Case: Agha Abdul Jabbar Khan Vs. Commissioner of Income Tax, M.P

The assessee, a Muslim, claimed in his assessment proceedings for the assessment yearthat a particular item of income is not his income but that of his wife. According to him he had transferred for consideration the property from out of which the income in question arose to his wife for a consideration of Rs. 1 lakh. His case was that at the time of his marriage with the transferee, in 1930, a meher of Rs. 10, 000 had been fixed. But, in 1960, he enhanced the meher to rupees one lakh and in February or March of that year he orally transferred the property in question to his wife to discharge his meher. TheOfficer did not accept the claim of the assessee. He came to the conclusion that there is no satisfactory evidence to show that the transfer in question is a genuine one. In his view the transaction was a gift and not a transfer for consideration. The conclusion reached by theOfficer was affirmed in appeal by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. But, on a further appeal by the assessee to the Tribunal, the Tribunal came to the conclusion that the transfer was genuine as well as valid. In its view it was open to the assessee to increase the meher fixed at the time of marriage, on a subsequent date, and the evidence on record established the enhancement pleaded by the assessee as well as the transfer put forward. It also came to the conclusion that, ever since the transfer, the wife of the assessee was in possession of the property transferred in her name. Hence, the income of that property cannot be considered as the income of the assessee

Court's reasoning:
In our opinion the High Court had no jurisdiction to raise new questions of law. The questions raised by it do not flow from the question referred to it for its opinion. The High Courts power under the Act is only to give its opinion on the questions of law referred to it by the Tribunal. It cannot take into consideration questions of law which have not been referred to it for its opinion. If the High Court thought that the question referred to it did not bring out the real point in issue it was open to it to call for a fresh statement of the case and direct the Tribunal to submit for its opinion the real question arising for decision. The High Court did not do so. On the other hand the High Court dealt with the reference as if it was dealing with an appeal before it. It failed to realise the limits of its jurisdiction in references under sectionwas urged by Mr. Manchanda, the learned counsel for the department, that on the face of it, the transfer pleaded by the assessee is an invalid one and the story put forward by him is unbelievable. We cannot go into those questions in this appeal because this court is subject to the same limitations, while hearing appeals against the orders of the High Courts in references under section 66(1), as the High Courts are. Our advisory jurisdiction is no more extensive than that of the High Courts