Statutory reference jurisdiction is limited to issues arising from the Tribunal's order; unraised points cannot be answered.

A statutory reference is confined to questions arising out of the Tribunal's order. Where the point sought to be referred was neither raised before the Appellate Tribunal nor considered by it, the reference court cannot answer it in reference jurisdiction. Here, the question related to the sustainment of a penalty after the assessment order had been set aside in appeal, but that issue had not been urged before the Tribunal and did not arise from its order. The Court therefore held the reference not maintainable on the question referred and declined to answer it.

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Issues: Whether the reference was maintainable when the point on which an answer was sought had not been raised before the Appellate Tribunal and therefore did not arise out of its order.

Analysis: The question referred concerned the sustenance of a penalty after the assessment order had been set aside in appeal. However, the point was neither raised before the Appellate Tribunal nor considered by it. In such circumstances, the reference court held that the question was not one arising out of the Tribunal's order and could not be answered in reference jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The reference was not maintainable on the question referred, and the Court declined to answer it.

Ratio Decidendi: A reference under the statutory reference jurisdiction is confined to questions that arise out of the Tribunal's order, and a point not raised before or considered by the Tribunal cannot be answered by the reference court.

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