JUDGMENT :

D.P. Mohapatra, J. - On the applications filed by the Revenue u/s 256(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, this court directed the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal to state a case and refer the following question for opinion of the court:

" Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, where the Appellate Assistant Commissioner had dismissed the appeal for non-compliance of Section 249(4) of the Act, his order amounted to one within the ambit of Section 250 of the Act so as to be subjected to second appeal before the Tribunal u/s 253 of the Act ? "

2. Accordingly, the aforesaid question of law has been referred by the Tribunal for the opinion of this court. The gist of the relevant facts may be stated as follows:

The assessee, Kalipada Ghose, was the proprietor of New Ganguram Sweets at Bhubaneswar. The assessment years involved are 1974-75 and 1975-76. The Income Tax Officer determined the total income of the asses-see at Rs. 17,500 and Rs. 30,000, respectively, for these years. The assessee filed appeals on October 29, 1975. The Appellate Assistant Commissioner considering the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 1975, under which a new provision in Section 249 was introdu