Judgment :

SARKAR J.

These are two appeals arising out of two assessment orders made under the Income-tax Act, 1922, respectively for the years 1945-46 and 1947-48. In each assessment case there was a reference of certain questions to the High Court of Madhya Pradesh under section 66 of the Act and the present appeals are against the High Court's answers to these questions.

The assessee is a trader carrying on two businesses, namely manihari (general merchandise) and bidis. He had also certain income from property but with this income we are not concerned in these appeals. For each of the assessment years concerned, the assessee had submitted a return but as his accounts were not found complete and reliable, the Income-tax officer had assessed the gross profits of the businesses on the basis of certain percentages of the total sales which had also to be fixed by estimates. No question arises in these appeals as to the correctness of these assessments.

Subsequently, while dealing with the assessment for the year 1948-49, the Income-tax Officer noticed various credit entries in the assessee's books of account which had all escaped his attention at the time of the assessment for the ye