Commissioner of Income Tax vs M.P. Ramachandran Nair

Om Prakash, C.J.—Heard counsel for the parties.

This is an application u/s 256(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, by the Revenue requiring us to direct the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal to refer the following questions for the opinion of this court :

"Assessment year 1986-87 :

(a) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, and what is computed is the undisclosed income of the block period and not of any previous year as mentioned in Section 158BA(2) of the Income Tax Act, the Tribunal is right in law and fact in holding in paragraph 5 of its order that if the income for any previous year contained in the block period is below the taxable limit it need not be included in the undisclosed income ?

(b) If the answer to the above question is in the negative, the Tribunal is justified in deleting the respective additions ?"

Assessment year 1993-94 :

"Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and also for the reasons stated in the enclosure, the Tribunal is right in law and fact in deleting the addition of Rs. 67,400 and is not the deletion unsupported by cogent reasons and evidence ?"

Assessment year 1994-95 :

"Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and also for the reasons stated in the enclosure, the Tribunal is right in law and fact in deleting the addition of Rs. 6,02,296 and is not the deletion wrong and unsupported by reasons and materials ?"

Inasmuch as in our opinion the question as stated at (a) and the question relating to the assessment year 1994-95 are questions of law, we direct the Appellate Tribunal to refer the following questions for the opinion of this court :

Assessment year 1986-87 :

"(1) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, and what is computed is the undisclosed income of the block period and not of any previous year as mentioned in Section 158BA(2) of the Income Tax Act, the Tribunal is right in law and fact in holding in paragraph 5 of its order that if the income for any previous year contained in the block period is below the taxable limit it need not be included in the undisclosed income ?

Assessment year 1994-95 :

(2) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and also for the reasons stated in the enclosure, the Tribunal is right in law and fact in deleting, the addition of Rs. 6,02,296 and is not the deletion wrong and unsupported by reasons and materials ?"

The application is partly allowed.