SATISH CHANDRA, C.J. - (1.) THE assessee is a firm constituted under a deed of partnership dated 14th November, 1955. It consisted of nineteen partners. It was granted registration under Section 26A of the Indian I.T. Act, 1922, for the assessment year 1956 -57. The registration was renewed thereafter up to the year 1959 -60. Sri Narottam Das, one of the partners, died on 20th December, 1958, relevant for the assessment year 1960 -61. For this year, the accounting period ended on 7th July, 1959.
(2.) THE firm continued the business. It took the legal representatives of the deceased partner as partners of the firm. The firm applied for renewal of registration for the assessment year 1960 -61 on 29th June, 1960. The ITO refused renewal. He held that on the death of a partner a change occurred in the constitution of the firm. No fresh deed of partnership having been executed the firm was not entitled to renewal of registration. On appeal this view was reversed, but was again upheld by the Tribunal. At the instance of the assessee, the Tribunal has referred for our opinion the following questions of law ; '1. Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the assessee -firm was entitled to renewal of registration for the assessment year 1960 -61 on the basis of the partnership deed dated November 14, 1955, with particular reference to Clauses 12, 13 and 14 thereof when during the relevant accounting year one of the partners had died and a minor had orally been admitted to the benefits of partnership without executing a fresh deed of partnership ? 2. Whether in the alternative, the firm should have been allowed renewal of registration for the period up to the death of one of its partners, namely, Shri Narottam Das Tandon, on 20th December, 1958 ?'
(3.) THE Tribunal had relied upon the decision of this court in C1T v. Wajid AH Abid Ali [1972] UPTC 532. When the reference came up before a Bench it felt that this decision needed reconsideration. The case was hence referred to a Full Bench.;