Third member jurisdiction under Income-tax law is limited to referred points; un-referred issues must go back to the Tribunal.

A third member appointed under Section 5-A(7) of the Indian Income-tax Act is confined to the precise point referred by the original Bench and cannot introduce and decide a fresh issue on his own. The final disposal of the appeal remains with the Tribunal constituted under Section 5-A(6), which must decide the matter according to law after the third member's opinion. Because an additional issue under Section 16(3)(a)(iii) was not part of the referred points and was decided only by the third member, the matter was not properly concluded and had to be sent back to the Tribunal.

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Issues: Whether the third member appointed under the Income-tax Act could decide only the point referred to him by the original Bench and whether the case, after that opinion, had to go back to the Tribunal for final disposal according to law.

Analysis: Under Section 5-A(7) of the Indian Income-tax Act, when the members of a Bench differed on a point, the President could refer only that point or those points to another member for opinion. The third member was therefore confined to answering the specific matter referred to him and had no authority to formulate and decide a fresh question on his own. The final disposal of the appeal remained with the Tribunal constituted in accordance with Section 5-A(6). Since the additional issue under Section 16(3)(a)(iii) was not one of the referred points and was decided only by the third member, the matter had not been properly concluded by the Tribunal.

Conclusion: The reference was answered by holding that the third member had no jurisdiction to decide a new point beyond the referred question, and the case had to be sent back to the Tribunal for decision according to law.

Ratio Decidendi: A third member acting under Section 5-A(7) of the Indian Income-tax Act is confined to the precise point referred to him and cannot finally determine the appeal by introducing and deciding an un-referred issue; after his opinion, the Tribunal must dispose of the case in accordance with law.

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