Section 66 reference procedure limits High Court power to questions of law properly raised before the Commissioner.

Under Section 66(3) of the Income-tax Act, 1922, the High Court's power to require a case-statement was confined to questions of law duly raised before the Commissioner under Section 66(2) and covered by the Commissioner's refusal to refer. The Court held that it could not frame fresh questions at the mandamus stage, because the statutory reference procedure had to be strictly followed. An assessee could not bypass the prescribed mechanism by seeking a reference of questions that had not been properly raised at the earlier stage.

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Issues: Whether, on an application under Section 66(3) of the Income-tax Act, 1922, the High Court could require the Commissioner to state a case on a question of law that had not been duly raised under Section 66(2) and had not been the subject of the Commissioner's refusal to refer.

Analysis: The statutory scheme of Section 66 was construed as confining the High Court's power under sub-section (3) to the questions of law that had been duly raised before the Commissioner under sub-section (2) and upon which the Commissioner had expressed an opinion or refused to state a case. The Court held that the High Court could not formulate fresh questions for reference at the stage of mandamus, because the preliminary statutory requirements had to be strictly observed and the assessee could not bypass the reference mechanism prescribed by the Act.

Conclusion: The question was answered in the negative, and the assessee was not entitled to compel a reference of questions not duly raised under Section 66(2).

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