Limited remand after setting aside assessment is valid when the appellate authority confines reconsideration to specific issues.

An appellate authority may set aside an assessment in full while confining the remand to specified issues for fresh enquiry. The High Court noted that, although two items had already been deleted and one item was left for reconsideration, the order was expressed as a setting aside of the entire assessment and did not become invalid merely because the scope of reconsideration was limited. It held that the cited authority did not prevent such restriction on remand, since a contrary view would produce an impractical cycle of the assessing officer repeating the same stance and the dispute returning to appeal. No question of law arose from the Tribunal's order.

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Issues: Whether any question of law arose from the Tribunal's order on the Appellate Assistant Commissioner setting aside the assessment and remitting the matter while restricting the scope of reconsideration.

Analysis: The assessment was not found to have been partially set aside in substance; the Appellate Assistant Commissioner had stated that the assessment was set aside in entirety, though two items had already been deleted and one item was left for reconsideration. The Court held that the cited authority did not bar the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, while setting aside the whole assessment, from limiting the points for enquiry on remand. It further observed that treating the matter otherwise would create an incongruous result, because the Income-tax Officer could merely reiterate the earlier view and the issue would again arise before the appellate authority.

Conclusion: No question of law arose from the Tribunal's order, and the petition was dismissed.

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