Applicability of Section 25-A or Section 26 was a referable question of law in income-tax assessment.

The assessee was entitled to have the applicability of Section 25-A or Section 26 of the Income-tax Act, 1922 determined, because the refusal to decide that issue could not be supported merely on the ground that it might affect findings under Section 26-A. Section 25-A governed assessment after partition of a Hindu undivided family, but it did not rule out the possibility that the separated members had formed a firm attracting Section 26. The question whether the Assistant Commissioner was right in declining to decide the applicable provision was a question of law arising from the appellate order, and the Commissioner was bound to refer it to the Court.

---

---

Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to a determination of the applicability of Section 25-A or Section 26 of the Income-tax Act, 1922, and whether the Commissioner was bound to state a case under Section 66(3).

Analysis: The refusal to determine the applicable provision could not be justified merely because the decision might affect findings recorded under Section 26-A against which no appeal lay. Section 25-A dealt with assessment after partition of a Hindu undivided family, but it did not exclude the possibility that the separated members had constituted themselves into a firm so as to attract Section 26. The question whether the Assistant Commissioner was right in declining to decide the applicability of Section 25-A or Section 26 thus raised a question of law arising from the order under Section 31.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to adjudication on the applicability of Section 25-A or Section 26, and the Commissioner ought to have referred the question to the Court.

---