Supreme Court Of India
Chandra Ranganathan & Ors. vs. CIT
Section 10(10C)
Asst. Year 2004-05
Altamas Kabir & Cyriac Joseph, JJ.
Civil Appeal Nos. 6997 to 7002 of 2009
21st October, 2009
Counsel appeared :
Ms. V. Mohana, for the Appellants : Parag Tripathi with H.R. Rao, C.V. Subba Rao, Ms. Arti Gupta & B.V. Balaram Das, for the Respondent
JUDGMENT
By the court :
Leave granted. These appeals are directed against the order passed by the Madras High Court in several tax appeal cases where the question involved was with regard to the deduction available to the appellants under s. 10(10C) of the IT Act, 1961. The order of the CIT(A)-IV, Chennai, relating to the asst. yr. 2004-05, was questioned before the Tribunal, Chennai Bench, in ITA No. 986/Mad/2007, and other connected appeals, which were disposed of by the Tribunal upholding the claim for deduction made by the appellants. The same was the subject-matter of the tax appeal cases before the Bombay High Court, which refers to the order of the Tribunal on the basis of letter F.No. 225/74/2005-ITA-II dt. 20th Oct., 2005, of the CBDT so far as the RBI is concerned. The High Court held that having regard to the above letter of the CBDT, the amount received by the employees of the RBI opting for Optional Early Retirement Scheme do not qualify for deduction under s. 10(10C) of the aforesaid Act. During the course of hearing of these appeals, it was brought to our notice that by the subsequent letter dt. 8th May, 2009, issued by the CBDT, it was indicated that the matter had been reviewed on the basis of the judgment of the Bombay High Court dt. 4th July, 2008, in the case of CIT vs. Koodathil Kallyatan Ambujakshan (2008) 219 CTR (Bom) 80 : (2008) 12 DTR (Bom) 138 : (2009) 309 ITR 113 (Bom) and it was held that amounts received by retiring employees of the RBI would be eligible for exemption under the aforesaid provisions of the IT Act. On behalf of the Union of India and the CIT, the respondent herein, it was submitted that in view of the said circular, the respondent would allow the benefit of deduction to the appellants under s. 10(10C) of the IT Act, 1961, as far as the retired employees of the RBI are concerned. Having regard to the above, the appeals succeed and are allowed. The impugned order passed by the High Court is set aside and that of the Tribunal is restored. There will be no order as to costs.
[Citation : 326 ITR 49]
