UNNEERI Vs. COMMR. OF INCOME-TAX

JUDGEMENT

(1.) At the instance of the assessee the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has referred two questions for decision by this Court, viz.,

(2.) The above two questions are so intimately related to each other, that we may deal with them jointly in this case. A presumption properly arising from a given set of circumstances is a material on which legal conclusion may be made. If therefore in the facts and circumstances of this case, a presumption that the assessee had remitted any amount from Ceylon to India in the relevant year could be drawn, certainly that would be a "material" on which the officers and the Tribunal may act and base their finding for purposes of assessing income tax. Question No. 2 is thus involved in question No. 1, or is only an amplification of the latter.

(3.) The circumstances under which the reference is made are as follow : The assessee who is a native of Chowghat in Malabar had been in Ceylon from 1925 onwards assisting his uncle Raman in his toddy business there. Raman died on 15-7-1942. On 1-10-1943 the assessee started business of his own as a toddy-renter; and for the year ended with 30-9-1944 he earned a profit of Rs. 79,635/- out of which he remitted Rs. 12,383/- to Malabar leaving a balance of Rs. 67,252/- to his credit in Ceylon. On 1-10-1944 he took M. K. Velayudhan in partnership with him in the business, the profits being agreed to be shared equally between them. In the year ended with 30th September, 1945 the firm had, as seen from the assessment order of the Ceylon Income Tax authorities, earned a profit of Rs. 1,50,000/- out of which the assessee's share would be Rs. 75,000/-.