Om Prakash, J. - (1.) THE assessee, a Hindu undivided family, is engaged in the business of sarafa, pawning, etc., at Gorakhpur. A search was conducted in the business premises of the assessee and on the residential premises of its members and certain books and valuables were seized. Smt. Kamla Devi and Sri Ashok Kumar Barnwal are the members of the Hindu undivided family besides ethers. After the search the Department was of the view that the business being carried on in the names of these two members, belonged to the assessee-Hindu undivided family and that both the members are merely benamidars. THErefore, their assessments for the earlier years were set aside by the Commissioner of Income-tax under Section 263 on the ground that they were erroneous and prejudicial to the interests of the Revenue.
(2.) WHILE making the assessment for the assessment year 1973-74, the Income-tax Officer took the view that the business carried on in the name of Sri Ashok Kumar and Smt. Kamla Devi, in fact, belonged to the asses-see-Hindu undivided family and, therefore, the entire income from the business was added in the name of the assessee-Hindu undivided family. From the materials gathered by the Department, the Tribunal took the view that Sri Ashok Kumar Barnwal and Smt. Kamla Devi, both members of the assessee-Hindu undivided family, were merely benamidars and the pawning business, in fact, belonged to the assessee. It was clearly held by the Tribunal that the funds were not invested in the pawning business by the individuals but by the assessee-Hindu undivided family. On their being examined, both the members of the assessee-Hindu undivided family appeared to be oblivious of the details of the business. The account books, claimed by the individuals as their own, were also posted by Sri Hira Lal Barnwal, who, admittedly, posted the books of the assessee. From a perusal of the Tribunal's order, it appears that the Tribunal reached the conclusion after appraisal of the entire material available on record and drew an inference that both the members were merely benamidars for the Hindu undivided family. From the factual findings, that no investment was made by the two members in the pawning business, that they never actually carried on the business themselves, that the account books did not belong to the two members, that they were posted by Sri Hira Lal Barnwal, who also posted the books of the assessee-Hindu undivided family and that Sri Ashok Kumar was a minor when the business was allegedly started by him, we do not see any prima facie error in the inference drawn by the Tribunal from the facts found thereby and, therefore, no question of law arises from the findings of fact recorded by the Tribunal. The application is, therefore, dismissed.;