Delhi High Court interprets sec. 80-I broadly; conditions stipulated by sec. 80-I to be satisfied only in initial Assessment Year

DELHI PRESS PATRA PRAKASHAN LTD. V. CIT (Delhi High Court)
 

The Delhi High Court clarifies several aspects of sec. 80-I provisions and held as under:

• Industrial undertaking which undertakes job work would be entitled to section 80-I deduction:

1. There was nothing in the language of Section 80-I(2)(iii) of the Act to suggest that the assessee claiming the benefit of Section 80-I must structure his business in any particular form. Carrying on job work is only a method of structuring his business; 
2. An assessee owning an industrial undertaking may either choose to purchase raw material on its own and process the same or it may acquire raw material on job work basis and utilize the same for carrying on the industrial activity;
3. In either event so long as the industrial undertaking owned by the assessee fulfills the conditions as specified under Section 80-I(2), the benefit of Section 80-I couldn’t be denied to the assessee.

• Printing amounted to "manufacture or production of an article or thing"

1. It can’t be said that the printing does not alter the character of the paper used and there is no distinction between the raw paper and the resultant product; 
2. The purpose and usage of a blank paper is completely different from the use and purpose of a printed magazine or periodical;
3. Once the blank paper undergoes a process of printing, the character of blank paper changes completely and the content of the printed material now becomes the identity of a printed paper;
4. A printed magazine or periodical even if it is not bound has a definite identity and its usage is completely different from a blank paper on which it is printed; 
5. The expression used in Section 80-I(2)(iii) is "manufacture or produce any article or thing" which is much wider and, thus, would take in its sweep any article that may be manufactured or produced.