AJIT KUMAR SENGUPTA, J.

1. IN this reference under s. 256(1) of the IT Act, 1961, the following question has been referred to this Court by the Tribunal for the asst. yr. 1971-72 :

"Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the sum of Rs. 50,061 representing the amount of unpaid bonus written back in the accounts could be assessed under s. 41(1) of the IT Act, 1961, in the asst. yr. 1971-72 ?"

2. DURING the previous year relevant to the asst. yr. 1971-72, the assessee wrote off liabilities totaling to Rs. 84,508.40 including unpaid bonus amounting to Rs. 50,061.61 made up of the following items : The ITO in the above assessment year added the said amount of Rs. 50,061 in respect of unpaid bonus to the total income of the assessee without any discussion. The assessee, accordingly, took up the matter in its objection to the draft assessment order under s. 144B with the AAC. It was stated that the above amount of Rs. 50,061 represented unclaimed bonus due by the assessee to its workers. Although the said amount had been written back in the accounts, it could not be said that the liability of the company in that behalf had been extinguished. In the present case