Maintainability of reference petitions under agricultural income-tax revision depended on whether the revisional order prejudiced the assessee.

Reference under section 60(3) of the Kerala Agricultural Income-tax Act was available only where the revisional order fell within section 60(2), that is, where it enhanced the assessment or otherwise operated prejudicially to the assessee under the second proviso to section 34. A revisional order passed on the assessee's own application, which merely declined interference or modified the assessment, did not satisfy that requirement. On that construction, original petitions under section 60(3) were not maintainable and were dismissed.

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Issues: Whether the original petitions under section 60(3) of the Kerala Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950 were maintainable when the revisional orders had been passed on the assessees' own applications and did not enhance the assessment or otherwise operate prejudicially to them under section 60(2) read with the second proviso to section 34 of the Act.

Analysis: The statutory scheme permits reference proceedings under section 60(3) only where the underlying revisional order is of the kind contemplated by section 60(2), namely an order enhancing the assessment or otherwise prejudicial to the assessee. An order passed in revision at the instance of the assessee, merely declining interference or modifying the assessment, does not answer that description. On that construction, the petitions could not be entertained under section 60(3).

Conclusion: The original petitions were not maintainable and were dismissed.

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