Grover, J. - (1.) These appeals are by certificate from the judgment of the Allahabad High Court, which arise out of the assessment of tax made for the assessment years 1952-53, 1953-54 and 1954-55, in an income- tax reference.
(2.) The facts may be shortly stated. The assessee was being assessed as an individual and derived income from property business and other sources. In the assessment for all the three years mentioned above the Income-tax Officer included a sum of Rs. 2,550 as income from other sources being rental of certain shops stated to have been let out by the assessee. The shops came into the possession of the assessee by virtue of a registered agreement dated January 2, 1947, the parties to that agreement being the assessee and one Jungle Koiri. A piece of land situated in village Sarso, District Azamgarh belonged to Jungle Koiri which had been mortgaged by him to a third party. By means of an agreement dated January 2, 1947, it was agreed between him and the assessee that the latter would pay up the earlier mortgage amounting to Rs. 1,400. The shops were to remain in the possession of the assessee for a period of 10 year who was entitled to rent them out or put them to his own use. After the expiry of that period the shops were to revert to Jungle Koiri or his successors free from all encumbrances. One of the clause of the agreement was that if a sum exceeding Rs. 1,000 was required for construction of the shop it would be provided by the assessee and for this additional payment the period of possession of the shops by the assessee would be extended the period of possession of the shops by the assessee would be extended in terms of the agreement to be made between the parties. As the assessee had spent an amount exceeding Rs. 1,000, another agreement was entered into between the parties on January 8, 1948, by which the period for which the assessee was entitled to remain in possession was extended by 10 years. There was a separate agreement dated June 19, 1947, on similar lines which had been entered into by the five sons of the assessee and the mutwallis of the mosque known as Garhewali Masjid. By virtue of that agreement the mutawallis of the mosque for which a sum of Rs. 8,000 was to be provided by the sons of the assessee. It was agreed that the shops would be mortgaged for a period of 8 years in favour of the five sons of the assessee who were free either to use the shops themselves or to rent them out. This period of 8 years was extended by 12 years under an agreement dated May, 31, 1948, against a sum of Rs. 4,000 paid by the five sons of the assessee to the mutawallis of the mosque. There was yet another item of Rs. 750 which had been included by the Income-tax Officer in the income of the assessee as rent from a house. The assessees case with regard to that item was that, though the house originally belonged to him, he had, in lieu of dower debt, transferred the same to his wife in the year 1937.
(3.) Having failed before the departmental authorities and the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal the assessee moved an application under section 66 (1) of the Act and the Tribunal submitted the statement of the case referring only one question of law which was as follows : "Whether on the facts and circumstances of the case the income of Rs. 2,550 derived as rent from the shops on the lands belonging to the other parties was a revenue receipt assessable to income-tax - ;