Tribunal fact-finding in advisory jurisdiction stands unless perverse, unsupported by evidence, or based on ignored material.

A Tribunal's factual finding will not be disturbed in advisory jurisdiction unless it is based on no evidence, ignores relevant material, misreads the evidence, or is so unreasonable that no judicially instructed person could have reached it. Applying that standard, the High Court held that the Tribunal had considered the bank letter, the transaction correspondence, and the surrounding circumstances, and had reasonably accepted the assessee's explanation on the probabilities of the case. The finding deleting the income addition was therefore not perverse and was not founded on conjectures or surmises, and the question was answered against the revenue.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal's deletion of Rs. 25,000 from the assessee's income was based on conjectures and surmises or was a finding that could reasonably be reached on the evidence on record.

Analysis: The question arose in the High Court's advisory jurisdiction under section 66(2) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922. Interference with the Tribunal's finding was permissible only if the Tribunal had ignored relevant material, relied on inadmissible material, misread the evidence, or reached a conclusion that was perverse or unsupported by evidence. The Tribunal had considered the bank letter, the correspondence regarding the transaction, and the surrounding circumstances, and had treated the assessee's explanation as satisfactorily established on the probabilities of the case.

Conclusion: The Tribunal's finding was not perverse and was not based on mere conjectures or surmises. The question was answered in the negative and against the revenue.

Final Conclusion: The addition of Rs. 25,000 was upheld as deleted, and the assessee succeeded in the reference.

Ratio Decidendi: A Tribunal's finding of fact will not be disturbed in advisory jurisdiction unless it is based on no evidence, ignores relevant material, misreads the evidence, or is so unreasonable that no judicially instructed person could have reached it.

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