While interpreting machinery provisions of a taxing statute court should give effect to its manifest purpose: SC

CIT Vs Calcutta Knitwears (Supreme Court of India) In taxing statutes, even if the literal interpretation results in hardship or inconvenience, it has to be followed (G.P. Singh’s Principles of Statutory Interpretations, 12th Ed, 2010, Lexis Nexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur; Bennion on Statutory Interpretation, 5th Ed., Lexis Nexis, p. 863; Vepa P. Sara thi, Interpretation of Statutes, 5th Ed., Easter Book Company, Chapter VIII, Taxing Statutes). This Court in CIT v. Keshab Chandra Mandal, AIR 1950 SC 265 has held that hardship or inconvenience cannot alter the meaning of the language em...