COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX Vs. CITIBANK N A

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY this reference, the Income -tax Appellate Tribunal has referred the following two questions two questions of law to this court at the instance of the Revenue for opinion under section 256(1) of the Income -tax Act, 1961 ('the Act', for short) :

(2.) THE facts of the case giving rise to this reference, briefly stated are as follows :

(3.) WE have considered the submission of the assessee in the notice of motion. We feel that the controversy should be gone into on the merits first and if on the merits, it is found that the system of accounting followed by the assessee was wholly mercantile, then only reference to the circulars of the Board may be necessary. In that view of the matter, we are of the opinion that we should first take up question No. 2 for consideration and only thereafter, if necessary, decide question No. 1. We, therefore, renumber question No. 2 as question No. 1 and reframed it as under :