Partner's share income may be assessed individually before firm assessment, provided the same income is not taxed twice.

A partner's share of firm income could be assessed in the partner's individual assessment even before a separate assessment was made on the firm. The governing principle was that alternative modes of assessment do not invalidate the individual assessment, so long as the same income is not taxed twice. Applying earlier authorities on partners and unregistered firms, the court treated the partner's assessment as lawful and answered the issue against the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the share income of a partner from a firm could be assessed to income-tax before a separate assessment was made on the firm.

Analysis: The question was examined in the light of earlier authorities on assessment of partners and unregistered firms. The controlling principle applied was that a partner's share of firm income may be brought to tax in the partner's individual assessment without first making a separate assessment on the firm. The presence of alternative modes of assessment did not make the individual assessment illegal, provided the same income was not assessed twice.

Conclusion: The assessment of the partner's share income prior to a separate assessment on the firm was held to be lawful, and the answer was in the affirmative against the assessee.

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