Special leave under Article 136 unavailable after failing to challenge later reference orders under the Income-tax Act, 1922.

Special leave under Article 136 was not available where the appellant had pursued the statutory reference mechanism under section 66 of the Income-tax Act, 1922 but did not challenge the later orders refusing a reference and rejecting the section 66(2) application. The article notes that, in connected appeals decided the same day, the same question was answered against the appellant, and that view controlled the result here. On that basis, the Supreme Court held that special leave could not be sustained against the Tribunal's order in these circumstances, and the appellant was not entitled to invoke Article 136.

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Issues: Whether special leave to appeal under Article 136 of the Constitution was properly granted when the appellant did not challenge the subsequent orders passed under the reference provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1922.

Analysis: The appeal arose from an order of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, but the appellant had also pursued the statutory reference route under section 66 of the Income-tax Act, 1922 and had not moved against the later orders refusing a reference and rejecting the application under section 66(2). In the connected appeals decided the same day, the same question had been answered against the appellant. Applying that view, the Court held that special leave under Article 136 could not be sustained in these circumstances.

Conclusion: Special leave to appeal was not properly granted, and the appellant was not entitled to invoke Article 136 against the Tribunal's order.

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