JUDGMENT :

J.M. Mahapatra, J. - The question referred at the instance of the Revenue u/s 256(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for our decision is :

" Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the relationship between the assessees and the company in which he/she acted as a director can be said to be that of an employee and employer so that the assessees would be entitled to deduction u/s 16(i) of the Income Tax Act, 1961?"

2. The assessees in the different cases are all directors of Messrs, Kapoor Motor Engineering Private Ltd., a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956. The different cases involve a common question of law, though they pertain to different assessment years and to different assessees. These references have, therefore, been heard analogously and are being disposed of by this common judgment. For the relevant years, the assessees were all assessed as individuals and they claimed their remuneration as "salaries" and claimed standard deduction thereon u/s 16(i) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (for short, "the Act"). The assessing authority, namely, the Income Tax Officer, did not accept the contention of the assessees that the remuneration received b