Kerala H.C : Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in allowing the claims of the assessee towards legal expenses, travelling expenses for appeal and expenses relating to strike amounting to Rs. 200, Rs. 37.30 and Rs. 4,044.24, respectively, the presumption being that s. 5(j) of the Kerala Agrl. IT Act, 1950, corresponds to s. 10(2)(xv) of the Indian IT Act, 1922 ?

Counsel Appeared

Government Pleader , for the State : T.L. Viswanatha Iyer, P.S. Narayanan, K.S. Menon, S.R.D. Prabhu, S.

Ramachandran & K. Hymavathy, for the Assessee

V. P. GOPALAN NAMBIYAR, C. J.:

These references are at the instance of the Revenue under s. 60 of the Kerala Agrl. IT Act, 1950. The questions of law referred for our determination are the same, the figures alone being different. The questions referred are :

ITR No. 109 of 1977 :

” Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in allowing the claims of the assessee towards legal expenses, travelling expenses for appeal and expenses relating to strike amounting to Rs. 200, Rs. 37.30 and Rs. 4,044.24, respectively, the presumption being that s. 5(j) of the Kerala Agrl. IT Act, 1950, corresponds to s. 10(2)(xv) of the Indian IT Act, 1922 ? “

ITR No. 125 of 1977 :

” Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the expenses incurred in connection with taxation matters are an allowable deduction in computing the agricultural income under s. 5 of the Kerala Agrl. IT Act, 1950 ? “

2. The question of the deductibility of legal and audit expenses was examined by us in the Division Bench ruling in Commr. Agrl. IT vs. Malayalam Plantations Ltd. (1978) 115 ITR 624. The decision was followed in IT Ref. No. 107 of 1977 (supra p. 390) and again in IT Ref. Nos. 50 and 108 of 1977 (supra p. 393). Following these decisions, we answer these questions in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue. There will be no order as to costs.

[Citation : 169 ITR 395]