On writ the Court held that in order to qualify as a capital asset as per the IT Act, it should be property of any kind held by an assessee, including, as per the legal fiction in Expln. 1 to s. 2(14), rights in or in relation to an Indian company, such as rights of management or control. Shares are indisputably capital assets because they qualify as movable goods under the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 and the Companies Act, 2013 and, consequently, fall within the scope of the expression “any property” in s. 2(14). ESOPs, by contrast, are rights in relation to capital assets, i.e. rights to receive capital assets (shares) subject to the terms and conditions of the ESOP scheme. Since the assessee has no rights in the Indian company of which he is an employee (other than as an employee), Expln. 1 is also not attracted.  Assessee, employee of step down subsidiary of FPS, held ESOPs of FPS and received monetary benefit at pre-exercise stage by way of compensation for diminution in value of stock options, since assessee did not make any payment towards ESOPs and continued to retain all ESOPs even after receipt of compensation, entire receipt would qualify as perquisite and would become liable to be taxed under head salaries.  (AY. 2024-25)