Suhas Chandra Sen, J. - (1.) The following two questions of law have been referred to this court by the Tribunal under Section 256(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ("the Act") : "(1) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and on a proper interpretation of the deed of endowment dated April 28, 1896, the Tribunal was right in holding that the individual shares of the deities in whose favour the endowment had been made were not indeterminate or unknown and that accordingly the first proviso to Section 41(1) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, and Section 164 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, was not applicable to the income from the property dedicated by the said deed ? (2) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was right in holding that the Additional Commissioner was not justified in coming to the conclusion that the assessments were prejudicial to the interests of the Revenue ?"
(2.) The reference relates to the assessment years 1958-59 to 1972-73.
(3.) The dispute in the instant case is with regard to the method of assessment of properties which were dedicated to a number of deities. The properties under consideration were assessed in the hands of the shebait Pulin Chandra Daw for the assessment years 1952-53, 1953-54 and 1954-55. The correctness of the assessments in those years came up for consideration before this court in the case of CIT v. Pulin Chandra Daw [1967] 63 ITR 179, 181, the question there being : "Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, and on a proper construction of the deed of dedication, dated 17th Baisakh, 1303 B. S. (28th April, 1896), the income from the properties covered by the said deed was assessable under Section 9 of the Indian Income-tax Act in the hands of the respondent-assessee ?";