ITAT Special Bench Explains Imp Law On Taxability Of Damages

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd vs. JCIT (ITAT Delhi) (Special Bench)

S. 37(1): If a claim of damages and interest thereon is disputed by the assessee in the court of law, deduction cannot be allowed for the interest claimed on such damages

Once a person has not voluntarily accepted a contractual obligation and further there subsists no legal obligation to pay qua such contractual claim at a particular time, it cannot be said that the person incurred any liability to pay at that point of time so as to make him eligible for deduction on that count. Notwithstanding the fact that obligation relates to an earlier year, the liability to pay arises only in the later year, when a final enforceable obligation to pay is settled against that person. In our considered opinion, there is no qualitative difference between the two situations, viz., first, in which no enforceable liability to pay is created in the first instance, and second, in which though the enforceable liability was initially created but the same stands wiped out by the stay on the operation of such enforceable liability. In both the situations, claimant remains without any legal right to recover the amount and equally the opposite party without any legal obligation to pay the same

 

CIT vs. Escorts Limited (Delhi High Court)

Making allegations of fraud against Dept’s Counsel and claiming that they deliberately presented weak case seeks to prejudice and interfere with due course of judicial proceedings & prima facie constitutes criminal contempt of court

The Court is of the opinion that given the nature of the conduct displayed by Sh. Gupta, i.e. preferring an application for intervention which was rejected; thereafter engaging in e-mail communications with the Standing Counsel and leveling allegations against them; addressing e-mails directly to this Court and finally, placing on record an affidavit detailing the allegations even while stating that he would withdraw some of them vis-a-vis the Standing Counsel, but would nevertheless press those allegations against the same individuals elsewhere, prima facie amounts to criminal contempt punishable in accordance with law. This Court has been informed that two of the Standing Counsels – Sh. Balbir Singh and Sh. Rohit Madan, who had previously appeared, have already recused themselves from the matter. The behaviour outlined above amounts to seeking to prejudice and interfere or tending to interfere with the due course of proceedings in the present appeals