# Co. Ltd v. Com'missioner of Income-tax Bombay 36 l.T.R

- **Citation:** [1970] 1 S.C.R. 199
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1969-04-03
- **Bench:** M. HloA'i[ATULLAH, J. C. Shah, V. Ramaswami, G. K. Mitter, A. N. Grover
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/co-ltd-v-com-missioner-of-income-tax-bombay-36-l-t-r-4744
- **Pages:** 6

## Headnote

Conipany-Allotn1ent of bonus shares against original holding of shares
-.\fethod of calculating profit or loss on sale of original and bonus shares.
The respon~nt" company was a dealer in shares.
In respect of each
of ils holdings
f shares in two different companies, it was allotted a s~t
of bonus shares which were to rank pari passu with the old shares. Upon
allotment of these bonus shares, the respondent company credited an. amount
.representing the face value of the bonus shares received free of cost to -
a capital reserve account. Later, both the old as well as the bonus shares
"·ere sold and, in its assessment to income tax for the assessment years
1949-50 and 1~50-51, the respondent assessee company showed a loss in
respect of the ~ale of one company's shares and a small profit on the sale
.of the second ~ompany's shares. Both the profit as well as the loss on
each transactiori was calculated by taking the actual price. paid for the old
~hares together with the face value of the bonus shares as the cost of acquirmg all the sba~es. -The Income-tax Officer did not acoept thi_s method of
calculation and~'he calculated the profit and the loss on. the two transactions
by spreading t e cost of acquiring the old shares over the total number
of shares inclu ing the bonus shares acquired free of cost. The Appellate
Assistant Comrliissioner as \vell as the Tribunal upheld his vie\v but, the
High Court, oci a reference, held in favour of the respondent assessee.
On appeal to this Court,
HELD : TJle correct method of determining the profit or Joss on the
sale of bonus shares in cases where bonus shares rank pari passu is to take
the cost of the! original shares and spread it over all the original as well as
the bonus shares and to find out the average price of all the shares. [203.
BJ
Dalmia Investment Company Ltd. ·v.
Com1nissioner of lncom~·lilX,
Bihar 41, I.T.i. 705; Con11nissioner of Inco1ne-tax, Bihar v. Dalmia Investment Co. Ltd. 52 I.T.R. 567; Commissioner of Income-tax,
Central Cal•
cut ta v. Gold ;Mohore Investment Co. Ltd. 68 I.T.R. 213 referred to.
En1erald &
1
Co. Ltd. v. Com'missioner of Income-tax Bombay 36 l.T.R.
257 considered and distinguished.
CML AiPELLATE JURISDICTION:
Civil Appeals Nos. 1236
and 1237 o 1967.
Appeal rom the judgment a,nd order dated April 27, 1963
of !he Calcutta High Court in Income-tax Reference No. 65 of
1954.
B. Sen, T. A. Ramachandran and R. N. Sachthey, for the
appellant ( iJl both the appeals) .
Sachin qhaudhuri, A. N. Mitter and I. N. Shroff, for the res·
pondent (in: both the appeals).

## Text

199
A
COMMISSIOJ1fflR OF INCOME·TAX, CENTRAL CALCUTl'A.
v.
B
c
D
E
G
H
GOLD MOHORE INVESTMENT CO. LTD.
April 3, 1969
[M. HloA'i[ATULLAH, C.J., J. C. SHAH, V. RAMASWAMI,
G. K. MITTER AND A. N. GROVER, JJ.]
Conipany-Allotn1ent of bonus shares against original holding of shares
-.\fethod of calculating profit or loss on sale of original and bonus shares.
The respon~nt" company was a dealer in shares.
In respect of each
of ils holdings
f shares in two different companies, it was allotted a s~t
of bonus shares which were to rank pari passu with the old shares. Upon
allotment of these bonus shares, the respondent company credited an. amount
.representing the face value of the bonus shares received free of cost to -
a capital reserve account. Later, both the old as well as the bonus shares
"·ere sold and, in its assessment to income tax for the assessment years
1949-50 and 1~50-51, the respondent assessee company showed a loss in
respect of the ~ale of one company's shares and a small profit on the sale
.of the second ~ompany's shares. Both the profit as well as the loss on
each transactiori was calculated by taking the actual price. paid for the old
~hares together with the face value of the bonus shares as the cost of acquirmg all the sba~es. -The Income-tax Officer did not acoept thi_s method of
calculation and~'he calculated the profit and the loss on. the two transactions
by spreading t e cost of acquiring the old shares over the total number
of shares inclu ing the bonus shares acquired free of cost. The Appellate
Assistant Comrliissioner as \vell as the Tribunal upheld his vie\v but, the
High Court, oci a reference, held in favour of the respondent assessee.
On appeal to this Court,
HELD : TJle correct method of determining the profit or Joss on the
sale of bonus shares in cases where bonus shares rank pari passu is to take
the cost of the! original shares and spread it over all the original as well as
the bonus shares and to find out the average price of all the shares. [203.
BJ
Dalmia Investment Company Ltd. ·v.
Com1nissioner of lncom~·lilX,
Bihar 41, I.T.i. 705; Con11nissioner of Inco1ne-tax, Bihar v. Dalmia Investment Co. Ltd. 52 I.T.R. 567; Commissioner of Income-tax,
Central Cal•
cut ta v. Gold ;Mohore Investment Co. Ltd. 68 I.T.R. 213 referred to.
En1erald &
1
Co. Ltd. v. Com'missioner of Income-tax Bombay 36 l.T.R.
257 considered and distinguished.
CML AiPELLATE JURISDICTION:
Civil Appeals Nos. 1236
and 1237 o 1967.
Appeal rom the judgment a,nd order dated April 27, 1963
of !he Calcutta High Court in Income-tax Reference No. 65 of
1954.
B. Sen, T. A. Ramachandran and R. N. Sachthey, for the
appellant ( iJl both the appeals) .
Sachin qhaudhuri, A. N. Mitter and I. N. Shroff, for the res·
pondent (in: both the appeals).
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
Ridayatoilah, C.J. These are two appeals by the Commis--
200
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1970] 1 S.C.R·
sioner of Income-Tax, Central, Calcutta against Messrs.
Gold
Mohore Investment Co. Ltd. and arise out of Income-tax Reference 65 / 54 decided by the Calcutta High Court on August 27,
1963. The point involved in the appeals is the va!W1tion of bonus
shares in the assessment yean ending March 31, 1950 and 1951.
respectively. The previous years corresponding to the assessment
years were the financial years ending 31st March, 1949 and 1950,
~espectively.
A
B
The Assessee Company is a dealer in shares.
Its method of
-valuation at the opening and closing of the stocks is to value
shares at cost. In the Asseesment Year 1949-50 the Company
..held 2,500 shares of the face value of Rs. 10 each in the Howrah
C
Mills Co. Ltd. They had been purchased at Rs. 85 per share
and the total cost to the Assessce Company was Rs. 2,12,500.
In June 1948 bonus shares were issued by the Howrah Mills Co.
Ltd. in proportion of three shares for every two original shares.
The bonus shares were to rank pari passu with the old shares. As
a result, the Assessee Company obtained 3750 shares of the face
value of Rs. 10 each. On August 2, 1948, the Assessce Company sold the original ;hares for Rs. 72,087 /8, i.e. at about
Rs. 29 per share.
On March 18, 1949 the Assessce Company
sold 3,750 shares for Rs. 95,250, that is to say, at Rs. 25 per
share. The Assessee Company computed a loss of Rs. 84,041/12.
It calculated the loss in the following manner :
D
---
E
~2500 shares
2,12,500-0-0
(old).
21-6-48
Cost of
1,379-4-0
transfer of
shares.
2-7-48
By cre<litin11
capital reserve a/c
with the face value
of bonus share.~
received free of
cost (3750).
370500-0-0
2,51,379-4-0
2-8-48
(2500) sh.
(old).
18-3-49
(37SO) sh.
(bonus)
..
(1000) •h.
bonus.
Loss
to P
AT a/c 6250
62SO sh.
72.087-8-0
70,125.f :,
. 25,125·0-0
84,041-12-0
2,s1,379-4-0"
The bonus shares when they were issued were included in the
trading account.
According to the Assessee Company the bonus
shares had fetched as profit Rs. 95,250 less the face value of the
shares, Rs. 37 ,500. This profit was set off against the loss on
the original shares Rs. 2,12,500 less Rs. 72,087/8, giving
the
overall los of Rs. 84,041/12, as stated above.
The Income-tax Officer did not accept this mode of calculation.
According to him the loss was Rs.
46,541-12-0 as
follows :
F
G
H
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
C.I.T, V. GOLD INVESTMENT CO. (Hidayatul/ah, C./,)
20~
"Dr.
o.s. 2500
s1'. (sold)
Sold
Rs.
a.p.
2,12,500-0-0
21-6-48
Cost of transfer 1,378-4-0
; of shares.
2-7-48 (3700)
sh. bonus (sic.)
Nil
Loss to P&L a/c
Cr.
Rs.
a.p.
2-4-48 (2500) sh .• 72,087-8-0
old.
18-3-49 (2750)
70,125-0-0
bonus.
18-3-49 (1000)
25,125-0-0
bonus.
46,541-12-0
2,13,879-4-0
2,13,879-4-0"
On appeal t;i the Tribunal as to which method was correct, the
Tribunal accepted the method of valuation of the Income-tax
Officer.
In the A$sessment year 1950-51, the account year being
1949-50, the. Assessee Company held 122 first pref.erence shares
of Fort Gloster Jute Company Ltd. which had cost to the assessee
company Rs., 22,883/12/-. In the year of account there was an
issue of bonus shares (second preference) and the Assessee Company receive4 137 shares of the face value of Rs. 100 each. The
Asses see Company sold 125 .shares
(second preference)
for
Rs. 14,500. It was, therefore, left with 122 shares (first preference) and 12 shares
(second preference). The Assessee
Company returned a profit of Rs. 1,997 as follows :
"Dr.
Rs.
a.p.
Cr.
Rs.
a.p.
o.s. (122)
1st Pref.
23,883-12-0
18-3-49 <125) 2nd 14,500-0•0
Pref.
(137)
2nd Pref.
13,703-0.0
C.S. (122) 1st
Profit P&L a/c
l,997-0-0
!st Pref. (12)
23,883-12-0
(259)
(12) 2nd Pref.
1,200-0.0
39,583-12-0
(259)
39,583-12-0"
It will be seen that the cost of bonus shares was shown at the
face value of the shares plus a minor charge of Rs. 3. Rs:
13,703 were credited to capital reserve. The Income-tax Officer
spread out the cost of 122 1st preference shares (Rs. 23,883/12)
over the 122 shares (first preference) and 137 shares
(second
preference). He worked out the average cost at Rs. 92/3/6 per
share and found the profit to be Rs. 2,973. His method of calculation was as follows :
uor.
Sold
Cr.
o.s. 122
!st Pref.
23,833-12-0
14-4-49 125 Pref. 14,503-0-0
137 2nd Pref. free of
Nil
C.S. 122 !st Pref.
C<l<t.
12 2nd Pref.
@92/3/6
12,357-5-0
Profit to P&L a/c
2,973-9-0
(259)
26,857-S-0
(259)
26,851-S-O"
L12SIPCI/69 14
202
SUPREME COUllT REPORTS
[1970] I S.C.R.
Tue Ttibunal confirmed the assessment as made by the A
Income-tax Officer.
It may' be pointed out that the Appellate
Assistani Commissioner had in each case confirmed the order of
the ·income-tax Officer.
The Income-tax Appellate Tribunal then made a reference to
the High Court and referred the following questions for the deterB
mination of the High Court :
"1949-50.
"Whether in the facts and
circumstances herein
stated the assessee carrying on share dealing business,
can add Rs. 37,500 being the face
value of
bonus
shares issued to it free of cost on the basis of its old
C
share-holding, as cost of Its share holding for the purpose of determining loss in dealing in Howrah Mills
Co. Ltd. shares?"
195<1-5!.
"Whether in
the facts and
circumstances hereir.
D
stated, the assessee carrying on share dealing business,
can add Rs. 13,700 being the face value of bonus share>
issued to it free of cost on the basis of its old share holdings, as cost of its share holding for the
purposes of
determining profit in dealing in Fort Gloster Jute Co.
shares?"
E
The High Court, by its judgment dated August 27, 1963, following its decision in Income-tax reference No.
54/1960
(from
which Civil Appeal 1239 of 1967 is also being decided today)
held in favour of the Assessee Company. The High Court purported to follow a decision of the Patna High Court reported in
Dalmia Investment Company Ltd. v. Commissioner of IncomeF
tax, Bihar(').
Mr. Sen, in dealing with these appeals, points out that the
decision of the Patna High Court in 41 I.T.R. 705 was re·,ersed
by this Court in Commissioner of Income-tax, Bihar v. Dalmia
Investment Co. Ltd. (2) and the decision of this Court has further
G
been followed in Commissioner of Income-tax, Central, Calcutta
v. Gold Mohore Investment Co. Ltd. (1). He contends that the
method adopted by the Income-tax Officer in relaticm to the Fort
Gloster Jute shares is
the method approved of by this Court,
namely, that where the shares are pari passu and the valuation is to
·be made at cost, the price of the original shares must be spread
over the old and the new shares and they must be held to have
11
(t) 41 !.T.R. 70S.
(2) S2l.T.R, S67.
(.1) 68 l.T.R. 213.
C.I.T. v. GOLD INVESTMENT co. (Hidayatu/lah, C.l.)
203
A been P"1rcbased at the average cost and the profit or loss is to be
calculated accordingly.
In the decision of this Court in Dalmia
Investment Co. Ltd. ( 1 ) four methods of calculation were considered.
The first method is to take the cost as equivalent to the
face value of the bonus shares.
This method was followed by
the Assessee Company.
The second method is to take the cost
B · of the bonus shares at Nil, a method adopted by the Income'tax
Officer in relation to the Howrah Mills Co. Ltd. A third method
is to take the cost of the original shares and to spread it over the
original shares and the bonus shares taken collectively, and a fourth
method is to find out the fall in the price of the original shares at
the stock exchange and to attribute this to the bonus shares. After
c . considering all the four methods, this Court held that the correct
method to apply in cases where bonus shares rank pari passu is
to follow the third method, namely. to take the cost of the origi·
nal shares and to spread it over all the original as well as the
bonus shares and to find out the average price of all the shares:
D
E
F
G
H
These cases would normally have been decided on the strength
of the ruling of this Court but a doubt arose because in an
earlier decision reported in Emerald & Co. Ltd. v. Commissior.er
of Income-tax, Bombay(2 ), this Courts seemed to 'have approved
of another method. In that case the bonus shares were not sold.
In applying different methods, the difference was only R•. 18
and the. Court did not, therefore, express a final view on the
matter and accepted the calculation of the Tribunal which was
to ignore the bonus shares which were not sold and to calculate .
the profit and Joss on the basis of the original shares, their c;ost
and sale prices.
The Court observed as follows :
" .... The bonus shares are still there, and
have
not been sold.
When they are sold, the question will
arise as to what they cost. The books of the assessees
company, as stated in the statement of the case, include
the clos~g stock at cost price.
In calculating profit
and loss m the manner·done by the Tribunal, there is no
de~arture from this system.
All the ordinary shares
which were bought were sold. Their purchase price is.
known, as also their sale price.
The first assessment
is closed, so far as the assessee company is concerned . ... ".
In o~er words, this Court did not go into !he question of the
· valuallon of the bonus shares at all but deCided the case on the
basis of the original. holdings, its cos~ price and its sale price.
The matter was gone mto more closely m the Dalmia's case(') and
every method of calculation was considered there. We were
(I) 41 l.T.R. 705.
(2) 36 I.T.R. 25;,
204
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1970] I S.C.R.
invited to depart from the decision in the Dalmia' s case ( 1) was to
take the view which ap~ared to have been taken in the Emerald's
case('). We have considered the matter once again and are of
opinion that the method followed in the Dalmia's case (1) is the
correct method and there seems to be some error in s~:f, that
the method of the Tribunal in Emerald's case(') was
y accepted. Perhaps the Court intended saying that the method of the
Income-tax Officer was preferable but by error put down the name
of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal. In any case that case did
not decide the matter fully because as the Court itself observed the
dilference in the two methods only resulted in Rs. 18 being either
added to or deducted from the ultimate result.
We accordi,ngly accept the third method.
The
an.~era recorded by the High Court are discharged and we answer the
qu~tions in the negative.
The cases will be disposed of in the
light ol our observations by the Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal
by calculating the profit and loss by !preading the cost over the
original and the bonus shares and finding out the average cost
per share.
The appeals are allowed with costs.
R.K.P.S.
Appeal allowed.
(l) 41 LT.R. 705
(2) 36 L T.R. 2ST
B
c
D
...