Om Prakash, C.J. 1. This reference is made, at the instance of the Revenue, by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal under Section 256(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (for short "the Act"), relating to the assessment year 1983-84. The question referred to this court is as follows ;
"Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the asses-see is entitled to weighted deduction under Section 35B(1)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ?"
2. The facts of the case, as found by the Appellate Tribunal, are that the assessee is engaged in the export of cashew kernels. For the assessment year 1983-84, the assessee claimed deduction under Section 35B(1)(b)(iv) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (for short "the Act"), on an amount of Rs. 4,88,409 paid to certain foreign agents. The Assessing Officer denied the claim on the ground that the assessee did not maintain any branch or agency outside India within the meaning of Section 35B(1)(b)(iv) of the Act. On appeal, the first appellate authority accepted the contention of the assessee and allowed deduction.
3. Aggrieved, the Revenue approached the Appellate Tribunal in appeal. The Appellate Tribunal found as follows :
"If the assessee incurred expenditure in order to promote sales outside India that is sufficient to get the benefit of weighted deductions under Section 35B. It was held that the commission paid by the assessee to the agents is the expense incurred by the assessee to maintain an agency outside India. The assessee is, therefore, entitled to claim deduction in respect of the above payment under Section 35B(1)(b)(iv) of the Income-tax Act."
4. The only submission of learned senior standing counsel before us is that no agency was maintained by the assessee abroad and, therefore, no deduction could be allowed under Section 35B(1)(b)(iv) for maintenance of the agency for the promotion of the sale outside India.
5. "Agency" is not defined in the Act and, therefore, we take recourse to the dictionary meaning. The word "agency", according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary means : "function of an agent or representative ; business establishment of an agent." In the case at hand, the assessee had paid commission to a foreign agent, who established his business as that of agent. It is not in dispute that the commission was paid by the assessee to the foreign agent for the promotion of the sale outside India. Such commission paid to the foreign agent, in our view, is squarely a payment for the maintenance outside India of an agency for the promotion of the sale outside India within the meaning of Section 35B(1)(b)(iv) of the Act.
6. Similar view was taken by this court in Srivilas Cashew Co. v. CIT [1992] 196 ITR 887, in which this court explicitly said that the commission paid by the assessee to the foreign agents is the expenditure incurred by the assessee to maintain an agency outside India for the promotion of sale of the assessee's goods outside India.
7. We, therefore, uphold the view taken by the Appellate Tribunal. The aforementioned question is, therefore, answered in the negative (sic), that is, in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue.