K.B.N.SINGH, J.

1. The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Patna Bench, Patna, has made a reference to this Court under S. 256 (1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for opinion on the following question of law :

"Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the income from the house property falls for inclusion in the total income of the assessee?"

2. The assessee is an individual. For the assessment year 1965-66, the corresponding accounting year of which ended on the 31st March, 1965, the assessee claimed that the income from the residential house, situate in the Town of Patna, was not assessable in his hands, as the house was transferred to his wife in discharge of dower-debt. The Income-tax Officer rejected the claim of the assessee as there was no registered document evidencing the transfer of the house in discharge of the dower-debt and included the net income from the residential house in the income of the assessee, relying on a Bench decision of this Court in the case of Mahomed Usman Khan V/s. Amir Main, AIR 1949 Pat 237. The assessee filed an appeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, who allowed the claim of the assessee, following the decision of the