ISHWARDIN MEWALAL Vs. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Jabalpur Bench, Jabalpur, has referred the following question to this court for its opinion under Section 256(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as " the Act ") :

(2.) THE necessary facts in a nutshell giving rise to the aforesaid question are that the assessee is a Hindu undivided family. A raid was conducted by the Central Excise Department at the business and residential premises of the assessee on October 25, 1975, wherein primary gold, gold ornaments and silver ornaments were seized. THE case of the assessee was that there was a partition in the family of M/s. Ishwardin Mewalal consisting of late Ishwardin, Ramjiyawan Mewalal and Munnilal in the year 1942 in which the assessee received Rs. 43,500 in cash, cloth and kirana worth Rs. 6,700 and gold and silver ornaments worth Rs. 12,800 each. THE case of the assessee further was that the family had been doing business in cloth, kirana, money-lending and agriculture before partition, but after partition, Ishwardin started money-lending business whereas Mewalal and Munnilal started cloth business. THE agricultural savings, however, were kept jointly and were utilised partly in cloth business and partly in money-lending business as and when required.

(3.) IN this connection, it would be seen that the appellate order of the Tribunal in so far as it upheld the assessment of the money-lending business in the hands of the assessee-Hindu undivided family being completely in favour of the Department, it was not open to the Department to make any application for reference to this court on the ground that the finding relied on by learned counsel for the assessee was uncalled for in view of the admissions made by Mewalal and Munnilal themselves.