Factual finding on bad debt sustainability upheld where surrounding circumstances supported irrecoverability before the accounting year.

On a reference limited to whether material supported the Tribunal's factual finding, the SC held that the finding that both debts had become bad before the relevant accounting year was sustainable. The court would not reassess whether that conclusion was the only possible one, because the question was confined to evidentiary support. The long delay after execution of the pronote, no interest being shown in the accounts, no steps taken to recover the amounts, and no execution proceedings on the decree together provided material supporting irrecoverability before the year of account.

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Issues: Whether there was material on which the Tribunal could find that the debts had become bad prior to the relevant year of account.

Analysis: The reference was confined to the existence of material supporting the Tribunal's finding, not to whether that finding was the only possible conclusion. The long lapse of time after execution of the pronote, absence of interest on the relevant accounts, failure to take legal steps to recover the amounts, and the lack of execution proceedings in respect of the decree provided evidentiary support for the conclusion that both debts had become irrecoverable before the accounting year in question.

Conclusion: The finding that the debts had become bad prior to the year of account was supported by material and could not be disturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: On a reference limited to whether there was material supporting a factual finding, the court will not reassess sufficiency as if on appeal, and a finding of earlier irrecoverability is sustainable where surrounding circumstances reasonably support it.

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