Conditional voluntary disclosure gives no immunity from assessment where unaccounted income and factual findings remain unproved.

A conditional acceptance of a voluntary disclosure did not extinguish liability to assessment, because the Commissioner's communication merely accepted the disclosure subject to proof before the Income-tax Officer. The assessee also failed to establish that the assessed income was wholly attributable to thandal business; the Tribunal's reliance on seized pronotes, revised returns, reassessment proceedings and the nature of the disclosure was treated as factual. As no new referable question of law arose beyond the issues already before the Tribunal, the proposed reference could not be entertained and the assessments based on unaccounted income were sustained.

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Issues: Whether any of the questions sought to be referred gave rise to a referable question of law, and whether the assessee's claim that the voluntary disclosure wiped out liability and that the entire income was attributable to thandal business could be accepted.

Analysis: The questions proposed beyond those raised before the Tribunal could not be referred. On the merits, the assessee failed to show that the whole of the assessed income arose from thandal business. The Tribunal's findings, based on the seized pronotes, the revised returns, the reassessment proceedings, and the conditional nature of the disclosure under the Voluntary Disclosure of Income and Wealth Act, 1976, were treated as findings of fact. The communication of the Commissioner did not confer immunity from assessment; it only accepted the disclosure subject to proof before the Income-tax Officer. The Court found no legal question warranting reference.

Conclusion: No referable question of law arose. The assessee's challenge to the assessments and to the effect of the voluntary disclosure failed.

Final Conclusion: The assessments based on unaccounted income were sustained, and the reference petitions could not be entertained.

Ratio Decidendi: A conditional acceptance under a voluntary disclosure arrangement does not extinguish the taxpayer's liability to assessment, and findings that income is unaccounted and not wholly traceable to the claimed business are findings of fact not giving rise to a referable question of law.

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