital Gains  on retirement of partner on assignment of his share.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"articlequoteleft\">\n<p> The sum and substance of these decisions is that whenever an obligation to pay any income is created by way of a charge on the income, a superior title is created over the income in favour of the charge holder to the extent of the charge. Qua this income, the charge holder has a paramount or superior title over that of the assessee. The income, to the extent of the charge, is diverted in favour of the assessee before it reaches the assessee<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>2.1<\/strong> The  decision of the Mumbai Tribunal in the case of <strong>Sudhakar M. Shetty <\/strong>decision &ndash; [2011] 130 ITD 197 {Mum} makes a  distinction between the tax incidents visiting  a partner who merely realises his share  due to him on retirement and a retiring partner  who assigns his share to a continuing partner for lump sum  consideration. Whereas the former mode has been held not to invite capital  gains tax, the latter was held to be not  so fortunate.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>The  Tribunal has observed that a partner&rsquo; share&rsquo;  in the partnership is a &lsquo;property&rsquo; and its assignment would constitute a  transfer of a capital asset giving rise to capital gains. The difference between consideration received on  assignment and his capital account balance was held taxable as capital gains<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>According to the  Tribunal, the assessee, <strong>Sudhakar Shetty<\/strong>&rsquo;s retirement was under the second mode  &ndash; i.e. by assignment of share and hence, his retirement gave rise to taxable  capital gains<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>2.2.<\/strong> It is pertinent that the issue in the  decision concerns the normal capital gains&rsquo; provisions of section 45 [1] i.e.  between partners inter se in their individual capacities and has nothing to do  with the provisions of section 45 [4], where the transfer contemplated is  between the firm and a partner.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>2.3<\/strong> For analysing this decision, let us  first understands as to what constitutes a partner&rsquo;s &lsquo;share&rsquo; in partnership?<\/p>\n<p>  As per the  classical English partnership law cited by <strong>Lindsay<\/strong> and adopted by Indian Courts  in <strong>Narayanappa vs. Bhaskara Krishnappa<\/strong> {AIR 1966 SC 1300}and <strong>Dewas Cine Corporation<\/strong> &ndash; 68 ITR 240 {SC}, a partner&rsquo;s monetary rights are two folds .  Firstly, during his tenure as partner, whereas he has no specific right in any  individual asset of the partnership, his right is only to receive his share of  profit Secondly, on dissolution or retirement, he has a right to a share in the  net estate of the firm {i.e. assets minus liabilities and winding up expenses- valued  on the basis of a notional sale} as on date of the retirement or dissolution.  This bundle of rights constitutes the &lsquo;share &lsquo;of the partner.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>So, when a partner retires, the accounts of  the firm are made up &ndash;valuing the assets on basis of a notional sale, the liabilities  and notional winding up expenses are deducted &#8211;  and the amount due to the retiring partner towards his share, as worked  out by this arithmetic, is determined as payable to him.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>It is pertinent that a partner&rsquo;s right to  this share is not created on retirement. This right existed the moment he  joined the partnership. It was a right in presenti , whose value was  merely determinable at time of  retirement and this right, the partner  carried with him all along as &lsquo;his  property&rsquo; from the time of his joining  till he retires.\n <\/p>\n<p>On retirement, the retiring  partner takes away his own money due to him and the shares of the continuing  partners remain intact without an enlargement. So, there is no &lsquo;transfer&rdquo; of  any property from such retiring partner to the continuing partners. This logic  can be found in the decision of the Gujarat High Court decision in the case of <strong>Mohanbhai  Pamabhai<\/strong> as reported 91 ITR 393 {Guj} as  approved by the Supreme Court in 165 ITR 166 {SC}<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Even if the continuing partners  bring in further capital to settle the retiring partner, the enlargement of the  continuing partner&rsquo;s shares is due to their own &lsquo;self &ndash;acts&rdquo; of bringing in  more funds and not due to anything done by the retiring partner. Hence, there  is no act of &lsquo;transfer&rsquo; from the retiring partner to continuing partner. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>The Gujarat High Court decision in the case  of <strong>Mohanbhai Pamabhai<\/strong> &ndash; 91 ITR 393 {Guj} referred above was distinguished by  the Bombay High Court in <strong>Tribhuvandas Patel<\/strong> case &ndash; 115 ITR 95 {Bom} . The  Bombay High Court distinguished between two modes of retirement as under ;-\n<\/p>\n<p>[a] Where a partner merely retires by taking away the money due  on his share as per accounts &ndash; no transfer and capital gains &ndash; agreeing with  <strong>Mohanbhai Pamabhai<\/strong> &ndash; 91 ITR 393 {Guj}.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>[b] But, where the partner assign his share to a continuing  partner for a lump sum consideration, the &lsquo;share&rsquo; is property in hands of the  retirement partner and hence a capital asset. Its assignment is a transfer. On  such assignment, there is a transfer of capital asset from retiring partner to  continuing partner and hence, capital gains result. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>In the case before the Bombay  HC, there was dispute between the partners and under a court settlement agreement,  it was cited that the retiring partner was &lsquo;assigning&rsquo; his share to the  continuing partner for an amount of say &ndash; Rs. 4.71 lacs. It was held that there  was transfer on such assignment resulting in capital gains. This Bombay High  Court decision has also been followed by the same High Court in other  decisions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>The Bombay High Court decision in  <strong>Tribhuvandas Patel<\/strong> [115 ITR 95] came up for consideration before the Supreme  Court in 236 ITR 515 {SC}. Here, it appears that a short question was put to  the Supreme Court as to whether the amount of Rs. 4.71 lacs received on  retirement attracted capital gains. The Supreme Court, probably appraising the  issue as a case involving a retiring partner merely realising the money due towards  his share on retirement, held that this amount was not taxable as capital gains  following its earlier decision in <strong>Mohanbhai Pamabhai<\/strong> 165 ITR 166 {SC}.\n<\/p>\n<p>The Mumbai Tribunal in <strong>Sudhakar Shetty<\/strong>&rsquo;s  case has apparently taken the view that the issue about capital gains  implications on assignment of share by partner had not been addressed as a  question before the Apex Court in <strong>Tribhuvandas Patel<\/strong> case in 236 ITR 515 {SC}  and therefore, the decision of the Bombay HC in <strong>Tribhuvandas Patel<\/strong>&rsquo;s case in  115 ITR 95 {Bom} remains not overruled and binding on it as a decision of  jurisdictional High Court.\n<\/p>\n<p>It is in this scenario that readers are  invited to appraise the decision of the Mumbai Tribunal in <strong>Sudhakar Shetty<\/strong>&#8216;s  case.\n<\/p>\n<p>In order to do, let us firstly understand  what is the general partnership law relating to assignment of share by partner?\n<\/p>\n<p>Section 29 of the Indian  Partnership Act cites the rights of an assignee of share by partner as under:- <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Firstly, when a partner assigns  his &lsquo;share&rsquo;, the assignor continues to be the partner and the assignee can neither take part in the  conduct of the partnership business nor has right to ask or inspect the  accounts. He has only a right to receive the share of profit due to the  assignor-partner, which accounts he must accept without demur. In short, it is  not open to the assignee to challenge the correctness of the accounts and has  to accept it as correct.<\/p>\n<p>  Secondly, when the  assignor-partner ceases to be a partner, the assignee gets the right to demand  the assignor-partner&rsquo;s share in the assets of the firm as due to him on such  cessation and also a right to the accounts from the date of cessation onwards  till he is fully settled.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>So,  on the issue of assignment of a partner&rsquo;s share, the following points emerge-\n<\/p>\n<p>[a] It is not specified in the section 29 as to who can be an  assignee. So, the assignee can be a rank outsider to the partnership or even a  continuing partner.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>[b] An assignee does not automatically become a partner in  place of the assignor-partner. He remains only an assignee. This is even so if  the other partners have consented to the assignment. This is because the  consent operates only in respect of the &lsquo;assignment&rsquo;. They cannot be presumed  to have agreed to his introduction as partner.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>[c] The assignee cannot take part in the business of the  partnership.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>[d] The assignor-partner continues to remain the partner and is  not relieved from his mutual obligations to the other partners under the  partnership deed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>[e] The assignment does not take place under the auspices of  the partnership deed, but is private deal between the assignor-partner and the  assignee. This is in marked contrast to retirement, which takes places under  the terms and conditions of the partnership deed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>   Therefore, a possible view is that even if  the assignment of the partner&rsquo;s share is done to a continuing partner, the  continuing partner remains an &lsquo;assignee&rsquo; qua the share assigned and not a  &lsquo;partner&rsquo;. No doubt, in his capacity as an existing partner, he can take part  in the business of the partnership and access the accounts directly. But, it  may be noted that this right is due to his  natural right as an existing partner and has nothing to do with his  acquiring the subsequent partnership share on assignment\n <\/p>\n<p>The disability  of the assignee-partner, in operating as a fully fledged partner qua the share  assigned can be best understood by this example. Assume A, B &amp; C are  partners. As per the partnership deed, A is designated as Managing Partner and  B is supposed to remain as dormant partner. An assignment by A of his share to  B cannot make B the Managing Partner. This is because as per section 29 [1] of  Partnership Act, a partner cannot assign his right to take part in the business  to an assignee. So, the disability of the assignee remains.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>   In contrast to a retirement by a partner,  an assignment by a partner of his &lsquo;share&rsquo; to a continuing partner results in  enlargement of his property holdings. The assignee partner now has two  properties &ndash; [a] his original share as partner and [b] his new share as  assignee. The assignment also results in diluting of the assignor-partner&rsquo;s  rights in the sense that he can no longer take home his share in profits or his  share in the net asset on retirement or dissolution, since these rights he has  given to the assignee.\n <\/p>\n<p>If seen from the above angle, a  transfer of property rights from the assignor partner to the assignee partner  would be evident and the assignment transaction gets exposed to capital gains&rsquo;  tax. In contrast, a &lsquo;transfer&rsquo; is not existent when a partner merely realises  his share on retirement as he is merely getting the money due to him from the  firm.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>2.12.<\/strong> More ever, when a partner retires, it  become necessary to prepare the accounts in order to determine the share  payable to the retiring partner. But, in an assignment, the question of  preparing the accounts of the firm for the purpose of settling the assignee  partner does not arise. The price is fixed between the assignor and assignor  without reference to the accounts and that is why, I think, it was referred as  &lsquo;lump sum bases by the Bombay High Court decision in Tribhuvandas Patel&rsquo;s case. <\/p>\n<p>  It may be noted that the expression &lsquo;lump sum&rsquo;  &ndash; does mean that amount due to a retiring partner cannot be determined at an  agreed &lsquo;rounded &ndash; up&rsquo; figure by the continuing partners. After all, the rounded  up figure is also agreed after a fair assessment of the accounts.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>   It is in this legal background that the  decision of the Mumbai Tribunal in <strong>Sudhakar Shetty<\/strong>&rsquo;s case may be appraised by  the readers now.<\/p>\n<p>In <strong>Sudhakar  Shetty<\/strong>&rsquo;s case, both the assessee and his wife were partners with a few others.  His wife retired in the prior financial year and for settling her account, a  revaluation [assumedly at market value on basis of a notional sale] was done of  the assets and the surplus on revaluation was credited to all partners. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>In the next  financial year, within few months of his wife&rsquo;s retirement, the assessee also retired.  No fresh revaluation was apparently done as a revaluation was done only a few  months ago. On retirement, he received the amount due on his capital, which includes  his share on revaluation surplus. A possible view is that this was a case of a  normal retirement by a partner and did not involve any assignment. The assessee  had apparently taken only the money due to him on retirement. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>A citation in the retirement deed that the  assessee would not have any right in the assets of the firm after retirement should  not constitute an assignment. The cessation of the rights in the net assets of  the partnership was a natural incidence of his retirement<\/u><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>It may be noted that there is a significant  difference between [a] an assignment of share by partner followed by retirement  and [b] only retirement simpliciter. In the former case, the transfer event  takes place because of a prior assignment and the subsequent retirement is only  a consequential incident. On the other hand, when a partner retires, the nature  of his right in his hands undergoes a transformation. His original contractual rights  qua the other partners are not the same as he had when he was a partner. For example, he ceases to have the right to  profits, right to take part in the business thereafter etc. What remains in his  hands is only to seek the money worth of the net assets due to his share. <strong><u>In short, on retirement, he ceases to have  the original rights of a partner and there can be obviously no assignment of  rights which he longer has<\/u><\/strong>.<strong><u> Readers may thus note that whereas there can be an assignment before  retirement. there cannot be an assignment of a partner&rsquo;s share after retirement  . <\/u><\/strong>A citation in the retirement deed that the retiring partner would no  longer have any right in the assets of the partnership cannot therefore amount  to an assignment of a partnership share by the retiring partner to the continuing partner.<\/p>\n<p>   It  is therefore a possible view that there was no assignment of share by the  retiring partner to the continuing partner in the Sudhakar Shetty&rsquo;s case.  Readers may therefore examine this decision carefully.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p> <strong>Income &ndash;  Diversion vs. Application <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>3.1<\/strong> The  decision of the Mumbai Tribunal in the case of <strong>RSM and Co vs. Addl. CIT<\/strong> [2011]  10 ITR {Trib} 614 {Mumbai} is a thought provoking decision. In this case, partnership  deed of the assessee chartered accountant firm, provided in its terms and  conditions for payment to a retiring partner,  who had completed fifty years of age, an amount [calculated at 25 % of the  average earnings of the partner from the firm of three completed years prior to  his retirement] payable in four quarterly instalments for a period of five  years. The issue, before the Tribunal, was whether the payments made by the  assessee to the retiring partners was a case of diversion of income at source  by an overriding title or application of income after it accrued to the  assessee.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p> <strong>3.2<\/strong> The  Tribunal firstly considered the decision of The Supreme Court in the case of  <strong>CIT vs. Sitladas Tirathdas<\/strong> [1961] 41 ITR 367 {SC}. Here, the Apex Court had laid down the ground rules as to when a  payment made under an obligation would constitute a diversion of income by  overriding title and per contra, when such payment would otherwise be a mere application of income after it  accrued to the assessee. The Apex Court  had observed as under:-<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>&ldquo;Obligations, no  doubt, there are in every case, but it is the nature of the obligation which is  the decisive fact. There is a difference between an amount which a person is  obliged to apply out of his income and an amount which by the nature of the  obligation cannot be said to be a part of the income of the assessee. Where by  the obligation income is diverted before it reaches the assessee, it is  deductible ; but where the income is required to be applied to discharge an  obligation after such income reaches the assessee, the same consequence, in law  does not follow. It is the first kind of payment which can truly be excused and  not the second. The second payment is merely an obligation to pay another a  portion of one&#8217;s own income, which has been received and is since applied. The  first is a case in which the income never reaches the assessee, who even if he  were to collect it, does so, not as part of his income, but for and on behalf  of the person to whom it is payable&rdquo;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>3.3<\/strong> The Tribunal  then dealt with various decision of the Bombay High Court where the issue of  diversion of income by overriding charge was involved. These decisions were  rendered after considering the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of  Sitaldas Tirathdas cited above. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>The decisions are:-<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>CIT vs. Patuck {C.N.}<\/strong>[1969] 71 ITR 713 {Bom}\n<\/p>\n<p>  <strong>CIT vs. Crawford Bayley and Co<\/strong> [1977] 106 ITR 884 {Bom}\n  <\/p>\n<p>  <strong>CIT vs. Nariman B. Bharucha &amp; Sons<\/strong> [1981] 130 ITR 863  {Bom}<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p> The sum and substance of these  decisions is that whenever an obligation to pay any income is created by way of  a charge on the income, a superior title is created over the income in favour  of the charge holder to the extent of the charge. Qua this income, the charge holder has a  paramount or superior title over that of the assessee. The income, to the extent of the charge, is  diverted in favour of the assessee before it reaches the assessee. Even if the income charged lands in the hands  of the assessee, he is only its collector of the sum on behalf of the charge holder. The  position of the assessee, as such collector, is that of a <em>&lsquo;cestui que&rsquo;<\/em> trustee, who holds the income in trust for the charge  holder. The income belongs to the charge holder only and cannot be assessed in  the hands of the assessee. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p> It is pertinent that the decisions  in the cases of <strong>CIT vs. Crawford Bayley and Co<\/strong> [1977] 106 ITR 884 {Bom}and <strong>CIT  vs. Nariman B. Bharucha &amp; Sons<\/strong> [1981] 130 ITR 863 {Bom}directly involved  cases where the payments, made by partnership firms to erstwhile partners or  their heirs under obligations agreed in the partnership deeds, were held to be  diversions of incomes not taxable in hands of the firms.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p> <strong>3.4.<\/strong> After considering the above precedents  laid down by the Supreme Court and the Bombay High Court, the Mumbai Tribunal  in the case of <strong>RSM and Co<\/strong> held that covenant in the partnership deed to make  payment to the retired partner created an overriding charge on the income of the assessee in favour  of the retired partner. By virtue of this charge, the income to the extent of  the charge was diverted to the retiring partner before it reached the hands of  the assessee. The Tribunal thus held that this income cannot be assessed in the  hands of the assessee.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p> <strong>3.5.<\/strong> According to me, whereas the decision of the Mumbai Tribunal has been  correctly laid, it is also possible  support the decision from another angle. Some Courts have made a fine distinction  between an obligation which attaches to the source of income and an obligation  which attaches to the income itself According to these decisions, the diversion  of income is only in the former case and  in the later cases, it application of income. Without dwelling at length on these decisions,  I would invite the attention of the readers to the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of  <strong>CIT vs. Travancore Sugars and Chemicals Ltd<\/strong> [1973] 88 ITR 1 {SC}, which comes  to my mind. Here, it appears that the Apex Court has made an observation to the effect that where the obligation is attached to the profit earning apparatus, the  income can be said to be diverted at the source. On the other hand, if the  obligation is attached to the profit earning process, the payment may have to  be considered as to whether the same is allowable as expenditure from business  profits.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>   From the facts of  the case cited in the Mumbai Tribunal decision in the case of <strong>RSM &amp; Co<\/strong>, it  can be seen that there was a covenant in the partnership deed obliging the  partnership firm to pay an assured amount to a retiring partner. <strong><u>When the partners sign such a deed, the  covenant binds both the continuing partners and the retiring partners at the  time of future retirement. The effect of this covenant is that the  continuing partner would be entitled to continue the business of the  partnership only under a pre-condition that the retiring partner would be paid this  assured amount. In short, the profit earning apparatus of the partnership firm  is released by retiring partner in to the hands of the continuing partners  subject only to their commitment to this obligation. This is veritably a case, where  the obligation to pay an income is attached to the very source of income i.e.  the profit earning apparatus.<\/u><\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>Therefore, even viewing from this angle, it is possible to  also support the decision of that the Mumbai Tribunal in <strong>RSM &amp; Co<\/strong>&rsquo;s case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a name=\"link\" id=\"link\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"journal2\">\n[download id=&#8221;24&#8243;]\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<div class=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No practitioner can afford to be unaware of latest judgements &#038; whether experts view the judgement as being right or wrong. Towards that end, the author has agreed to take time out of his busy schedule to make an analysis of landmark judgements every quarter. In this part, the author has identified three landmark judgements analyzed them with a critical eye and identified their strengths &#038; shortcomings<\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/analysis-of-three-important-decisions-june-to-october-2011\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}