( 1 ) SOMETIMES, in income-tax matters, as in other branches of law, a considerable amount of judicial time is consumed in resolving a purely procedural wrangle. Thus under the Indian Income Tax Act, 1922 as well as its successor Act of 1961, question as to how far an order charging interest is appealable to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner and then to the Appellate Tribunal has engaged considerable attention of the courts and an attempt at legislativc clarification has really not solve the problem. Before proceeding to set out how the difficulty arises the facts of the present reference under section 256 (1) of Income Tax Act, 1961 may be briefly stated.

( 2 ) FOR the assessment year 1962-63 the respondent assesses, M/s. Mahabir Parshad and Sons, a registered firm, had to file its return of income within the time prescribed under section 139 (1 ). i. e. , 30-6-1962. The return was not filed on that date. The asscssee applied for extension of time on 30-11-1962, 19-2-1963 and 30-9-1963. the application on the last date being for extension upto 31-10-1963. The return was, however, actually filed on 20-11-1963. While completing the assessment of the firm for th