Case Law Details
CASE LAWS DETAILS
DECIDED BY: SUPREME COURT OF INDIA,
IN THE CASE OF: ACIT Vs Elecon Engineering Co. Ltd., APPEAL NO: Civil Appeal Nos. 2057 To 2065 of 2010, DECIDED ON: FEBRUARY 26, 2010
RELEVANT PARAGRAPH
9. Section 43A, before its substitution by a new Section 43A vide Finance Act, 2002, was inserted by Finance Act, 1967 with effect from 1.4.1967, after the devaluation of the rupee on 6 June, 1966. It applied where as a result of change in the rate of exchange there was an increase or reduction in the liability of the assessee in terms of the Indian rupee to pay the price of any asset payable in foreign exchange or to repay moneys borrowed in foreign currency specifically for the purpose of acquiring an asset. The Section has no application unless an asset was acquired and the liability existed, before the change in the rate of exchange. When the assessee buys an asset at a price, its liability to pay the same arises simultaneously. This liability can increase on account of fluctuation in the rate of exchange. An assessee who becomes the owner of an asset (machinery) and starts using the same, it becomes entitled to depreciation allowance. To work out the amount of depreciation, one has to look to the cost of the asset in respect of which depreciation is claimed. Section 43A was introduced to mitigate hardships which were likely to be caused as a result of fluctuation in the rate of exchange. Section 43A lays down, firstly, that the increase or decrease in liability should be taken into account to modify the figure of actual cost and, secondly, such adjustment should be made in the year in which the increase or decrease in liability arises on account of fluctuation in the rate of exchange. It is for this reason that though Section 43A begins with a non- obstante clause, it makes Section 43(1) its integral part. This is because Section 43A requires the cost to be recomputed in terms of Section 43A for the purposes of depreciation (Sections 32 and 43(1)). A perusal of Section 43A makes it clear that insofar as the depreciation is concerned, it has to be allowed on the actual cost of the asset, less depreciation that was actually allowed in respect of earlier years. However, where the cost of the asset subsequently increased on account of devaluation, the written down value of the asset has to be taken on the basis of the increased cost minus the depreciation earlier allowed on the basis of the old cost. One more aspect needs to be highlighted. Under Section 43A, as it stood at the relevant time, it was inter-alia provided that where an assessee had acquired an asset from a country outside India for the purposes of his business, and in consequence of a change in the rate of exchange at any time after such acquisition, there is an increase or reduction in the liability of the assessee as expressed in Indian currency for making payment towards the whole or part of the cost of the asset or for repayment of the whole or part of the moneys borrowed by him for the purpose of acquiring the asset, the amount by which the liability stood increased or reduced during the previous year shall be added to or deducted from the actual cost of the asset as defined in Section 43(1). This analysis indicates that during the relevant assessment year adjustment to the actual cost was required to be done each year on the closing date, i.e., year end. Subsequently, Section 43A underwent a drastic change by virtue of a new Section 43A inserted vide Finance Act, 2002. Under the new Section 43A such adjustment to the cost had to be done only in the year in which actual payment is made. In this case, we are not concerned with the position emerging after Finance Act, 2002. Under Explanation 3 to Section 43A, if the assessee had covered his liability in foreign exchange by entering into forward contract with an authorised dealer for the purchase of foreign exchange, the gain or loss arising from such forward contract was required to be taken into account.
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