The Chief Justice. -This reference is made by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, at the instance of the Commissioner of Income-tax, Madras. The question raised is:

“Whether in the circumstances of the case the assessee (a Hindu undivided family) is ‘resident in British India under section 4-A(b) of the Income-tax Act.

The assessment was made upon the karta of a joint Hindu family in respect of its income as such. Since 1923 the karta has lived in Ceylon with his wife, son and three daughters; it is stated they are domiciled in that country where at one time, the karta carried on business in partnership with a stranger to the family; in 1930 the partnership was dissolved and since that year a joint family business has been conducted in Colombo. The joint family owns immoveable property at Kanadukathan, Madras, including the ancestral family house; that house is not let on lease but is occupied, in part at least, by the assessee’s mother and where the karta stays when he visits British India. Other properties are leased at rentals which are collected by a clerk who is employed for the purpose of looking after the family properties. The karta of the family is assessed in Brit