1948 (3) TMI 35

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....he same matter, one being with regard to the assessment of income-tax and the other the assessment of excess profits tax. The assessee is an undivided Hindu family, and the question which has been referred is whether there is any legal evidence to support the finding of the Tribunal that Rs. 49,300 was part of the assessee's income during the accounting year. The accounting period in question is from the 11th November, 1939, to the 30th of October, 1940. The assessee has business and property, the business including two rice mills, and a grain gola, trading in clarified butter and timber, and there is also a pawnbroking business. The Income-tax Officer held that a sum of Rs. 84,000 shown as cash credits in the personal account of ....

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.... asked to make the reference which is now before us. What we have to decide is merely whether there is any legal evidence to support the conclusion arrived at by the Income-tax authorities. Much of the argument before us has, perhaps inevitably, partaken largely of the nature of a challenge to the finding upon the merits. With the merits we are not, however, at all concerned. The question before us, if one may so put it, is was there case to go to the jury?―not whether the evidence was such as to justify the conclusion. No doubt the materials upon which Income-tax authorities acted constituted only circumstantial evidence. Nevertheless, that there was evidence cannot, I think, be doubted. I have referred to the fact that on a sa....

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.... cent. had been made. In short, there is no reason to suppose that anything was done behind the back of the assessee and the actual fact relied on was not really challenged by thee assessee. The objection substantially was that owing to other possible circumstances the inference sought t be made from that fact not justified. That fact, it was suggested, carried little weight with regard to the matter under consideration. In short, the objection made was not with regard to the correctness of that statement, but upon the weight which should be attached to it―a mere question of fact. Coupled with the extraordinary low profits shown were the facts that no accounts at all had been conveniently kept regarding this home chest, and no expl....