CIT v. Shardlow India Ltd. (2020) 193 DTR 73 / 316 CTR 297 (Mad)(HC)

S. 47(v) : Capital gains – Transaction not regarded as transfer – Subsidiary to holding company – Not necessarily whole of the shares of the subsidiary company is held by holding company – A construction which results in rendering a provision redundant must be avoided – Entitle to exemption . [ S.47 (iv)]

Tribunal allowed the appeal of the assessee by observing that In the case before us, and in view of the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, it is not possible for the PFIPL to have less than two shareholders. As a matter of fact, there cannot be any company in India which has less than two members i.e. shareholders. Now the requirement of Section 47(v) is that the whole of the share capital of the subsidiary company should be held by the holding company. The whole of the share capital being held by the holding company is certainly not the same thing as whole of the share capital being held in the name of the holding company. In fact, that situation is a legal impossibility in India. In case one is to proceed on the basis that entire share capital of the subsidiary company should be held in the name of the holding company, there cannot be any situation in which section 47(v) can apply. That is certainly not an interpretation which can be termed as ut res magis valeat quam pereat, i.e. to make the statute effective rather than making it redundant. As held by Hon’ble Supreme court, in the case of CIT v . Teja Singh (1959 ) 35 ITR 408 (SC) a construction which results in rendering a provision redundant must be avoided. For this reason alone, the interpretation canvassed by the revenue is to be rejected. On appeal the High Court affirmed the order of the Tribunal (AY.2007-08)