1962 (2) TMI 7 - SC - Income Tax

Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case the Tribunal was justified in law in adding to the total income of the assessee the sum of ₹ 1,45,706 and/or ₹ 48,185 or any part thereof ?

Whether there was any material on record to support the finding that ₹ 1,45,706 and/or ₹ 48,185 or any part thereof represent the income of the assessee ?

Held that:- It was open to the Tribunal in appreciating the evidence to rely upon the statements made by Achaldas and Poonamchand before the Income-tax Officer and to disbelieve the statements made by them before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner.

The jurisdiction of the High Court under section 66 of the Income-tax Act is merely advisory. The High Court does not sit in appeal over the judgment of the income-tax authorities : it is not concerned to decide whether the conclusion of the Tribunal on appreciation of evidence is correct. There was apparently a mass of evidence on which the conclusion of the Appellate Tribunal could be founded and the question which fell to be determined by it was purely one of fact. It is true that a finding of fact which is not supported by any evidence or is unreasonable and perverse may be open to challenge on the ground that it is not supported by any material on the record, but, as we have already observed, there was material on which the Income-tax Tribunal could reasonably arrive at the conclusion which it did. The High Court was, therefore, right in recording the answers to the two questions submitted to it. Appeal dismissed.