In Brief
An NBFC engaged in trading shares and derivatives sought to set off losses from share trading against profits from futures and options. The Assessing Officer denied this, classifying share trading as speculation business while excluding derivatives from that classification. The Court held the assessee's own admission that share trading was its sole business was binding; the Explanation to Section 73 deeming fiction applied. The Court also rejected the argument that the 2015 amendment excluding share trading from the speculation business definition should apply retrospectively to the 2008-2009 assessment year. Parliament specified a prospective date of 1 April 2015, and the Court found no legislative intent for retrospectivity. Therefore, losses from speculation business could not offset profits from derivatives, which were not speculation business profits.
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