Judgment :

S. H. Kapadia, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The short question which arises for consideration in this civil appeal turns on the interpretation of Section 80P(2)(e) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 whose predecessor was Section 14(3)(iv) of the Income-tax Act, 1922.

Facts:

3. The facts giving rise to this civil appeal are few and undisputed and may be briefly stated as follows. Appellant-society is a co-operative society registered under Rajasthan Co-operative Societies Act, 1965. Appellant is running a consumer co-operative store at Udaipur since 1963. It has 30 branches. Appellant is dealing in non-controlled commodities through its branches. In addition, appellant is also doing the work of distribution of controlled commodities such as wheat, sugar, rice and cloth on behalf of the Government under the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS) for which it is getting commission. The distribution of the controlled commodities is regulated by the District Supply Officer (DSO-Authoriesed Officer) under Rajasthan Foodgrains & Other Essential Articles (Regulation of Distribution) Order, 1976 (for short, "1976 Order"). Appellant claims to be stockist/distributor of controlled commodities. It tak