The Gazette 1972

sealed containers are not chargeable to purchase tax under Group 29 of Schedule 1 to the Purchase Tax Act, 1963. [Indoor Gardening Ltd. v Commissioners of Customs and Excise; Ch. Div.; 25/11/1971.] Notice of an expression of dissatisfaction at the determination of an appeal communicated by the inspector of taxes to the general commissioners thirteen days after the determination, was held to have been made "immediately after the determination" within the meaning of Section 64 of the Income Tax Act, 1952, in the circumstances of the case. But in any event the statutory requirement in Section 64 that notice should be given immedi- ately was a directory and not a mandatory provision. [Regina v H.M. Inspector of Taxes ex parte Clarke; C. of A.; (1972) 1 AER 545.] A "dividend stripping" transaction, though carried out by dealers in stocks and shares, which, viewed as a whole, was entered into and carried out in order to recover tax as a loss under Section 341 of the Income Tax Act, 1952, was not a valid transaction in the course o ftrade but "the planning and execution of a raid on the Treasury, using the technacalities of revenue and company law as the necessary weapons". [F.A.&A.B. Ltd. v Lupton (Inspector of Taxes); H. of L. 21/10/1971.] The court dismissed an appeal by Mr C. M. Owen, county surveyor for Denbighshire, from the decision of Mr. Justice Plowman ( The Times, March 23rd) that the expenses he incurred when he went to Tokyo to attend a world road conference were not incurred wholly, necessarily and exclusi- vely in the performance of his duties and accordingly were not allowable deductions against income tax. [Owen v Burden (Inspector o{ Taxes; C. of A.; 21/10/71.] His Lordship, giving a reserved judgment on a summons by the Royal Bank of Canada of Lothbury, London, held that on the true construction of Section 414 of the Income Tax Act, 1952, the bank was bound to furnish all the particulars required by the Inland Revenue Commissioners by a notice dated 11th September 1969. Section 414 (1) provides that the commissioners may, by notice in writing, require any person to furnish them within a specified time with such particulars as they think necessary for the purposes of Chapter IV of the Act, headed: "Trans- actions resulting in transfer of income to persons abroad". [Royal Bank of Canada v Inland Revenue Commissioners; Ch. D.; 15/11/1971.] Mr. Justice Megarry, in the Chancery Division, decided that a taxpayer against whom a penalty had been awarded summarily by general commissioners under Section 53 of the Taxes Management Act, 1970, was not liable to the further penalty of up to £10 a day under Section 98 (1) (ii) because the hearing when the summary award was made did not constitute "proceedings" for a penalty. His Lordship held that for the further penalty to apply there must be "proceedings" within Section 100. [Script and Play Productions Ltd. v General Commissioners (Income Tax); Ch. D.; 25/11/1971.] Payments by a company to a trust set up to acquire shares in the company for the benefit of the employees and to prevent outside interference were held to be deductible for the purposes of corporation tax. The payments were held to be payments of a revenue nature made wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the company's trade. An appeal by the Crown against a decision of the special commissioners in favour of P-E Con- sulting Group Ltd. was dismissed with costs. [Heather (Inspector of Taxes) v P-E Consulting Group Ltd.; Ch: D.; 14/12/1971.] Trade Unions In giving directions to delegates to the Trades Union Con- gress next week as to how to vote on the question of Britain's entry into the Common Market, the national executive council of the National Association of Local Government Officers was held to have exceeded its powers and the mandate or direction to delegates made pursuant to an executive council motion was ordered to be withdrawn. [Hodgson and Others v NALGO and Others; Vacation Court; 3/9/1971.] Tribunals His Lordship held that the inspectors appointed by the Depart- ment of Trade and Industry to report on Pergamon Press Ltd. and International Learning Systems Corporation probably

erred in the procedure they adopted for their inquiry by failing to put the substance of their tentative conclusions to Mr. Robert Maxwell, the former chairman, and give him an oppor- tunity to rebut their criticisms of him. The error amounted to a denial of natural justice, which might invalidate their interim report. [Maxwell v Stable and Others; Vacation Court; 30/9/71.] The court issued'an order of prohibition to prohibit Dr. R. C. Brown, chief medical officer to Kent Constabulary, from deter- mining whether Chief Inspector D. G. Godden was perman- ently disabled within the Police Pension Regulations, and an order of mandamus to Kent Police Authority that if at any time an inquiry was being made as to whether Mr. Godden was permanently disabled within the regulations, they should supply to his medical consultant all reports, letters, and other documentary material used by them or any other doctors concerned [Regina v Kent Police Authority and Others ex parte Godden; C. of A.; 17/6/1971.] The court dismissed an appeal by landlords, Frey Investments Ltd., against the Divisional Court's refusal of an order of prohibition to prevent Barnet and Camden Rent Tribunal from considering 22 tenancy agreements referred to them by Camden London Borough in the exercise of their powers under Section 72 of the Rent Act, 1968, on the ground that they had exceeded their powers ([1971] 3 All ER 759). Their Lordships held that unless it could be shown that the council had acted frivolously or vexatiously or with mala fides, it was impossible to say that the matter was ultra vires, and that the council's power to refer a contract of letting to a rent tribunal could not be inhibited by the fact that the tenants themselves did not want the references to be made. [Frey Investments Ltd. v Camden London Borough; C. of A.] See under Social Welfare; Jones v Secretary of State for Social Services; H. of L.; 20/12/1971; ante. Trusts Where by a deed of appointment the appointor directed trustees to hold a fund for such of the children of his two sons "whenever born as being a son or sons shall attain the age of 21 or being a daughter or daughters shall attain that age or marry as a single class and if more than one in equal shares", the words "whenever born" were held to exclude the rule in Andrews v Partington ([1791] 3 Bro CC 401) so that children born after the first child who became entitled to his share were not excluded. , [In re Edmondson's Will Trusts; C. of A.; 22/11/1971.] Vendor and Purchaser Brightman J. held that specific performance of an agreement for the transfer of certain shares ought not to be granted unless the transferor's equitable lien as unpaid vendor was duly safeguarded. TLangen and Wind Ltd. and Others v Bell; Ch. Div.; (1972) 2 WLR 170.] -» A prospective purchaser who pays a deposit to an estate agent, who accepts it "as stakeholder", for a sale which subse- quently falls through cannot, if he obtains an unsatisfied judgment against the agent for the unreturned deposit, subse- quently obtain judgment for the amount of the deposit against the prospective vendor. [Barrington v Lee; C. of A.; (1971) 3 AER 1231.] Words and Phrases An employer of dock labour who applies for an employer's licence under the Docks and Harbours Act, 1966—one purpose of which was to regulate the employment of dock workers- may withdraw his application at any time before it is deter- mined; but once it has been withdrawn it ceases to exist and there is thereafter no power in the licensing authority or the Minister to grant or refuse a licence and no right in the applicant to compensation under the Act. Their Lordships so held in dismissing an interlocutory appeal by Boal Quay Wharfingers Ltd., of Felixstowe, from the decision of Mr. Justice Ackner in March that on the facts found by an arbitrator in a consultative case and on the true construction of the Act, there had not been a "refusal of their application for a licence originally made to the Kings Lynn Conservancy Board, the licensing authority under the Act, because they had withdrawn it before the Minister of 86