JUDGMENT - M. C. CHAGLA, C. J. :

The assessee is a direct descendant of Shri Vallabhacharya who founded a Faith known as Val­labh Sampradaya. It has been found as a fact by the Tribunal that he is not a sanyasi, that he has married and has children and that he will be succeeded by his sons who would inherit and divide his proper­ties. He resides at Porbandar and keeps an idol of Lord Krishna in his house. Offerings are made to him from time to time by his devotees and these offerings are not made to the idol but to the assessee himself. The offerings are made usually at the time of the prayers. It has also been found as a fact that the assessee by virtue of the office he holds has to perform some obligations as the head of this faith and that he is looked upon by his devotees as "Guru" and he gives "mantras" to his disciples. As a matter of fact a person can only be initiated into this faith by the assessee chanting certain "mantras". Now, it was found by the In­come-tax authorities that the assessees income from these gifts for the year 1953-54 was Rs. 9,228/- and for 1954-55 was Rs. 17,591/-. The contention of the assessee was that these amounts were not sub­ject to tax. The Tribu

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