HON’BLE SUPREME COURT · SOURCE-REVIEWED NOTE
Commissioner of Income-tax, Madras v. K. S. Rathnaswamy
Civil Appeal Nos. 2007-2014 of 1972
[1980] 2 SCR 519 ·
Indian Income-tax Act, 1922: section 4A(a)(ii) · Indian Income-tax Act, 1922: sections 28(1)(a), 34(1)(a) and 66A(2)
Sources & disclosures includedDownload original judgment / order
2-judge bench; unanimous judgment delivered by V. D. Tulzapurkar, J. · V. D. Tulzapurkar, J. · E. S. Venkataramiah, J.
Assessment years: Connected income-tax assessments and penalty proceedings
01 · Facts of the case
The assessee's life and business were in Ceylon. He had a coparcenary right in an ancestral Orthanad house and stayed there during some short Indian visits, but no room was reserved for him and he neither received family income nor managed the family (SCR pp.521-524; PDF pp.3-6).
Source: Primary judgment: facts
02 · Discussion by the Hon’ble Court
A dwelling place meant an abode or home, and maintained for him imported the assessee's volition—maintenance at his instance and for his benefit. Fractional ownership and an unrestricted right to occupy were insufficient where the house served other family members and his stays were as a guest (SCR pp.524-530; PDF pp.6-12).
Source: Primary judgment: discussion
03 · Judicial decision
All Revenue appeals were dismissed, sustaining non-resident status and cancellation of the consequential penalties (SCR p.530; PDF p.12).
Source: Primary judgment: decision
04 · Outcome / in whose favour
In favour of the assessee, on the particular evidence of maintenance and use (SCR pp.528-530; PDF pp.10-12).
Source: Primary judgment: outcome
05 · AKHB REVIEW POINT
AKHB analysis: separate legal ownership from evidence that premises were actually maintained as the taxpayer's abode—funding, dedicated space, belongings, habitual use and directions matter (based on SCR pp.528-530; PDF pp.10-12).
Source: Primary judgment: review point
Source & verification
Download original judgment / order · Open cited source rendition
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Statutory scope
The repealed 1922 Act residence test is not the operative day-count test under later income-tax legislation.
Later treatment
Source checked 2026-10-11. Later judicial treatment and current statutory applicability have not been comprehensively checked; no current-law or citator clearance is represented.
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