Holding

Receipts from the sale of trees of spontaneous growth, where the stumps and roots were retained and the purpose was land protection for cultivation, are capital receipts and not taxable as income.

Summary

The assessee, a Hindu undivided family owning agricultural land in Kerala, sold about 367 spontaneously grown trees, retaining the stumps and roots, under an agreement that prohibited cutting the sprouts. The Income‑Tax Officer treated the entire consideration of Rs 1,75,000 as taxable income, while the assessee argued it was a capital receipt linked to conversion of the land for cultivation. The High Court held the receipts to be of a capital nature, distinguishing earlier cases where trees were felled for regeneration. The Supreme Court affirmed the High Court, applying the ratio from A.K.T.K.M. Vishnudatta Antharjanam, observing that the intention was to protect the land for agriculture, not to generate future timber income, and therefore the proceeds are not assessable under the head "Other Sources". All six appeals filed by the Commissioner were dismissed.

Issues considered

The receipts from the sale of trees of spontaneous growth, where stumps and roots were left, are assessable to income‑tax or are capital in nature.
If assessable, under which head of income should they be taxed?

Legislation cited

Income Tax Act, 1961s. 148, s. 271(1)(a), s. 273(b)

Subjects

capital receiptrevenue receiptsale of treesspontaneous growthincome taxintentionregenerationagricultural landSection 148Section 271Section 273

Judgment

539

COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, KERALA A
v.
AMBAT ECHUKUTTY MENON
September 6, 1979
[N. L. UNTWALIA AND R. S. PATHAK, JJ.] B

Income Tax Act 1961--Capital Receipt & Revenue Receipt-Sale of trees of
spontaneous growth-Purchaser to cut and remove' trunks of trees only-Stumps
and roots embedded in soi~ 'not to be disturbed-Proceeds of sale whether liable
to be taxed as 'income'.

On a vast area of agricultural land owned by' the assessee there were a.bout
c
772 trees some of which were of spontaneous growth.

Clauses 12 and 13 of the agreement by which the assessee sold some trees
provided that the trees should be cut without pulling the stumps.

The Income Tax Officer, held that the trees were of spontaneous growth and D
assessed the whole of the income from the sale of trees to income-tax.

The Appellate Assistant Commissioner allowed the assessee's appeal in part
holding that only the amount actually received during the accounting year, was
assessable to income-tax.

Appeals preferred by the assessee as well as the department to thei Income Tax
Appellate Tribunal were dismissed but references were made to the High Court E
on the question whether the receipts from the sale of trees of spontaneous growth
were assessable to tax and if so, whether assessable under the head 'other sources'.

The High Court held that the receipts from the sale of the trees were of a
capital nature, and decided the references in favour of the assessee and against
the department.

• F

,_
-, Dismissing the appeals the Court,

HEID : (per Untwalia, J.)

(1) The High Court rightly distinguished the decision in V. Venugopala
Varma Raiah v. Commissioner of Income-tax, Kerala, 76 ITR 460 and applied
• ~e rativ of that in A. K. T. K. M. Vishnudatta Antharjanam v. Commissioner G
of Agricultural Income Tax, Trivandrum, 78 ITR 58, (549FJ

~ (2) In Venugopala Varma Rajah v. Commissioner of Income Tax, Kerala, 16
lTR 460, this Court held that if a person sells merely leaves or fruit of the trees
14- or even branches of the trees it would be difficult to hofd that the realization is
not of the nature of income. Where the trunks are cut so that the stumps re·
main intact and capable of regeneration, receipts from sale of the trunks would H
be in the nature on income. By selling a part of the trunk, the assessee does not
necessarily realise a part of his capital, (546A, D-E]
540 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1980] l s.c ..R.

A (3) In A. K. T. K. M. Vishnuda/la Anth'arjanam v. Commissioner of Agri-
cultural Income Ta:t1 Trivandrum, 78 ITR 58, a case of sale of. trees with roots.
this Court applied the test laid down by the Privy Council in the Cbmmissioner
of Income Tax, Bengal v. Mjs. Shaw, Wallace and Co., 6 ITC 178 and held tha~
"the source is not necessarily one which is expected to be continuously produc.
tive, but it must be one who'se object is the production of a definite return exclud-
ing anything in the· nature of a mere windfall. Once the teak trees were removed
B together with their roots and there was no prospect of regeneration or of any
production of a ·return therefrom, it could well be· said that the source ceased to
be one which could produce any income." Although the test laid down by the
Privy Council has been whittled down by subsequent pronouncements, yet ill the \.
matter of sale of trees when this Court appHed the same test in VishnudaJta's
case it was for the purpose of laying stress on the object of the felling of trees.
[546G, 547A-Cl
c ( 4) If the object of felling the trees leaving the roots and stumps intact is
for regeneration of income, lhW. whether income is regenerated or not is imma-
terial. But in a case, where the trees are sold by uprooting the roots nobody can
say that there could be any object of regeneration of income from the trees grow-
ing again as there was no question of a second growth at all. Similarly \Yhen
the trees are sold and allowed to be felled by leaving the roots and stuml"' intact
D then in case of trees of spontaneous growth there is a likelihood of fresh sprouting
and further growth of trees on the left out roots and stumps, The presumption
in such cases would be that the owner did it with the object of regenerating the
incon:ie. There can be cases· like the instant one, where the roots and stumps
were not allowed to be uprooted and cut by the licensee or the lessee, yet the
object was not the regeneration of the trees, but a protection of the land even-
tually to be used for the purpose of cultivation. [547D-FJ
E In the instant case, tho agreement dated 28-11-1960 indicates that the transac-
tion was not a sale of trees with roots and stumps, for clauses 12 and 13 of the
agreement impose a prohibition that after the, cutting, sprouts were not to be cut.
The object of the assessee was to protect the land falling vacant after the cutting
of the tree. from being damaged by the licensee by at random cutting of the
stumps and uprooting of the roots. [547G, 548B-C]
F ( 5) In order to net the receipt as a revenue receipt it is for the department to
reject the assessee's stand and to hold that the object of the assessee in not
allowing the licensee to cut the stumps and uproot the roots was a regenera 4

tion of the income. By the time the assessment was completed by the Income
Tax Officer an area of ten acres had been converted into cultivable land.
[549 E-F]
(per Pathak, J. concurring)
G
1. The instant case does not fall either within V. Venugopala Varma Raiah
v. Commissioner of Income Tax, Kera/a, 16 !TR 460 or A. K. T. K. M. 'Vishnu-
datta. Antharja11am v. Commissioner .of Agricultural Income Tax, Trivandrum.
78 ITR 58. It is a case where although the stumps and roots remained after the
trees were felled and removed by the purchaser, the regeneration of the trees was
not to be allowed and, therefore, a profit-making activity could not be spelled out
H (5500]
2. Where trees are felled· and removed, the stumps and roots are allowed to
remain on the land with a view to regeneration of the trees, the intention of the
c.r.T. v. A. ECHUKUTTY (Untwa/ia, !.) 50

e-wner would be to indulge in a profit-making activity. The receipt from the sale
of the trunks would be revenue receipts. [550B]

3. There was no intention in this case to reserve the stumps and roots for
the purpose of allowing regeneration of the trees, and the intention and subse·
fJ.Uent conduct of the assessee established that the stipulation against removal of
the stumps and roots was intended to protect the surface of the land from indis·
criminate injury because the land was to be applied, to cultivation. Intention is
1 B
a material factor in su~h cases, and each case has to be decided on its particular
, facts. Without evidence, of the intention or object behind such a stipulation the
mere fact that the trees were sold withOut stumpis and roots cannot lead to the
necessary inference that a profit making activity was involved. [550C·D]

4. Where the evidence shows that the land has been acquired for the purpose
of cultivation, and that the prohibition on the purchaser against removing the C,
1tumps and roots was intended to prevent undue interference with the soil, and
the assessee did not intend to permit regeneration of the trees, and.that he had
in fact later put the land to cultivation, the payments received on sale of the
trunks cannot be regarded as taxable income. [550E]

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal Nos. 2242-
2247 of 1972. D
Appeals by special leave from the Judgment .and Order dated
1-12-1971 of the KeraJa: High Court in Income Tax Ref. No. 29/70,
30/70, 71, 92, 97 and 98/69.
P. A. Francis, G. A. Shah and Miss A. Subhashini for the Appel-
lant_ E
S. T. Desai, Mrs. S. Vaidyalingam, !. B. Dadachanji, Mrs. A. K.
Verma and Monje! Kumar for the Respondents.
The following Judgments were delivered :
UNTWALIA, J.-These six appeals by special leave preferred by F
the Commissioner of IncomNax from the judgments of the Kerala
High Court are all inter-conriected and arise out of different proceed-
ings in relation to one assessment year only. They have, therefore,
been -heard together and are being disposed of by this judgment.

The assessee-respondent is a Hindu undivided fainily owning large G
agricultural lands in the State of Kerala'. In 1905 the faniily pur-
chased in court auction some lands covering an area of about 200
acres. There were two irrigational channels in the land drawing
• water from a river. According to the Sanad, there were about 772
trees of various kinds like Karimpana, coconut trees, jack trees, ta-
marind trees, Maruthu etc. There were other trees of spontaneous B
growth but they were not in one block. They were intersperse\)
,imong the paddy fields as the land aforesaid was meant for paddy
16--53 ISCI/79
542 SUPREMJ! COUllT REPORTS [1980] 1 s.c.R.

cultivation. By an agreement dated November 28, 1960 the assessee
sold to one Ve!appa Rowther trees from about 60 acres of land form-
ing part of the 200 acres aforesaid. Since the original term stipu-
lated in connection with the payment df money by Rowther could ·not
be adhered to by him, further agreements were entered into defer-
ring and spreading the payments over some years. The assessee
8 under the impression that the money which it received from 'Rowther
on account of sale of trees was not chargeable to income-tax under the.
Indian Income.-Tax Act did not file any voluntary return. On Febru-
ary 28, 1963 the Income-Tax Officer, Palghat wrote to the Karanavan
of the assessee family pointing out that he had information that the
assessee had leased certain private forests to Ve!appa Rowther for cut-
c ting timber; and that the assessee had received Rs. 75,000/- durin:
the relevant year. The corresponding assessment year would be
1961-62. The assessee was asked to explain why no voluntary ret~
had been filed. In reply to the letter of the Income-Tax Officer the
assessee wrote a letter dated the 3rd April,. 1963 stating therein that
D there was no iease but an out and out sale of the entire standing tim-
ber trees except certain specified varieties and that the sale was affect·
ed with a view to extend wet or dry cultivation in its fields in the area;
the receipt therefrom were of 11.. capital nature or in any event it was
an agricultural income. Tho assessee, however, concluded i~ letter

E
by stating that he had no deliberate intention of avoiding to file
any return. If the Income,.Tax Officer so desired, he was ready te
-<·
.
comply with his direction.

Thereafter the Incom~Tax Officer served a notice on ,the assesseb
under section 148 of the Income-Tax Act, 1961, hereinafter called
the Act. In response to the same the assessee filed a return on
25. 3 .1966 showing a total net income of Rs. 626 .63 paise for the
previous year ending on 31.3 .1961. The Income-Tax Officer he'ld ·
that out of the total number of trees numbering 772 four varieties were
not sold· and roughly speaking the number of trees sold and allowed

G
to be cut as per the agreement came to 367. The trees were of spon-
taneous growth and the whole of the amount of Rs. 1, 75,0001-, al-
though the whole of it was not paid during the accounting year, re-
presented the assessee's income which had accrued as per the teTI11$
-
l
of the agreement in that very year. .He accordingly assessed the whole
of the amount to income-tax. •
The Appellate Assistant Commissioner allowed the appeat of the
B assessee in part andheld that only a sum of Rs 75,0001-, the amount·
actually received during the accounting year, was assessable to m-
come-tax in the asses8mcct year 1961-62. The !lSsessee as well ~
C.I.T. v. A. ECHUKUTTY (Untwalia, !.) 543

the department both preferred appeals before the Income-Tax Appel- A ),
late Tribunal from the order df the Appellate Assistant Commis·
sioner. The Tribunal by its order dated the 16th November, 1968
<liimissed both the appeals.

• At the instance of the assessee the Tribunal stated a case which
B
was, numbered as Reference No. 30 of 1970 and referred the follow-
ing question of law to the High Court for its opinion : -

"Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the
case, the receipts from the sale of trees of spontaneous
growth were assessable to tax and if so, whether assessable
under 'Other Souices' ?" c
I

. The High Court by its judgment, since reported in Ambat Echukutty
Menon v. Commissioner of Income-Tax, Ernakulam(') has answered
the question in the negative, in favour of the assessee and against the
department. Civil Appeal No. 2247 arises out of Reference No. 30 D
of 1970.

At the instance of the Revenue also the Tribunal made a Refer-
ence being Reference No. 29/1970 and the question of law referred
to the High Court is in
the following terms : -
E
"Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the
case, the whole of the sum of Rs. 1,75,000/- was not asses-
sable to tax in the previous year ending on 31 .3 .1961 rele-
vant for the assessment year 1961-62."

Since the High Court in the main Reference opined that the receipt F
from the sale of the trees were of a capital nature this Reference was
also answered in favoui of the assessee. Civil Appeal No. 2242 arises
out of Reference No. 29 of 1970. '

The Income-Tax Officer initiated' penalty proceedings against the G
a$sessee, one under section 271 (1) (a) of the Act and the other under
section 273 (b), the former being for the alleged failure of the assessee
to furnish the return for the period in question and the latter for its
• alleged failure to furnish an estimate of the advance tax payable. In
relation to the penalty proceeding under section 27l(l)(a) of the
Act, two References were made to the High Court, one at the ins- H
tmce of the Revenue and the other at the assessee's instance and two
(1) 87 I.T.R. 129.
544 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1980) l S.C.R.

A References were similarly made in re!a:tion to the perial.ty proceeding
under section 273(b). As a, consequence of the main judgment of
the High Court in Reference No. 30 of 1970 all these four References
a1so had to be disposed of in favour of the assessee. Civil Appeal&
2243 to Civil Appeals 2246 have been preferred by the department
in these penalty proceedings.
8
Since, in our view, for the reasons to be stated hereinafter the
judgment of the High Court in the main Reference giving rise to: \
Civil Appeal 2247 is correct and the said appeal has to fail on that
accqunt, it is plain that the other five appeals fail as a corollary to the
c same and have got to be dismissed a8 such. I now proceed to dis-
cuss and, decide the relevant question of law in the main. appeal.

Before I notice and advert to some special facts of this case it
would be better to haw a, resume of some deciSions df thel High. Courts
and this Court taking one view or the other in relation to the sale of
D trees, some cases holding that it is a capital receipt and some cases
concluding in different situations and on different facts that it is a.
revenue receipt. In Commissioner! of Income-tax, Madras vi. T. Man-
avedan Tirumalpad(') a Full Bench of the Madras High Court held
that the receipts from the sale of timber trees by the owner of un-
assessed forest lands in Malabar_were chargeable to income-tax. Such
E
trees were treated as usufruct1 from the land like paddy from land and
minerals from mines. Similarly the Oiidh Chief Court expressed the
,;iew in Maharaja of Kapurthala v. Commissioner of lnco/116-Tax, C.P.
& U.P. ( 2 ) that the net receipts from the sale of forest trees are income
liable to income-tax even though the forest would be gradually exhaus-
F ted by fe!Iings. This was a case of forest trees of spontaneous growth
growing on land which was assessed to land revenue. The Patna case
viz. Raja Bahadur Kamakshya Narain Singh v. Commissioner of In-
come-Tax, Bihar and Orissa( 8 ) was also a case of the receipts from
the sale of forest trees. In Fringford Estates Ltd., Calicut v. Commis-
sioner of Income-Tax, Madras(•) the sale of timber comprised in
G the trees from the forest was on a business line and the profits derived
from the same were held to be assessable to income-tax on the princi- •
l"le that profits derived from capital which is consumed or exhausted
in the process of realization are nonetheless the taxable income.
•
(I) I.L.R. 54 Madras, 21=A.I.R. J930, Madras, 764.
H (2) 13 I.T.R. 74.
(3) 14 I.T.R. 673.
(4) 20 I.T.R. 385.
C.J.T. v. A. ECHUKUTTY (Untwalia, J.) 545

The other cases taking the view that money received by sale of A
~coi; is a capital receipt are of the nature where trees hltve not been
treated as usufruct of the land. They were treated as part of the capi-
tal assets and the receipts from the sale of such trees retained the same
dtlirac(er. In Commissioner of Income-Tax, Bombay South v. N. T.
Patwardhan(') the Bombay High Court was dealing with a case of
B
the sale once for all of the trees with roots even -though they were of
the spontaneous growth. The receipts from such sales were held to
,·-... be capital in nature. The Kerala High Court in State of Kerala v.
Karimtharuvi Tea Estate Ltd. (2) was concerned with the sale of fire-
wood of gravelia trees grown and maintained in tea gardens for the
purpose of affording shade to tea plants. Even sale proceeds of forest c
trees failed for the purpose of coffee plantation in the land were held
to be capital receipts by the Mysore High Court in the case of Com-

-
1·. missioner of Income-Tax, Mysore v. H. B. Van lngen(') and the
Madras High Court in the case of Commissioner of lncome-·Tax, Mad-
ras v. M. S. P. Nadar Sons('). Similarly sale of dead and wind-fallen
trees and trees planted for shades were held to be. bringing receipts of D
capital nature vide Flixir Plantations Ltd. v. Commissioner of lncome-
Tax(') and Consolidated Coffee Estates (1943) Ltd. v. Commissioner
of Agricultural Income-Tax, Mysore(').
In Commissioner of Income-Tax, Kera/a v. Venugopala Varma
Raja(') the Kerala High Court was concerned with the trees of spon- E
taneous growth. Obviously the income was not agricultural income.
The owner of a forest had derived income from a lease of the forest
which came' within the ambit. of the Madras Preservation of Private
Forests Act, 1949. The lease was for "clear felling" which had a defi-
nite and specific meaning under Rule 7 framed unde~ the said Act. It
did not permit a removal of the trees along with their roots. The felling
of the trees had to be done in such a way as to permit the regeneration
and future growth of the trees concerned. "In other words, what is
contemplated by the clear felling method is not the sterilisation of an
asset but the removal of a growth above a particular height, leaving:
intact the roots and the stamps in such a manner as to ensure regene-
ration, future growth, further felling and a subsequent income" (page G
803). On that account it was held that it was a revenue receipt and

• (I) 41 I.T.R. 313 .
(2) 51 I.T.R. 129.
(3) 53 I.T.R. 681.
(4) 87 I.T.R. 202_.
(5) 71 I.T. R. 741. II
(6) 76 I.T.R. 29.
(7) 67 l.T.R. 8'.'2.
546 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1980] 1 S.C.R.

'A not a capital ooe. The case came up to this Court and the view of the
High Court was eventually upheld. The decision df this Court is
. reported in V. Venugopala Varma Rajah v .. Commissioner of Income-
Tax, Kerala('). A supplementary statement of the case was called
for by this Court but ultimately the decision turned round the true im-
port of the expression "clear felling". Some of the earlier decisions
B of the various High Courts noticed by me above were referred and it
was thought that there was some conflict between them, yet finally
without resolving the conflict, the view expressed at page 466 by this
Court with reference to the facts of the case was in these terms : -
"It is not necessary for the purpose of this case to enter
c upon a detailed analysis of the principle underlying the. deci-
sions and to resolve the conflict. On the finding in the pre-
sent case it is clear that the tress were not removed with roots.
The stumps of the trees were allowed to remain in the land so
that the trees may regenerate. If a person sells merely leaves
or fruit of the trees or even branches of tbe trees it would be
D difficult [subject to the special exemption under section
4(3) {viii) of the Income-tax Act, 1922] to hold that the re-
alization is not of the natW:e of income. Where the trunks
are cut so that the stumps remain intact and capable of rege-
neration, receipts from sale of the trunks would be in the
nature of income. It is true that the tree is a part of the land.
E But by selling a part of the trunk, the assessee doos not neces-
sarily realise a part of his capital. We need not consider
whether in case there is a sale of the trees with the roots so
that there is no possibility of regeneration, it may be said that
the realisation is in the nature of capital. That question does
F not arise in the present case."
The question, however, of sale of trees with roots arose before this
Court shortly after in A. K. T. K. M. Vishnudatta Antharjanam v.
Commissioner of Agricultural Income-Tax, Trlvandrum(2). Shah J.,
as he then was, who had delivered the judgment in Venugopala's case
(supra) was a party in this case also, the judgment of which was deli-
G vered by Grover J. The test laid down by the Privy Council in The •
Commissioner of Income-tax, Bengal v. Messts Shaw Wallace and
Company(') was applied and it was said at page 61 : -
"According to that test, income connotes a periodical
monetary return coming in with some sort of regularity or
H (I) 76 I.T.R. 460.
(2) 78 1.T.R. 58.
(3) 6 I.T.C. 178.
C.I.T. v. A. ECHUKUTTY (Untwa!ia, !.) 54 7

expected regularity from definite sources._ The source is not A
necessarily one which is expected to be continnously pro-
.•. ductive, but it must be one whose object is the production of
a definite return excluding anything in the nature of a mere
windfall. Once the teak tree<> were removed together with
their roots and there was no prospect of regeneration or of
B
any production of a return therefrom, it could well be said
that the source ceased to be one which co11ld produce any
income."

I am aware that the test laid down by Sir George Lowndes in Shaw
Wallace case has been whittled down to a very large extent by subse-
quent pronouncements of the Privy Council e.g. in Gopal Saran Narain
c
Singh v. C.I.T.(') and Kamakshya Narain Singh v. C.l.T.,( 2 ) yet in
~.
the matter of sale of trees when this Court applied the same test in
Vishnudatta's case it was for the purpose of laying stress on the object
of the felling of the trees. The return may be one and only one. But
if the object of felling the trees leaving the roots alld stumps intact is D
for regeneration of income, then whether income is regenerated or not
is immaterial. But in a case where the trees are sold by uprooting the
roots no body can say that there coul.d be any object of regeneration of
income from the trees growing again as there was no question of a
second growth at all. Similarly, ordinarily and generally, when the
trees are sold and allowed to be felled by leaving the roots and stumps E
intact then in case of trees of spontaneous growth there is a likelihood
of fresh sprouting and further growth of trees on the left out roots
and stumps. The presumption in such cases generally would be that
· the owner did it with the object of regenerating the income. But
there may be case, although few and far between, like the one with
which we are concerned here where the roots and stumps were not F'
allowed to be uprooted and cut by the licensee or the Jessee yet the ob-
ject was not the regeneration of the trees but a protection of the land
eventually to be used for the purpose of cultivation. In this back-
ground of the Jaw, I now proceed to refer to the special facts of this
case.
G
Clauses 12 and 13 of the ageement dated 28.11.1960 entered into
between the assessee and Velappa Rowther are as follows : -
•
" ( 12) The trees in the reared forest have to but cut
neatly and the relative stumps should not be either pulled
out or cut out. B
(I) 3 T.T.R. 237.
(2) 11 T.T.R. 513
548 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1980] 1 S.C.ll.

(13) No. 3 should not enter on the lands from where
trees are cut or on the sprouts coming up from there. After
the cuttings sprouts are not to be cut."
No. 3 referred in clause (13) is the said Rowther. On the face
of the agreement, therefore, the transaction was not a sale of trees wit,h
B roots and stumps. Rather there was a prohibition that after the
cutting, sprouts were not to be cut. The agreement, however, did
not indicate as to what was the object of the assessee in incorporating
clauses (12) and (13) in the agreement. Was it the regeneration of
the trees for earning more income or was it something else ? The
subsequent conduct of the assessee as appeared from the facts placed
c before the Income-tax authorities without anything more will indicate
that the object of the assessee was to protect the land falling vacant
after the cutting of the trees from being damaged by the licensee by at
random cutting of the stumps and uprooting of the roots. The trees
sold were spread in an area of 60 acres of land only. Even in that
area the trees were not in any thick or contiriuous forest. They were
D
interspersed by paddy fields. In its very first communication to the
Income-Tax Officer sent on 3-4-1963 the assessee perhaps was made
aware of the decision of the Kerala High Court in Commissioner of
Income-Tax, Kerala v. Venugopala Varma Raia (') which was a case
of private fore~t governed by the Madras Act. The assessee, therefore,
E claimed that there were no private forests in Cochin area of Kerala
where the land was situated. The assessee asserted that in substance
and in effect the sale was of the entire standing timber i.e. totality of
the trees and "the sale was effected with a view to extend wet or dry
cultivation to that area as well since the standing trees were a hind-
rance for such extensions." In this very letter the assessee also asser-
F ted-"This is the very first time that our Thavazhi has sold the 'trees.
The trees, the subject matter of the sale contract, were there at the
time of the purchase of the agricultural lands by our Tl;avazhi in 1080
•
_.

M.E. The trees were old trees. No tree had been sold filter our
Thava~i became the owner of the agricultural lands. A large extent
of agricultural lands was purchased and these trees formed part and
G parcel of such holdings. None of us know when the trees began t•
grow. After purchase of the lands we had developed the same and
•
in the process we sold the trees with the object mentioned above. The
present sale has been the only sale and it will be the last one also
since our idea is to extend ccl.tivation to this area as well."
B The Tribunal in its appellate order noticed the argument of the
assessee that its sole occupation was agriculture and the attraction in
(!) 67 l.T.R. 802. j
C.I.T. v. A. ECHUKUTTY (Untwalia, J.) 50

the purchase of the land in the year 1905 was two irrigational channels A
contained therein. It also noticed the other facts stated in the letter
aforesaid of the assessee and finally concluded on the basis of clans~
(12) and (13) of the agreemeht-"If is clear from these that the asses-
see was reserving to itself the results of the future-growth and a source
of income." The case was squarely covered, in its opinion, by the
decision of the Kerala High Court in Venugopala's case. It further B
observed that the assessee was claiming exemption and it was upto him
to furnish all the information as to what trees would not regenerate,
what kind of trees were sold etc. The assessee had failed to furnish
these details. Yet it would be noticed that without rejecting the asses-
see's stand that the transaction in question was the first and the last c
sille of trees by the assessee and without finding that the object of the
assessee was not to convert the land for cultivation but to earn income
by regeneration of trees, it upheld the view of the departmental authori-
ties that the receipt was a revenue receipt assessable to income-tax. It
-· should be noted that the assessment made was not for default
of the assessee to produce any relevant material but a regular assess-
ment on consideration of such materials as were produced by it. It was •
not asked to produce atiy other evidence or material to substantiate the
stand taken by it. Nor was the stand rejected. In such a situation it
was not a question of assessee's claiming any exemption and failing to
get it for its alleged failure to furnish any more details_ But it was a
case where in order to net the receipt as a revenue receipt it was for the E
departmen\ to reject the assessee's stand ancl to hold that the object of
the assessec in not allowing the licensee to cut the stumps and uproot
the roots was a regeneration of the income. The High Court has also
noticed the fact as found mentioned in the order of the Tribunal that
by the time the assessment was completed by the Income-Tax Officer
an area of 10 acres had been converted into cultivable land. In our F'
opinion, therefore, the High Court rightly distinguished the decision
in Venugopala's case (supra) and ap11licd the ratio of that of Vishnu-
datta's case (supra)_ As I have observed above the facts of this case
were on a line which on the surface was blurred and indistinct, yet,
on a careful examination of the matter I find that the dividing line,
• though thin, nonetheless, is distinct enough to make this case fit for
G
application of the ratio of the decision of this Court in Vishnudatta's
• case. I accordingly uphold the view of the High Court
. In the result all the six appeals are dis_missed but on the special facts
and circumstances of this case we make no order as to costs in any of
them.
PATHAK, J. I agree with my learned brother that the appeals
Should be dismissed. And I shall set out my reasons.
550 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [198011.s.e.It.

.A The case is one where trees of spontaneous growth were sold on
condition that the purchaser would cut and remove the trunks without
disturbing the stumps and roots embedded in the soil. Where trees are
so felled and removed, aud the stumps and roots are allowed to remain
ill the land with a view to regeneration of the trees, the intention of
the owner wonld be to indulge in a profit-making activity, and the case
B would fall within V. Venugopala Varma Rajah v. Commissioner of
Income-Tax, Kera/a('). The receipts from sale.of the trunks would be
revenue receipts. But in the present case there was no intention to
'
reserve the stumps and roots for the purpose of allowing regeneration
of the trees. The intention and subsequent conduct of the assessee
c establishes that the stipulation against removal of the stumps and
roots was intended to protect the surface of the land from indiscrimi-
nate injury because the land was to be applied to cultivation. Inten-
tion is a material factor in such cases, and each case has to be decided
on its particular facts. Without evidence of the intention or object
behind such a stipulation, the mere fact that the trees were sold without
D stumps and roots cannot lead to the necessary infer~nce that a profit-
making activity was involved. Where the evidence shows that the land
had been acquired for the purpose of cnltivation, and that the prohi-
bition on the purchaser against removing the stumps and roots was
intended to prevent undue interference with the soil, and the assessee
did not intend to"permit regeneration bf the trees, and that he had in
E fact later put the land to cultivation, the payments received on sale of
the trunks cannot be regarded as taxable income. And yet the case is
distinguishable from the facts in A.K.T.K.M. Vishnudatta Anthdrjanam
v. Commissioner of Agricultural Income-Tax, Trivandrum.(') - That
was a case where the trees were sold with their roots, and it was held
by this Court that b"y removal of the roots the source from which the
F fresh growth of trees could take place had also been removed and,
therefore, the sale of such trees effected the capital structure, and
could not give rise to a revenue receipt. In my opinion, the present
-
case does not fall either within V. Venugopala Varma Rajah (supra)
or A.K.1'.K.M. Vishnudatta Anthdrjanam (supra). It is a case where
G although the stump and roots remained after the trees were felled and
removed by the purchaser, the regeneration of the trees was not to be
allowed and, therefore, a profit-making activity could not be spelled.
out. •
The appeals are dismissed, but there is no order as to costs.
N.V.K. Appeals dismissed:.

(I) 76 I.T.R. ~6Ci.
(2) 73 I.T.R. 58.