Question of law referral under Section 66 requires the issue to have been raised before the Tribunal, otherwise referral is denied.

Section 66 referral requires that the question of law must have arisen out of the Tribunal's order by being actually raised before the Tribunal; questions not disclosed as raised in the Tribunal proceedings cannot be treated as arising out of its order. The statutory text limits the reference power and excludes expanding the gateway by permitting fresh legal issues at the reference stage. Doctrines of estoppel and res judicata were considered but do not substitute for the statutory requirement; consequently, refusal to refer issues not raised before the Tribunal is upheld and the petition dismissed.

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Issues: Whether questions of law not raised before the Appellate Tribunal can be required to be referred to the High Court under Section 66 of the Income-tax Act, where those questions did not appear to have been raised at the Tribunal hearing.

Analysis: Section 66 permits requiring the Appellate Tribunal to refer "any question of law arising out of such order" of the Tribunal. A question of law is treated as arising out of the Tribunal's order only if the order discloses that the question was raised before the Tribunal. Allowing questions not raised at the Tribunal to be treated as arising out of its order would exceed the statutory language and the procedural scope of the reference remedy. Preclusion doctrines such as estoppel or res judicata were considered but the statutory gateway for reference remains the presence of the question before the Tribunal.

Conclusion: The Appellate Tribunal correctly refused to refer questions that were not raised before it; the petition under Section 66(2) is dismissed. In favour of Revenue.

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