Reference of question of law cannot be refused where the Tribunal's final order raises a live controversy requiring reframing.

A live question of law arising from the Tribunal's final appellate order could not be declined for reference merely because a related reference on earlier issues was already pending. The High Court held that the controversy over additions based on foreign-account statements, later deleted by the Tribunal for non-compliance with earlier directions, was not academic and satisfied the statutory test for reference. Because the proposed questions did not fully reflect the real controversy, the Court ordered them to be reframed so the legal issue concerning deletion of additions on a procedural ground could be properly referred.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal erred in declining to refer the questions of law arising from its appellate order, and whether the reference applications under section 256(2) deserved to be allowed with reframed questions.

Analysis: The material dispute concerned additions made on the basis of foreign-account statements and the Tribunal's later order deleting those additions for non-compliance with earlier directions. The Court held that the same controversy had not become academic merely because an earlier reference on related questions was pending. Since the final order of the Tribunal gave rise to questions of law and the issues were not self-evident or otherwise settled, the statutory test for reference under section 256(2) was satisfied. The Court further held that the proposed questions by the assessee did not fully bring out the real controversy and required reframing so that the legal issue arising from the deletion of additions on a procedural ground could be properly referred.

Conclusion: The Tribunal was directed to state the case and refer the questions of law, as reframed by the Court, for decision.

Final Conclusion: The applications succeeded, and the reference was ordered on the basis that a subsisting question of law arose from the Tribunal's final appellate order.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a Tribunal's final order gives rise to a live question of law, a reference cannot be refused merely because a related issue is pending in an earlier reference or because the proposed questions require refinement to reflect the true controversy.

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