PATHAK,J. - (1.) JUDGEMENT The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has referred the following two questions at the instance of the assessee for the opinion of this Court. "1. Whether for the assessment year 1946-47 the Income Tax Officer was justified in initiating the proceedings and completing the assessment under Section 34 (1)(a) or he should have taken recourse to Section 34(1A) or 34(l)(a)? 2. Whether for the assessment years 1947-48 and 1948-49 the Income Tax Officer was justified in initiating action under Section 34(1)(a) or he should have taken recourse to Section 34(l)(b) of the Act?"
(2.) THE assessee is a partnership firm consisting of Rai Bahadur Ram Ratan and his son Prem Nath. It carried on the business of canteen contractors. The statement of the case submitted by the Tribunal mentions that the account books maintained by the assessee were never accepted by the Income Tax Officer and the income was assessed by applying a flat rate over the turnover disclosed by the assessee. For the assessment year 1946-47 the assessment was completed on July 12, 1947. Subsequently on November 11 1955 the Income Tax Officer issued a notice under section 34(1)(a) for the assessment year 1946-47 and re-opened the assessment proceedings. Despite the notice requiring the assessee to produce its account books, they were not produced on the plea that they were not available. The Income Tax Officer made an assessment order including a sum of Rs. 2,00,000 in the total income of the assessee on the ground that the sum represented the secret profits of the assessee.
(3.) FOR the assessment years 1947-48 and 1948-49 the assessments had already been completed. In respect of those assessment years also the Income Tax Officer took proceedings under Section 34(1) (a) and upon the assessee failing to produce his account books the Income Tax Officer made assessment orders including an amount of Rs. 98,450/- in the total income for the assessment year 1947-48 and an amount of Rs. 2,20,754/- in the total income for the assessment year 1948-49.;