T.U.MEHTA,J. - (1.)THE Appellate Tribunal has referred to us the following question for our opinion in this reference :
'Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the previous year should be the financial year for assessing the gifts made on February 2, 1963, and the assessment year should be 1963 -64 ?'

(2.)THE above question arises from the following set of facts. The assessee is found to have made gifts of Rs. 40,000 to Shri Hiralal Manilal and Rs. 25,000 to Smt.Savitaben Hiralal on February 2, 1963. She filed a voluntary return for these gifts under the Gift -tax Act showing the assessment year as 1964 -65 and the previous year as S.Y. 2019 which commenced on October 29,1962, and ended on October 17,1963. On the basis of this return, the Gift -tax Officer carried out the assessment on the amount of Rs. 65,000.
The assessee contended before the Gift -tax Officer that the year of assessment for both the gifts should be the year 1963 -64 and not 1964 -65 . She, however, failed in this contention before the Gift -tax Officer, and, hence, took the matter in appeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. The Appellate Assistant Commissioner found that the assessment year for the gifts in question was correctly adopted as the year 1964 -65. Being aggrieved by this, the respondent -assessee approached the Appellate Tribunal. The Appellate Tribunal considered the provision of section 2, clause (xx), which defines the expression 'previous year' and came to the conclusion that sub -clauses (a) and (b) thereof had no application to the facts of the case. The Appellate Tribunal, however, found that sub -clause (c) of clause (xx) of section 2, which is the residuary clause applied to the facts of the case and held that even though the accounting year of the assessee for the purpose of income -tax was Samvat year, on a proper construction of sub -clause(c), the same should be taken as financial year. Sub -clause(c) of clause(xx) says that in cases where sub -clause (a) and (b) do not apply, the 'previous year' would mean the 'previous year' as defined in section 3 of the Income -tax Act, if an assessment were to be made under that Act, for that year. The Tribunal was of the view that sub -clause (c) should be construed as saying that in cases where sub -clause (a) and (b) do not apply, in order to determine 'previous year' for the purpose of gift -tax should be treated as 'income' to the donor from an undefined source, and since it cannot be related to any other sources of the income of the donor, its previous year should, according to the principles of section 3 of the Income -tax Act, be presumed to be the financial year. According to the Tribunal, this would be so even if for other sources of the donor's income the accounting period is the Samvat year. Being aggrieved by this reference in which the above question is referred to us for our opinion.

(3.)SO far as the Gift -tax Act is concerned, the expression 'previous year' so defined in section 2 thereof as under :
'Previous year' in relation to any assessment year - (a) in the case of an assessee having no source of income, profit or gains or having a source of income, profits or gains in respect of which there is no previous year under the Income -tax Act, means the twelve months ending on the 31st day of March immediately preceding the assessment year; (b) in the case of an assessee having different previous years under the Income -tax Act for different sources of income, profits or gains, means that previous year of twelve months determined as the previous year under sub -clause (a) or sub -clause (b), as the case may be, of sub -section (1) of section 3 of the Income -tax Act or such period determined as the previous year under clause (c) of that sub -section, whichever expired last; (c) in the case of any other assessee, means the previous year as defined in section 3 of the Income -tax Act if an assessment were to be made under that Act for that year : Provided that where a person who has not been assessed under this Act for any assessment year makes a gift on a date which does not fall within a previous year as defined in sub -clause (a) or sub clause (b) or sub -clause(c), the previous year shall be the twelve months ending on the 31st day of March immediately preceding the assessment year : Provided further that when an assessment has been made under this Act for any assessment year in respect of gifts made by an assessee during any previous year, the meaning of the expression 'previous year' as then applicable to him shall continue to apply for any subsequent assessment year unless the assessee is allowed to vary it with the consent of the Gift -tax Officer who may, in allowing any such variation, impose such conditions as he may think fit.'