Alfred Henry Lionel Leach, C.J.

1. The assessee is a merchant dealing in hides and he carries on his business in the City of Madras. In the year 1938 one Nawab C. Abdul Hakim died, leaving a large estate. Disputes arose among the heirs with regard to the division of the properties left by the Nawab. The result was that the heirs chose five gentlemen of the same community to act as arbitrators and assist in the distribution of the assets. The assessee was one of the five gentlemen, who have been referred to in these proceedings as "the arbitrators." The arbitrators did a considerable amount of work in connection with the administration of the estate, and when at a later stage there were proceedings in this Court in regard to the partition, Gentle, J., decided that a sum of Rs. 87,000 (arrived at on a percentage basis) should be divided among the five arbitrators. The assessees share came to Rs. 17,400. It was not possible to pay to the arbitrators the full amount at once and they received their shares in instalments spread over a number of years. The second instalment which was paid to the assessee was Rs. 7,000 and it was paid during the year of account 1940-41. The Income T