COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX Vs. AHMED TEA CO PRIVATE LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) AT the instance of the Commissioner of Income-tax, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura, the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Calcutta Bench "B" (hereinafter merely "Tribunal"), has referred, under Section 66(1) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 (hereinafter called "the Act") the following question to us :

(2.) THE facts related to the assessment years 1955-56, 1956-57 and 1957-58. THE relevant and undisputed facts may be briefly stated :

(3.) THE admitted facts are that the assessee-company is not a company in which the public are substantially interested, that the profits distributed as dividends by the company are at much less than the statutory percentage of its income, that the dividends were declared not within, but beyond, the statutory period of six months ; and that the company made a total profit of Rs. 5,98,565 during the aforesaid period of three years. THE Income-tax Officer found, and his finding was upheld by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, that the company had incurred no losses during the earlier years. But the Tribunal found that losses of Rs. 10,000 of earlier years had to be brought forward by the company. In a reference under Section 66(1) of the Act, a finding of fact of the Tribunal is binding on the High Court.