Municipal valuation as annual letting value cannot be disturbed where binding precedent governs the income-tax reference.

The reference concerned whether the Tribunal erred in treating municipal valuation as the annual letting value of the properties for assessment year 1960-61. The issue was governed by binding authority, including a prior Division Bench decision of the same Court for a connected year and the Supreme Court's ruling in Sheila Kaushish. On that basis, the municipal valuation could not be displaced in the manner urged by the Revenue, and the question was answered in the negative in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal erred in law in treating the municipal valuation as the annual letting value of the properties.

Analysis: The question referred arose in an income-tax reference concerning the assessment year 1960-61. The same legal point had already been dealt with by another Division Bench of the Court for a connected assessment year, and the issue was also covered by the decision of the Supreme Court in Sheila Kaushish. In view of the binding authority on the point, the municipal valuation could not be treated as requiring interference in the manner contended for by the Revenue.

Conclusion: The question was answered in the negative and in favour of the assessee.

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