Sufficiency of evidence on hidden account books is a factual issue, not a referable question of law under case-stated jurisdiction.

A challenge to the sufficiency of evidence supporting a taxing authority's finding does not, by itself, create a referable question of law under the case-stated jurisdiction. The High Court treated the issue of whether the assessee maintained another set of account books as a factual inference drawn from the materials before the Income Tax Officer. Since there was some material supporting that conclusion, the proposed reference questions were only a repetition of the same factual controversy and not a legal issue capable of reference under Section 66(3) of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1922. The application for reference was therefore rejected, leaving the departmental finding undisturbed.

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Issues: Whether the question raised for reference under Section 66(3) of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1922, namely whether there was evidence to support the finding that the assessee maintained another set of accounts, was a question of law referable to the Court.

Analysis: The only substantial controversy concerned the Income Tax Officer's conclusion that the assessee had another set of account books which had not been produced. The Court treated this as a matter depending on the materials before the taxing authority and on the drawing of factual inferences from those materials. It held that it could not say that there was no material whatsoever for the Income Tax Officer's conclusion. The suggested questions were therefore only repetitions of the same factual controversy and did not raise any referable question of law.

Conclusion: The question was one of fact and not a referable question of law under Section 66(3) of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1922.

Final Conclusion: The application for reference was rejected, and the dismissal left the departmental findings undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: A challenge to the sufficiency of evidence supporting a taxing authority's factual finding does not, by itself, create a referable question of law under the case-stated jurisdiction.

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