Reference under Wealth-tax law not maintainable where only ground was pendency of an SLP without any stay order.

Pendency of a special leave petition against an earlier High Court decision, without any stay from the Supreme Court, did not by itself create a referable question of law under section 27(3) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957. The High Court held that the Tribunal was right to refuse the reference application because no independent legal issue otherwise arose on the facts. A request for a statement of the case was therefore not maintainable, and the refusal to make a reference remained undisturbed.

---

---

Issues: Whether a reference under section 27(3) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 could be directed on the sole ground that a special leave petition against an earlier High Court decision was pending before the Supreme Court.

Analysis: The application was founded only on the pendency of the special leave petition against the earlier decision relied upon by the Tribunal. The Court held that mere pendency of such proceedings, without any stay of operation of the earlier decision by the Supreme Court, did not create a referable question of law. On the facts, the Tribunal had rightly refused the reference application, and no ground existed for calling for a statement of the case.

Conclusion: No referable question of law arose, and the request for reference was not maintainable.

Final Conclusion: The application for a statement of the case was rejected, leaving the Tribunal's refusal to make a reference undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: Pendency of a special leave petition against an earlier decision, by itself and in the absence of any stay, does not justify a reference where no independent referable question of law otherwise arises.

---