Report No. 49

27. No serious risk of proposal being challenged as attempt at indirect legislation on a matter outside competence.-

For the reasons stated above, we are of the view that implementation of the proposal in question by legislation (without amendment of the Constitution) does not run a serious risk of being regarded as an attempt to do indirectly1 what cannot be done directly2,-a doctrine which expresses judicial attitude towards "colourable legislation3."

The inclusion of agricultural income in "total income" assessed under the Central Income-tax Act would not amount to the imposition of a basic liability to tax on agricultural income, as no tax is actually required to be paid on it.

1. See the point in para. 6, supra.

2. As to this maxim, see-Anderson Essence, Incidence and Device, (1960) 34 Australian Law Journal 294.

3. Gajapati Narayan Deo v. State, 1954 SCR 1 (12), followed in Sonapur Tea Co., AIR 1962 SC 137 (140).