PCIT Vs National Dairy Development Board (Gujarat High Court)
Summary: The Gujarat High Court considered a batch of Revenue appeals under section 260A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 arising from the common judgment and order dated 02.05.2025 of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Ahmedabad, for Assessment Years 2010-2011 to 2013-2014. The connected matters were Tax Appeal Nos. 645, 646, 560, 569, 556 and 656 of 2025. The substantial questions of law were recorded from Tax Appeal No. 656 of 2025 and concerned the applicability of Minimum Alternate Tax under section 115JB to National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), including the effect of the Finance Act, 2012 amendment introducing clause (b) to section 115JB(2), the assessee’s treatment as a company for income-tax purposes, its disclosure of book profit of Rs.27.10 Crores under the MAT Schedule, and the consequential issue of disallowance under section 14A in the computation of book profit.
NDDB was described as a statutory body established under the National Dairy Development Board Act, 1987 by the Central Government. The Court examined the definitions of “company” under section 2(17) and “Indian company” under section 2(26) of the Income-tax Act, as well as “company” under section 2(20) of the Companies Act, 2013. It also considered section 115JB, including the post-01.04.2013 framework under which a company covered by the second proviso to section 129(1) of the Companies Act, 2013 is to prepare its statement of profit and loss in accordance with the Act governing such company.
