B.S.Dhillon, J.

1. The assessees are Shri Ram Narain and his three sons, Sarvshri Puran Mal, Jage Ram and Chander Bhan. Shri Ram Narain had formed a joint Hindu family consisting of himself, his wife and the said three sons. Shri Ram Narain became a partner in the firm, M/s. Ram Narain Chander Bhan, Rohtak Mandi, having 1/4 th share in his capacity as a karta of his HUF. The assessment years under reference are 1967-68 and 1968-69. On 15th November, 1965, there was a partial partition in the family as a result of which 1/4 th share in the said firm was divided equally between five members of the family, each having 1/5 th share. A memorandum of partition was drawn up on 8th November, 1966, according to which the capital standing to the credit of the family in the books of the said firm was also divided into five shares and thenceforward the amounts which fell to the shares of the four members other than Shri Ram Narain were treated as loans from them. Shri Ram Narain made an application for recognition of this partition under Section 171 of the I.T. Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") to the ITO. This application was made during the proceedings for the