Residence for income tax requires a legally available dwelling place; occasional stay in a relative's house is insufficient.

For residence under section 4A(a)(ii) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, a dwelling place must be maintained for the assessee by a legal right to occupy or a comparable entitlement, such as ownership, tenancy, mortgage possession, or another enforceable right. A relative's house, occupied by parents and used only during visits, does not meet that test, and mere family connection or maintenance remittances do not make it the assessee's dwelling place. On that reasoning, the assessee was not resident in British India within section 4A(a)(ii), and the reference was answered in the negative.

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Issues: Whether the assessee had a dwelling place maintained for him in British India and was therefore a resident in British India within the meaning of section 4A(a)(ii) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922.

Analysis: The statutory expression "maintains a dwelling place" imports ownership, tenancy, mortgage with possession, or some legal right to occupy the premises as of right. A house belonging to the assessee's mother, occupied by his parents, and used by the assessee only when he visited them, did not satisfy that test. Nor did the assessee "have maintained for him" a dwelling place, because that phrase contemplates a dwelling available for occupation by reason of a right to use or live there, even if someone else maintains it financially. Mere family relationship, occasional visits, or remittances for the maintenance of parents or wife do not convert the parents' house into a dwelling place maintained for the assessee.

Conclusion: The assessee did not have a dwelling place maintained for him in British India and was not resident in British India within section 4A(a)(ii).

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered in the negative, with the determination going against the Revenue and in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: For residence under section 4A(a)(ii), the assessee must have a dwelling place available to him by legal right or equivalent maintained establishment; mere permissive stay in a relative's house is insufficient.

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