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Section 10(26) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Exemption - Scheduled tribes - Assessment year 1980-81 - Whether exemption available to a member of Khasi Tribe under section 10(26) would be available even if income was earned by him not as an individual but as a group of individuals comprising members of his family - Held, yes FACTS The assessee was a Khasi-family. For the assessment year 1980-81, it claimed exemption under section 10(26). The ITO rejected the assessee's claim on the ground that the exemption was available only to the individual members of the Scheduled Tribes and not to the family comprising such members. On second appeal, the Tribunal allowed the assessee's claim. On reference : HELD In the instant case, there was no controversy that Khasis were members of a Scheduled Tribe as defined in clause (25) of article 366 of the Constitution. A Khasi family would mean a group of Khasis who are blood relatives or who spring from a common root. Thus it is difficult to say that the benefit of exemption from income-tax given under section 10(26) to a member of a Khasi Tribe will cease to be available if such income accrues not to an individual member, but collectively to a number of such members known as family. It must be remembered that section 10(16) is a beneficial provision intended to provide protection to the members of the Scheduled Tribes from the burden of income-tax. The benefit is confined to tribal people residing in specified areas and that too is available only in respect of income accruing or arising to them from any source in such areas. Thus, whatever limitation the Legislature wanted to put, it has specifically incorporated in the clause itself. No more condition or restriction can be added, nor can such beneficial provision be given too narrow a meaning which may result in disentitling the members of the Khasi Tribe from the benefit conferred by this clause. Therefore, it could be said that the benefit of exemption under section 10(26) would be available even in cases where the income accrues not to an individual member of Khasi Tribe but to a family comprising such members. CASE REFERRED TO ITO v. N. Takin Roy Rymbai [1976] 103 ITR 82…

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