judgement:
Civil Appeal No. 56 of 1951.
Appeal from a judgment and decree of the High Court of Allahabad (Malik and Wali Ullah JJ.) dated 14th February 1946, in Appeal No. 240 of 1943 which 37 arose out of a decree dated 19th January, 1943, of the Court of the Civil and Sessions.
Judge, Kanpur, in Original Suit No. 34 of 1942.
Achhru Ram (P. section Safeer, with him) for the appellant.
S.P. Sinha (K. N. Aggarwala, with him) for the respond ent. 1951.
November 1.
The Judgment of the Court was deliv ered by FAZL ALI J.
This is an appeal by special leave against a decision of the High Court at Allahabad, reversing the decision of the trial court, in a suit instituted by the appellant to recover damages from the respondent firm for breach of a contract.
It appears that between the 10th and 18th April, 1941, the parties entered into 5 contracts, by which the respond ent firm undertook to supply to the appellant 184 bales of cloth of certain specifications manufactured by the New Victoria Mills, Kanpur, and the Raza Textile Mills, Ramput.
Only 99 bales were taken up and there was a dispute about the remaining 85 bales.
On the 17th October, 1941, a settle ment was arrived at between the parties, and it was agreed that the respondent firm should deliver to the appellant 61 bales, and that the goods should be delivered by the 17th November, 1941.
The actual text of the agreement (exhibit 4) was as follows: " 61 bales as noted below are to be given to you by us.
We shall continue sending goods as soon as they are prepared to you upto Magsar Badi 15 Sambat 1998.
We shall go on supplying goods to you of the Victoria Mills as soon as they are supplied to us by the said Mill.
(Specifications of cloth given here).
We shall go on deliv ering the goods to you upto Magsar Badi 15 out of the goods noted above which will be prepared by the Mill.
" 38 As the 61 bales were not supplied, the appellant sent a telegraphic notice to the respondent firm on 20th November, 1941, to the following effect "Give delivery of our 61 bales through Bank.
Otherwise suing within a days.
" The appellant did not receive any reply to this notice, and so he instituted the suit which has given rise to this appeal, on the 23rd April, 1942, claiming a sum of Rs. 9,808 and odd, which, according to him, represented the loss sustained by him on account of the rise in the market rate of the contracted goods, and he also claimed costs and interest.
The respondent firm resisted the suit on a number of grounds, but their main plea, with which alone we are concerned in this appeal, was that the performance of the contract had been frustrated by circumstances beyond their control and hence the appellant 's claim must fail.
This plea was negatived by the trial court, but it was upheld by the High Court, and hence this appeal.
The only point which arises in this appeal is whether the circumstances of the case afford any basis for the application of the doctrine of frustration of.
contract, a doctrine which is embodied, so far as this country is con cerned, in sections 32 and 56 of the .
The main grounds of attack against the judgment of the High Court are : (1) that it has misread the agreement (exhibit 4) dated the 17th October, 1941, on which both parties rely; and (2) that it has paid more attention to an abstract legal doctrine than to the facts of the case.
In our opinion, both these contentions are correct.
The construction placed by the High Court upon the agree ment and its conclusion based thereon, are set out in the following passage in the leading judgment of Wali Ullah J. : "It seems to me that the parties clearly intended that the defendant was to supply the goods to the 39 plaintiff ' if and when and only in that event the particu lar goods were prepared by the Victoria Mills and were supplied to the defendant between the 17th of October, 1941, and 17th of November, 1941.
As the fundamental assumption on which the contract was made ceased to exist during the time of performance and consequently it became impossible for the defendant to fulfil the contract, it must be held that the contract was discharged by supervening impossibility.
" The construction suggested by the High Court is precise ly the construction which was attempted to be put on a similar contract by the defendant respondents in the case of Harnandrai vs Pragdas (1) but the Privy Council negatived it. ' In that case, the provision as to delivery of goods ran as follows : "The said goods are to be taken delivery of as and when the same may be received from the Mills." The Mills failed to perform their contract with the defendants as they were engaged in fulfilling certain con tracts with the Government, and consequently the defendants could not supply the goods to the plaintiffs.
The questions raised before the Privy Council were as to the meaning of the contract and whether its performance had been frustrat ed, and the Privy Council disposed of them in these words : "It was also suggested that the words 'as and when the same may be received from the Mills ' should be construed, as if they were ' if and when the same may be received from the Mills. ' This is to convert words, which fix the quantities and times for deliveries by instalments into a condition precedent, to the obligation to deliver at all, and virtual ly makes a new contract.
The words certainly regulate the manner of performance, but they do not reduce the fixed quantity sold to a mere maximum, or limit the sale to such goods, not exceeding 864 bales, as the Mills might deliver to the defendants during the remainder of the year.
" Their Lordships then proceeded to observe: (1) (1888) L.R. 15 I.A. 9. 40 "The Mills, from which the goods were to come, no doubt were contemplated as continuing to exist, though it does ' not follow that, in a bargain and sale such as this, the closing or even the destruction of the Mills would affect a contract between third parties, which is in terms absolute; but the Mills did continue to exist and did continue to manufacture the goods in question, only they were made for and delivered to somebody else.
" We agree with the reasoning of the Privy Council, and it seems to us that the considerations which prevailed with them must govern the construction of the agreement with which we are concerned in this case.
The agreement does not seem to us to convey the meaning that the delivery of the goods was made contingent on their being supplied to the respondent firm by the Victoria Mills.
We find it difficult to hold that the parties ever contemplated the possibility of the goods not being supplied at all.
The words "prepared by the Mill" are only a description of the goods to be supplied, and the expressions "as soon as they are prepared" and "as soon as they are supplied to us by the said Mill" simply indicate the process of delivery.
It should be remem bered that what we have to construe is a commercial agree ment entered into in a somewhat common form, and, to use the words of Lord Sumner in the case to which reference has been made, "there is nothing surprising in a merchant 's binding himself to procure certain goods at all events, it being a matter of price and of market expectations.
" Since the true construction of an agreement must depend upon the import of the words used and not upon what the parties choose to say afterwards, it is unnecessary to refer to what the parties have said about it.
Even apart from the construction of the agreement, it seems to us that the plea of the respondents must fail on their own admissions.
The defendant has stated in his evidence that he had not sold the 61 bales of cloth to any other person at the time he received the telegraphic notice of the 20th November, 1941, (exhibit 1).
On his own admis sion, therefore, he was 41 in a position to supply 61 bales of the contracted goods at the time when the breach of the agreement is alleged to have happened.
That being so, we are unable to hold that the performance of the contract had become impossible.
The matter however does not rest there.
Guruprasad, a clerk of the Mills Company, who is the second witness for the defend ants, has made an important statement to the following effect "The customers all place their requirements before the sales manager.
If the goods required are ready, they are sold to the customers and if they are not ready and if the customer wants them to be manufactured they are delivered to the customers after manufacture.
An order book is main tained at the Mills.
" Such being the practice which prevailed in the Victoria Mills, it was for the defendants to show that an order for the manufacture of the contracted goods was placed with the Mills and yet the Mills failed to supply the goods.
No such evidence has however been offered by the defendants The High Court has surmised that it might not have been possible to supply the goods within the period mentioned in the agreement, but there is no material to support that state ment.
In these circumstances, this is obviously not a case in which the doctrine of frustration of contract can be in voked.
That doctrine has been explained in a number of cases, some of which are referred to in the judgment of the High Court, but the latest pronouncement with regard to it is to be found in the speech of Viscount Simon in British Movietone News vs London Cinemas(1), in which the Lord Chancellor referred with approval to the following enuncia tion of the doctrine by Earl Loreburn in a previous case F.A. Tamplin S.S. Co. Ltd. vs Anglo Mexican Petroleum Products Co., Ltd(2): ". a court can and ought to examine the contract and the circumstances in which it was made, not of course (1) ; (2) , 404.
6 42 to vary, but only to explain it, in order to see whether or not from the nature of it the parties must have made their bargain on the footing that a particular thing or state of things would continue ,to exist.
And if they must have done so, then a term to that effect will be implied, though it be not expressed in the contract . no court has an absolving power, but it can infer from the nature of the contract and the surrounding circumstances that a condition which is not expressed was a foundation on which the par ties contracted," It seems necessary for us to emphasize that so far as the courts in this country are concerned, they must look primarily to the law as embodied in sections 32 and 56 of the .
These sections run as fol lows : "32.
Contingent contracts to do or not to do anything if an uncertain future event happens cannot be enforced by law unless and until that event has happened.
If the event becomes impossible such contracts become void." "56.
An agreement to do an act impossible in itself is void.
A contract to do an act which, after the contract is made, becomes impossible, or, by reason of some event which the promisor could not prevent, unlawful, becomes void when the act becomes impossible or unlawful. .
The enforcement of the agreement in question was, as we have already pointed out, not contingent on the happening of an uncertain future event, nor does the present case fall within the second paragraph of section 56, which is the only provision which may be said to have any relevancy to the plea put forward by the respondents.
Clearly, the doctrine of frustration cannot avail a defendant, when the non per formance of a contract is attributable to his own default.
We accordingly allow the appeal, set aside the judgment of the High Court, and restore the decree of the trial court.
The appellant will be entitled to his costs through out.
Appeal allowed.
Agent for the respond ent: S.S. Sukla.

summary:
The respondents agreed to deliver 61 bales of cloth to the appellant by the 17th November, 1941.
The agreement provided "we shall continue sending the goods as soon as they are prepared to you up to Magsar Badi 15, Sambat 1998 .
We shall go on supplying goods to you of the Victoria Mills as soon as they are supplied to us by the said Mills .
We shall go on delivering the goods to you . out of the goods noted above which will be prepared by the Mill.
" In a suit for damages for non deliv ery of the goods the respondents pleaded that as they had not received the goods from the Victoria Mills before the 17th of November, 1941, performance of the contract had become impossible by reason of an event which they could not prevent and the contract had therefore become void under Sec.
56, Indian Contract Act: Held, (i) that, on a proper construction of the con tract, delivery of the goods was not made contingent on their being supplied to the respondents by the Victoria Mills.
The words "prepared by the Mills" were only a de scription of the goods to be supplied, and the expressions "as soon as they are prepared" and "as soon as they are supplied to us by the said Mill "simply indicated the proc ess of delivery.
This was not therefore a case in which the doctrine of frustration of contract could be invoked.
(ii) Even apart from the construction of the agreement, as the respondents had not shown that they had placed an order for the goods with the Victoria Mills and yet the Mills had failed to supply, there was a clear breach of contract to deliver and the appellant was entitled to recover damages.
Harnandrai vs Pragdas (L. R. 15 I.A. 9) and British Movietone News vs London Cinemas relied on.


judgement:
Civil Appeal No. 12 of 1955.
Appeal from the judgment and decree dated September 10, 1953, of the Calcutta High Court (Original Side) in I. T. Reference No. 8 of 1947.
C. K. Daphtary, Solicitor General for India, G. N. Joshi and B. H. Dhebar, for the appellant.
K. P. Khaitan, Rameshwar Nath, section N. Andley and J. B. Dadachanji, for the respondents.
April 24.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by VENKATARAMA AIYAR J.
This appeal raises a question of importance as to whether amounts shown by an insurance company as reserves for unexpired risks on pending policies are liable to be deducted under r. 2 of Sch.
II to the Excess Profits Tax Act (XV of 1940) hereinafter referred to as the Act.
The respondent is a company carrying on life, fire, marine and general insurance business, and the present dispute relates to the assessment of excess profits tax on its income from business other than life insurance for the chargeable accounting periods ending December 31, 1940, and December 31, 1941.
To appreciate the contentions raised, it is necessary to state that the policies of insurance with which these proceedings are concerned, are, unlike life insurance policies, issued in general for short periods or ad hoc in relation to a specified voyage or event.
To take the most important of them, fire insurance policies, they are issued normally for one year, and the whole of the premium due thereon is received when the policies are actually issued.
In any given year, while the premiums due on the policies would have been received in full, the risks covered by them would have run only in part and a, part will be outstanding for the next year.
The companies have to prepare annual statements of profit and loss for the purpose of ascertaining their profits and distributing their dividends.
They have also to prepare revenue statements to be sent to the authorities under the provisions of the .
The method 1004 adopted by the respondent in preparing the above statements has been that while the premiums received are all of them included in the assets of the year, a certain proportion ' thereof, usually 40 per cent., is treated as the reserve for unexpired risks, and that is shown as a liability.
To take a concrete example, if in the year 1939 the respondent issued annual fire insurance policies and received a sum of Rs. 1,00,000 as premiums thereof, the whole of it would be shown as income in the statement for the year 1939, and a sum of Rs. 40,000 will be shown as a reserve for unexpired risks.
In the profit and loss statement, the former will be shown as part of the assets and the latter as liability, and it is only the balance that will be included in the net profits.
In 1940, the policies issued in 1939 would all of them have expired, and the sum of Rs. 40,000 shown as reserve in 1939 would be treated as part of the assets in 1940.
There will, of course, be fresh policies issued in 1940, and in the statement of that year, the premiums received on those policies would be shown as part of the income, and 40 per cent.
thereof would be set apart as reserve for unexpired risks.
This ' method of account keeping is what is 'usually adopted by insurance companies, and is in accordance with well recognised and approved practice of accountancy.
Now, the question is whether in the illustration given above, the sum of Rs. 40,000 which is set apart in 1939 as reserve for unexpired risks is liable to be deducted under r. 2 of Sch.
II to the Act from out of the capital employed in business for that year, which would, of course, include the whole of Rs. 1,00,000 received as premiums.
The contention of the appellant is that if all the premiums received are to be treated as capital under r. 1, Sch.
11, then the sums which represent the outstanding liability in respect of the unexpired period of the policies in the illustration given above, Rs. 40,000 should be deducted as a liability under r. 2 of Sch.
The respondent, while claiming that all the premiums received mu ,it be treated as capital, maintains that the provision for unexpired risks is a contingent liability, and that that 1005 is not within r. 2 of Sch.
The Tribunal decided the question against the respondent, but on reference under section 66(1) of the Indian Income tax Act read with section 21 of the Act, the High Court of Calcutta answered the question adversely to the appellant, but granted a certificate under section 66 A, and that is how the appeal comes before us.
The relevant statutory provisions may now be noticed.
Under section 4 of the Act, the charge is on the " amount by which the profits during any chargeable accounting period exceed the standard profits ".
I Standard profits ' are defined in section 6, sub section
(1), and the respondent having exercised his option under the second proviso thereto, they have to be calculated "by applying the statutory percentage to the average amount of capital employed in the business during such chargeable accounting period Schedule II enacts rules for the determination of the average capital employed.
Under r. 1(c), the capital employed will include the value of all assets "I when they became assets of the business ".
Rule 2(1) enacts that any borrowed money and debts shall be deducted from out of the value of the assets.
There is a further provision in r. 2(1), which is what is material for the purposes of the present appeal, and it runs as follows: " The debts to be deducted under this sub rule shall include any such sums in respect of accruing liabilities as are allowable as a deduction in computing profits for the purposes of excess profits tax ; and the said sums shall be deducted notwithstanding that they have not become payable.
" For this clause to apply, two conditions must be satis fied.
The sums to be deducted should be allowable as a deduction in computing the profits for the purposes of the Act, and further they should be in respect of accruing liabilities.
Rule 1 of Sch.
1 enacts that, " The profits of a business . . during any chargeable accounting period . . shall, subject to the provisions of this Schedule, be computed on the principles on which the profits of a business are computed for the purposes of income tax under section 10 of the Indian Income tax Act, 1922.
" 1006 Section 10(7) of the Indian Income tax Act provides that, " Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in sections 8, 9, 10, 12 or 18, the profits and gains of any business of insurance and the tax payable thereon shall be computed in accordance with the rules contained in the Schedule to this Act.
" Rule 6 of the Schedule provides: "The profits and gains of any business of insurance other than life insurance shall be taken to be the balance of the profits disclosed by the annual accounts, copies of which are required under the , to be furnished to the Controller of Insurance after adjusting such balance so as to exclude from it any expenditure other than expenditure which may under the provisions of section 10 of this Act be allowed for in computing the profits and gains of a business.
" It is common ground that the statements furnished to the Controller of Insurance by the respondent for the relevant periods did disclose 40 per cent.
of the premiums received as reserve for unexpired risks on the outstanding policies and that the same has been treated as a liability in its profits and loss statements and allowed in the assessment of income tax.
Thus, one of the conditions required by r. 2 has been satisfied.
The whole controversy between the parties relates to the other condition whether the reserve of 40 per cent.
can be regarded as a sum in respect of accruing liability.
The contention of the learned Solicitor General is that it must be so regarded, and his argument in support of it may thus be stated: A contract of insurance is complete as soon as the policy is issued.
From that time, the risk begins to attach to it, and there is a liability incurred.
Rule 2 does not require that the liability should have actually accrued; it is sufficient that it is accruing.
Liability under a policy must be held to be accruing so long as the policy is in force, because it can ripen into actual liability at any time during the life of the policy on the happening of the specified event.
When the assessee shows a certain amount as the value of that 1007 liability, it is a sum in respect of an accruing liability and must be deducted under r. 2.
In support of this contention, the decision in Sun Insurance Office vs Clark (1) was relied on.
The facts of that case were as follows: A fire insurance company which had been following the practice of entering in its annual statements 40 per cent.
of the total premium receipts as reserve for unexpired risks claimed a deduction therefor in the assessment of its annual profits.
The validity of the claim having been disputed, the question as to its admissibility was referred to the decision of the court.
Bray J., who heard the reference, held that the amounts reserved for unexpired risks should be deducted firstly on the ground that the premium which had been paid in respect of a risk for a whole year could not be said to have been wholly earned, when a portion of the period covered by the policy was still to run, and that the reserve therefore was not income earned, and secondly and in the alternative, on the ground that as the premium had been received burdened with a liability which had been only partially discharged in the year of account, the portion of the liability still outstanding should be valued on the analogy of unpaid price due in respect of property purchased and included in the trading assets.
This decision was taken in appeal, and was reversed by the Court of Appeal, the learned Judges holding that though the reasoning of Bray J. was sound, the question was concluded against the assessee by the decision of the House of Lords in The General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation vs McGowan (2 ).
The case came on further appeal before the House of Lords which agreed with Bray J.that the deduction was admissible, and distinguished the decision in The General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation vs McGowan (2 ) as one turning on the facts of that case and as not laying down that, as a matter of law, the deduction could not be made.
Lord Haldane stated the ground of his decision thus: ". . the case is analogous to one in which if goods are bought their value cannot be treated as (1) ; ; (2) 1008 profit without deducting the value of the liability to pay for them which the buyer has incurred." Lord Alverstone expressed the reasoning on which he based his conclusion as follows: "Premiums are not profits or gains, they are receipts which must be brought into account and out of which, after proper deduction for losses, profits will accrue." Lord Atkinson also rested his decision on the same ground, and observed: " That case (Gresham Life Assurance Society vs Styles) (1) clearly decided that the receipts of a business are not in themselves profit and gains within the meaning of the Income Tax Acts, but that it is what remains of those receipts after there has been deducted from them the cost of earning them which constitute the taxable profits and gains.
Now what is the service which a Fire Insurance Company renders to each insurer in consideration for the premium it receives ? It is only, by rendering this service in each case it earns these receipts.
The service consists in indemnifying the insurer against loss by fire during the continuance of his policy. .
Yet until that time has expired the service for which the Company has been paid has not been completely performed.
If the accounts of the Company are to be rendered before the date of expiry, then some division of the premium must be made, and the proportion to be appropriated to the service which is to be performed thereafter.
I think the description 'unearned premium ' which has been used to describe this latter portion is a very appropriate and accurate description.
" It is also material to note that one of the authorities relied on for the Crown was the decision in Scottish Union and National Insurance Company V. Smiles (2) wherein, discussing how the reserve for unexpired risk in fire policies is to be dealt with in computing the profits, the Lord President observed: " Seeing that fire insurance policies are contracts for one year only, the premiums received for the year (1) (2) 1009 of assessment, or on an average of three years, deducting losses by fire during the same period and ordinary expenses, may be fairly taken as profits and gains of the Company without taking into account or making any allowance for the balance of annual risks unexpired at the end of the financial year of the Company." Referring to this and to another decision, Lord Haldane observed that they " are not, when carefully examined in the light of what appears to be the true principle, reliable as authorities for the proposition which would run counter to the practice and good sense of the commercial community.
" On the strength of the observations quoted above, the argument has been advanced by the learned Solicitor General that the obligation which an insurance company contracts when it issues a policy is to be treated, in computing its profits for the purposes of taxation, as a liability in praesenti.
Mr. K. P. Khaitan, learned counsel for the respondent, disputes the correctness of this contention.
He argues that whatever the position under the English law, a contract of insurance is under the Indian Contract Act merely a contingent contract, that until the event specified in the policy happens, there is no enforceable liability, and that accordingly unexpired risks in pending policies cannot be treated as present liabilities.
He also urges a further contention based on the history of the enactment of r. 2 of Sch.
II to the Act.
That rule as originally passed mentioned only borrowed money and debts, and it was by section 10 of the Excess Profits Tax (Amendment) Act (XLII of 1940) that accruing liabilities were brought within that rule.
And when they were brought in, they did not come as something independent of and distinct from borrowed money and debts.
They came in under a provision, which enacted that the debts to be deducted under the rule included sums in respect of accruing liabilities.
Relying on this circumstance, counsel for the respondent contends that however liberally the expression " accruing liabilities " might be construed, it cannot be interpreted so as to take in liabilities which do not bear the character of debts, and that a liability under a contract of 130 1010 insurance where under risk had not materialised, cannot be held to be a debt, and is therefore not an accruing liability within the rule.
In support of this position, he relies on the decisions in Webb vs Stenton (1) and Israelson vs Dawson (Port of Manchester Insurance Co., Ltd., Garnishees) (2).
In Webb vs Stenton (1), the question was whether a sum which was payable to the judgment debtor under a trust deed but which had not become due could be attached in the hands of the trustees as a debt owing or accruing within 0. 45, R. 2 of the English Rules of Practice.
In holding that it could not be, Lindley L.J. observed: " I should say, apart from any authority, that a debt legal or equitable can be attached whether it be a debt owing or accruing; but it must be debt, and a debt is a sum of money which is now payable or will become payable in the future by reason of a present obligation, debitum in praesenti, solvendum in futuro.
An accruing debt, therefore, is a debt not yet actually payable, but a debt which is represented by an existing obligation.
" Israelson vs Dawson (Port of Manchester Insurance Co., Ltd., Garnishees) (2) was again a decision on 0. 45, R. 2, the Court holding that the amount which became payable under a policy as the result of the accident specified therein having occurred was, nevertheless, not a debt which could be attached under this rule, before the compensation had been determined by the arbitrator in accordance with the conditions of the policy.
The argument of the respondent based on the above decisions is that until the risk specified in the policy materialises and, consequent thereon, the compensation payable thereunder is ascertained, there is only a contingent liability and not a debt, and that such liability is not within r. 2 of Sch.
II to the Act.
In answer, the learned Solicitor General contends that the decisions quoted above are not in point, they having been given on a different statute, that the decision in (1) , 527.
(2) 1011 Sun Insurance Office vs Clark(1) which dealt with the question of assessment for purposes of taxation was directly applicable, and that according to that decision, the amounts reserved for unexpired risks would be sums in respect of accruing liabilities.
That a contract of insurance is a contingent contract does not admit of argument.
That is so under section 31 of the Indian Contract Act, and that is also the law in England where it is termed " conditional contract".
(Vide Pollock on Contracts, 13th Edn., p. 222).
This, however, is not material for the purpose of the present discussion which is how such contracts are to be dealt with in assessing, the taxable profits of an insurance company.
That is a matter which must be determined on the provisions of the taxing statutes and their application to the facts found with reference to the particular assessment.
And it is in this view that the decision in Sun Insurance Office vs Clark (1) becomes important.
Now, what is the ratio of this decision? The law is well settled that a liability which is purely contingent cannot be allowed as a deduction in computing the profits of a business.
And in holding that unexpired risks in respect of pending policies could be estimated and deducted out of the gross premium receipts, the House of Lords must be held to have decided that the obligation of an insurer under such risks was a liability in praesenti.
Reference might be made in this connection to the recent decision of the House of Lords in Southern Railway of Peru Ltd. vs Owen (2).
There, the appellant Company operated a railway in Peru under a statutory scheme under which its employees were entitled to receive from it a lump sum payment on retirement, death or other termination of service.
The Company claimed that it was entitled to value this liability in accordance with "accountancy practice" and to deduct the same from out of its annual profits.
And support for this contention was sought in the decision in Sun Insurance Office vs Clark (1).
In rejecting this claim it was observed by the House of Lords that the accountancy valuation was not necessarily the correct (1) ; ; (2) ; 1012 valuation for purposes of income tax, and that the real point for decision was whether the claim was to be regarded as an essential charge against the trade receipts during the year.
In distinguishing the decision in Sun Insurance Office vs Clark (1), Lord Oaksey made the following observations, which are pertinent to the present discussion: " Reliance was placed, during the argument, on Sun Insurance Office vs Clark (1), in which this House held that a percentage of the premium income of an insurance company might be deferred as a receipt to a future year because it was paid as consideration for future liability, but the principle of that decision is not, in my opinion, applicable to the present case.
The premium income was only deferred and would suffer tax in a future year, whereas, in the present case, if the appellant is permitted to deduct compensation, Which it has not paid and which it may never have to pay, that compensation will escape tax altogether.
There is, in my opinion, a fundamental distinction between a contingent liability and a payment dependent on a contingency.
When a debt is not paid at the time it is incurred its payment is, of course, contingent on the solvency of the debtor but the liability is not contingent.
Similarly, the liability in Sun Insurance Office vs Clark (1) was not, in my opinion, contingent but remained in force throughout the period of the insurance, though payment in pursuance of that liability might, or might not, have to be made.
" The decision in Sun Insurance Office vs Clark (1) and the observations in Southern Railway of Peru, Ltd. vs Owen(1) quoted above do support the contention of the appellant that in computing the profits of an insurance company for purposes of income tax, the unexpired risks are to be treated as a present liability.
But even so, on the footing that r. 6 in the Schedule to the Indian Income tax Act has adopted the law as laid down in Sun Insurance Office vs Clark (1), the question still, remains whether unexpired risk in an outstanding policy is an accruing liability within r. 2 of Sch.
II to the Act.
It is contended for the (1) ; (2) ; 1013 appellant that if that liability is a present liability for purposes of assessing the taxable profits for purposes of income tax, it must logically be the same for purposes of excess profits tax, and must therefore be deducted under r. 2 of Sch.
II to the Act.
That would be so, if the scheme and framework of the Excess Profits Tax Act were the same as those of the Income.
tax Act.
But the fact is that the Excess Profits Tax Act differs, in material respects from the Income tax Act, and the principles applicable in the assessment of profits under section 10 of the latter enactment cannot necessarily be held to be applicable in the ascertainment of the capital employed under rr.1 and 2 of Sch.
II to the former Act.
The object of the Excess Profits Tax Act is to tax profits of a business when they overflow a certain level.
That level is determined thus: A certain,period called the standard period is taken; the capital invested and the profits made in the business during that year are ascertained, and the standard profits are worked out in relation to those two factors.
Then, the capital actually employed in business during the chargeable accounting period is ascertained.
If the capital is the same as that employed in the standard period, then there is no further problem; but if it is more, then the standard profits are increased, and if it is less, they are reduced pro tanto.
Thus, the whole scheme of the Act is to tax profits above a certain level, and that level will move upwards or downwards as the capital employed may be more or less.
It is this that constitutes the distinguishing feature of the Excess Profits Tax Act, and it is the determination of the capital actually employed in business that forms one of the most important and arduous tasks in the ascertainment of taxable profits under the Act.
Rule 1 of Sch.
II to the Act enumerates three categories of properties, which are to be included in the computation of capital.
It is to be noted that this rule does not adopt any legalistic or conventional notion of what is technically termed 'capital '; but it proceeds on a factual basis to include whatever is utilised in business, :whether it be tangible property or intangible 1014 property.
The object of the provision is clearly to confer a benefit on the assessee by enabling him to retain at least in part the profits realised by him by investment of additional capital.
Then there is r. 2, which provides for certain deductions being made out of capital.
Omitting for the present "accruing liabilities", which form the subject of the present controversy, the other two items mentioned therein are borrowed money and debts, and the reasons for their exclusion from capital falling within r. 1 would appear to be this: Money borrowed and debts incurred for the purpose of the business must have been utilised in it, and would be included in the capital employed as defined in r. 1.
The policy of the law being to give some relief to an assessee who invests additional capital in his business, the reason of it requires that that should be limited to capital contributed by the assessee himself.
Otherwise, the benefit intended to be given to him might be abused, and the object of the legislation defeated by large scale employment of borrowed capital.
Borrowed money and debt are therefore to be deducted out of what is capital within r. 1.
We now come to the expression "accruing liabilities".
What does it precisely import ? To decide that, we must have regard to the scope and purpose of rr. 1 and 2 of Sch.
II to the Act and to the context and setting of the expression.
It has been already pointed out that the object of the Act is to tax profits which overflow a certain line indicated by what is termed " standard profits ", that the location of that line varies with the capital employed, that the scheme of r.
I is on a factual basis to treat as capital all assets tangible and intangible which are thrown into a business and contribute to the earning of profits and to exclude therefrom under r. 2 that part of it which came in as a result of borrowing.
Now, obviously.
a deduction under r. 2 can only relate to what is capital under r. 1, and that must be a really profit earning asset, whether tangible or not .
Borrowed money to be deducted under r. 2 is money borrowed for the purpose of the business, and which has gone to swell the capital under r. 1.
That is also the position as regards debts.
And 1015 accruing liabilities which are liable to be deducted under r. 2 must also be of the same character as borrowed money and debts with which they are associated on the principle of noscitur a sociis.
They must be such as can be said to have been utilised in the business and formed part of the really effective trading assets during the chargeable accounting period.
If that is the correct approach, as we conceive it is, the question to be considered is neither, on the one hand, whether the liability amounts in law to a debt for if it is capable of being utilised in business and is so utilised, it will fall under r. 2, even though it is not strictly speaking a debt; nor, on the other hand, whether it is a liability which has been treated as one for the purpose of assessing income tax.
In assessing income from business under section 10 of the Income tax Act, what is allowed as a deduction is any liability incurred solely and exclusively for the purpose of the business, and when that has not matured, its value is to be determined according to rules of accountancy and deducted.
But when a deduction is claimed under r. 2, what has to be seen is whether the obligation is such that it could be regarded as an asset used in the business, such as could conceivably contribute to its profits.
If that is not established, then it cannot be included as capital under r. 1, and cannot be deducted therefrom under r. 2 as an accruing liability.
It should not be overlooked that a deduction under section 10 of the Income tax Act and that under r. 2 of Sch.
11 to the Act proceed on totally different lines and have different objects in view.
Under section 10, the deduction is claimed by the assessee, and that has the effect, when allowed, of reducing the taxable profits.
Under r. 2, it is claimed by the department, and if allowed, it will enhance the liability of the assessee by reducing the capital under r. 1.
Incidentally, how inappropriate the principle laid down in Sun Insurance Office vs Clark (1) would be if it is applied for determining the question of capital employed in business for the purpose of Excess Profits Tax Act will be seen from (1) ; ; 1016 the fact that one of the grounds on which the decision therein was based was that 40 per cent.
of the premiums received and set apart as reserve for unexpired risks was unearned income, and could not therefore be regarded as profits for the purpose of the Act.
If that were the true position under the Excess Profits Tax Act, then the reserve could not be included in the capital of the business, and, indeed, that was one of the contentions urged by the learned Solicitor General.
But that was not the stand taken by the department before the Tribunal and that is directly opposed to the plain language of r. I of Sch.
II, under which all the premiums thrown into the business would be capital employed in the business.
That clearly shows how unsafe it will be to adopt the principles laid down for the purpose of assessing business profits under the Income tax Act to a determination of the question of the capital employed under the Excess Profits Tax Act.
In this view, is the reserve for unexpired risks an "accruing liability " within r. 2 ? The decision in.
Sun Insurance Office vs Clark(1) that it should be allowed as a deduction was based on two grounds.
One was that it should be regarded as " unearned income ", and for the reasons already stated, it cannot avail when the question is one of determining capital under the Act.
And the other was that the reserve represents a liability in the nature of unpaid price of property included in the trading assets.
But apart from the fact that we have to strain the analogy in applying it to the present situation, can that liability be held to be of the character contemplated by r. 2 ? Can it be said that the reserve for unexpired risk was, like borrowed money and debt, part of the real trading assets of the business ? The answer must clearly be in the negative.
The reserve liability could not factually be said to have contributed to the running of the business or the earning of profits.
It was some.
thing in the air, and could have had no effect in the working of the concern, during the chargeable accounting period.
It cannot therefore be held to be an is accruing liability " within r. 2 of Sch.
11 to the Act.
(1) ; ; 1017 A case very much in point is the decision in Northern Aluminium Co. Ltd. vs Inland Revenue Commissioners(1).
There, the question arose whether a conditional liability under a contract was an " accruing liability " within the corresponding provision in the English Excess Profits Tax Act.
The facts were that on December 16, 1939, an agreement was entered into between the Ministry of Aircraft Production and a company engaged in manufacturing aluminium products and supplying them to manufacturers of aircraft for the Government, wherein it was provided that the prices which the latter was then charging to its customers should be reduced for the period July 1, 1939, to June 30, 1940, and that the amount by which the prices paid to the company were in excess of the reduced prices should be paid by the company to the Ministry.
The agreement further provided that negotiations should be started not later than June 30, 1940, for determining the rates to be charged for the periods following June 30, 1940.
The agreement was, in fact, concluded only on October 12, 1942, whereby the prices to be charged by the company were fixed for the years 1941, 1942 and 1943.
In accordance with the agreement entered into on October 12, 1942, a sum of pound 2,743,469 was repaid by the company to the Ministry in 1943 being the difference between the price paid by the customers and that fixed in the agreement.
This amount was actually allowed as a deduction in the assessment of the business income for purposes of income tax, and the dispute related to the question whether it could be deducted in assessing the excess profits tax as an "accruing liability" of the company for the chargeable accounting period which was January 1 to December 31, 1941.
It was held by the Court of Appeal that there was, in fact, no agreement between the parties during the chargeable accounting period, and that therefore no liability was incurred.
In the alternative, it was held that even if the agreement dated December 16, 1939, could be construed as amounting to a conditional agreement for the period subsequent to June 30, 1940, the obligation created thereby could not be (1) , 554.
1018 regarded as an accruing liability within the rule in question.
Lord Greene M.R. stated the reason thus: " A purely conditional liability, which may or may not mature, is not one which falls within that language, for this reason: Quite apart from the actual words, it would be contrary to the whole conception underlying these capital provisions because a purely conditional liability, which may or may not eventuate, is not a thing which affects a company 's capital position, any more than a conditional receipt can affect its capital position.
A receipt which may or may not be received, according as some event does or does not happen, is not a thing with which you can earn profits.
It is the possibility of earning profits on your real capital that these capital provisions are concerned with.
Therefore, in my opinion, even if one could spell such a hypothetical and conditional contract out of these words, the result would not give rise to an accruing liability within the meaning of the section.
" This decision was taken in appeal to the House of Lords and was affirmed.
Vide Inland Revenue Commissioners vs Northern Aluminium Co. Ltd. (1).
This decision establishes that a conditional liability under a concluded contract it is on that footing that the second point arose for decision was not an accruing liability for the purposes of the Excess Profits Tax Act, as the same had no effect on the actual capital position of the company, and the fact that it was allowed for purposes of income tax did not affect the position under the Excess Profits Tax Act.
The learned Solicitor General sought to distinguish this decision on the ground that it did not relate to an insurance business, whereas it was contended that Sun Insurance Office vs Clark (2 ) directly dealt with the question now under consideration whether reserves for unexpired risks in pending policies were liabilities which could be deducted.
We do not see how it makes any difference in the construction of r. 2 of Sch.
II to the Act that the liability sought to be deducted arises under an insurance policy and not under some other contract.
(1) (2) ; ; , 1019 We are of opinion that the principles laid down in Northern Aluminium Co., Ltd. vs Inland Revenue Commissioners (1) and Inland Revenue Commissioners vs Northern Aluminium Co., Ltd. (2 ) are applicable to the decision of the present case, and that a contingent liability in respect of unexpired risk is not an "accruing liability" within r. 2 of Sch.
II to the Act.
The decision appealed from is correct, and this appeal must accordingly be dismissed with costs.
Appeal dismissed.

dataset_name: IN-Abs

summary:
The respondent was a company carrying on life, fire, marine and general insurance business, and the question for determination related to the assessment of excess profits tax on its income other than life insurance.
The method adopted by the company with respect to fire insurance policies was that while the premiums received were all of them included in the assets of the year, a portion thereof, 40 per cent., was treated as reserve for unexpired risks on the outstanding policies, and shown as a liability.
The appellant, the Commissioner for Excess Profits Tax, claimed that the sum set apart as reserve for unexpired risks was liable to be deducted under r. 2 of Sch.
II of the Excess Profits Tax Act, 1940, from out of the capital employed in business for that year.
The respondent, while maintaining that all the premiums received must be treated as capital under r. 1 of Sch.
II to the Act, contended that the provision for unexpired risks was only a contingent liability and that a liability under a contract of insurance where under risk had not materialised could not be held to be a debt and was therefore not an accruing liability within r. 2 of Sch.
II to the Act.
Held, that the reserve liability for unexpired risk, unlike borrowed money and debts, cannot be treated as part of the real trading assets of the business so as to have an effect on the running of the business or the earning of profits, and consequently, as it cannot be included as capital under r. i, it cannot be deducted as an accruing liability within r. 2 of Sch.
II of the Excess Profits Tax Act, 1940.
Sun Insurance 0Office vs Clark; , and Southern Railway of Peru Ltd. vs Owen, (1956) 2 All E.R. 728, distinguished.
Northern Aluminium Co., Ltd. vs Inland Revenue Commis sioners, and Inland Revenue Commissioners vs Northern Aluminium Co. Ltd. (1947) 1 All E. R. 608, relied on. 1003