HON’BLE SUPREME COURT · SOURCE-REVIEWED NOTE
Maharajadhiraj Sir Kameshwar Singh v. State of Bihar
Civil Appeal No. 254 of 1954
[1960] 1 SCR 332 ·
Bihar Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1938, sections 25(1), 26
Sources & disclosures includedDownload original judgment / order
3-judge bench · S. R. Das · N. H. Bhagwati · M. Hidayatullah
Assessment years: 1944–45
01 · Facts of the case
Agricultural receipts from two Tekari Raj zarpeshgi leases were returned but initially exempted as capital recovery. Officer reopened under section 26 and assessed tax on Rs 2,52,879; assessee disputed reopening and claimed repayment of money-lending capital.
Source: Primary report: SCR 334–337
02 · Discussion by the Hon’ble Court
Section 26 used “for any reason” and did not impose the fresh-information conditions of section 34 of the central 1922 Act. Returned but erroneously exempted income could escape assessment. Lease instruments as a whole disclosed premium for 28-year possession, not a loan: no interest, redemption, repayment or residual personal liability.
Source: Primary report: SCR 337–347
03 · Judicial decision
Officer could reopen his erroneous exemption under this particular Bihar provision; lease usufruct remained agricultural income in assessee’s hands.
Source: Primary report: SCR 346–348
04 · Outcome / in whose favour
Assessee appeal dismissed with costs; both High Court answers in State’s favour sustained.
Source: Primary report: SCR 348
05 · AKHB REVIEW POINT
Scope: historical agricultural income-tax. Do not transplant the broad Bihar section 26 “any reason” rule to differently conditioned income-tax reopening legislation; court expressly distinguished those conditions.
Source & verification
Download original judgment / order · Open cited source rendition
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Statutory scope
Historical legislation expressly identified in this note. This is not a decision under the Income-tax Act, 1961 or the Income-tax Act, 2025. Verify enacted wording, commencement, transition and subsequent judicial treatment independently before modern reliance.
Later treatment
Source checked 2026-10-23. Subsequent treatment and present-law applicability have not been comprehensively checked.
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General legal and tax research only; not legal or tax advice. Verify the complete judgment, applicable statutory version and subsequent treatment before reliance. AKHB REVIEW POINT is editorial analysis, not the Court’s holding.