Income taxed on accrual basis despite double taxation plea where award amount accrued in relevant year.

Income from an arbitration award was taxable in the year it accrued, and the assessee did not establish any legal basis to defer assessment to the years of supply of goods. The plea of double taxation also failed because the Tribunal found that the amount had not already been assessed in earlier years; in any event, an erroneous assessment in another year would not affect taxation in the year when the income was properly assessable. On that footing, no referable question of law arose.

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Issues: Whether any referable question of law arose from the Tribunal's order concerning assessment of the arbitration award amount in the assessment year 1978-79, including the plea of double taxation.

Analysis: The amount awarded in arbitration was received during the accounting year relevant to assessment year 1978-79, and the assessee did not establish any legal principle requiring the sale price of goods received in that year to be assessed in the years of supply. The governing principle applied was that income is assessed in the year of accrual, and the assessee did not dispute that the income accrued in the relevant year. The Tribunal's factual finding also negatived the claim that the amount had already been assessed in earlier years; even otherwise, an erroneous assessment in another year would not invalidate the assessment for the year in which the income was taxable.

Conclusion: No referable question of law arose, and the application for reference was rightly dismissed.

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