K.S.Hegde, J.

(1) THERE are tyro sets of appeals in this case both arising from the same judgment. The first set of appeals came to be filed under the following circumstances:

(2) CIVIL Nos. 2157-2160 of 1968 were brought to this court on the strength of certificates issued by the High court of Patna. The High court while granting those certificates did not give any reason in support of them. That being so, those certificates cannot be considered as having been given according to law. Hence the appeals brought on the strength of those certificates must be held to be non-maintainable. It is under those circumstances the assessee appellant applied to this court to grant special leave against the judgment of the High court. We granted the special leave askwd for. On the basis of the special leave--granted by this court Civil Nos. 1304-1307 of 1971 have been filed.

(3) THE assessee is a Members Club incorporated under the Indian Companies Act. We are concerned with its assessment for the assessment years 1956-57, 1957-58, 1958-59 and 1959-60 the corresponding accounting years being the calendar years 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1958.

(4) IN response to a notice issued by the Income Tax Officer under Section 22(2) of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1922 to be hereinafter referred to as the Act the assessee filed Nil returns for all the four years. It claimed that it was not liable to pay income-tax as it was a Members Club. Before the Income Tax Officer the balance-sheet and profits and loss Accounts of the assessee for the relevant accounting years were produced. After perusing those records, the Income Tax Officer came to the conclusion that the assessee was not liable to pay any tax in respetet of the amounts realised by it from its members. Sometime thereafter the Income Tax Officer issued notices to the assessee under S. 34(1) (A). In response to those notices the assessee again filed Nil returns but the Income Tax Officer did not accept those returns. He assessed the assessee for the assessment years 1956-57, 1957-58, 1958-59 and 1959-60 on Rs. 7,526.00, Rs. 3,521.00, Rs. 5,313.00 and Rs. 6,881.00 respectively. He came to the conclusion that the amounts received from the members ,of the Club as guests charges must be considered as the income of the assessee and that the same is liable to be taxed.

(5) AGGRIEVED by the orders of the Income Tax Officer, the asseisee took up the matters in appeal to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. Tlie Appellate Assistant Commissioner affirmed the orders of the Income Tax Officer. " A further appeal was taken by the assessee to the Income-tax Appellate tribunal. The tribunal upheld the contentions of the assessee and came to the conclusion that the notices issued under S. 34( I ){b) were incompetent notices as the Income Tax Officer cannot be said to have received any information after he made the assessments in question.

(6) AT the instance of the department the tribunal referred to the High court, under S. 66(1) of the Act, one question relating to the assessment year 1956-57 and two questions relating to the assessment years 1957-58, 1958-59 and 1959-60. In respect of the assessment year 1956-57, the question referred was :

"WHETHER on the facts and circumstances of these cases, the tribunal erred in holding that the provisions of S. 34(1) (b) were not properly invoked and the re-assessment proceedings for the assessment year 1956-57 were invalid;"

In respect of the remaining assessment years, the questions referred are:

"(1) Whether on the facts and circumstances of these cases, the Tribunal was justified in holding that the re-assessments for the years 1957-58, 1958-59 and 1959-60 under S. 34 were invalid on the ground that the Income Tax Officer had passed no orders of assessment on the original returns? and

(2) Whether on the facts and circumstances of these cases, the Tribunal erred in holding that the provisions of S. 34 were