Valid tax reference requires a reasoned statement of facts and law; bare compendious reference is unsustainable.

A valid tax reference under section 24(1) requires the Tribunal to prepare a reasoned statement of the case, set out the material facts, and apply its mind to whether each proposed question is a question of law arising from its appellate order. Only questions actually raised before, and dealt with by, the Tribunal, or those lawfully deemed dealt with, can be referred. A cryptic or unexplained compendious reference that omits the factual basis and separate answers for each question does not satisfy the statutory mandate and is not sustainable. The impugned reference orders were therefore invalid and discharged.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal's reference orders were valid when they did not set out the material facts or give reasoned answers on each proposed question of law, and merely framed a compendious reference under section 24(1) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947.

Analysis: A reference under section 24(1) requires the Tribunal to draw up a statement of the case and identify, with due application of mind, whether each proposed question is a question of law arising out of its appellate order. Only questions raised before the Tribunal and dealt with by it, or questions lawfully deemed to have been dealt with, can be referred. A cryptic or slipshod order that neither states the relevant facts nor examines the individual questions frustrates the statutory duty and is not a valid statement of the case. The Tribunal's orders did not comply with this requirement and were therefore not sustainable as references under the Act.

Conclusion: The reference orders under section 24(1) were invalid and stood discharged.

Ratio Decidendi: A valid tax reference requires a reasoned statement of the case showing that the proposed question is a question of law arising out of the Tribunal's order; a bare or unexplained reference does not satisfy the statutory mandate.

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