D.K.Mahajan, J.

1. At the instance of the Commissioner of Income-tax, Patiala, the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Delhi Bench " C ", has referred the following questions of law for our opinion :

"1. Whether a person should first be treated as an agent of a nonresident by an order under Section 163 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, before a notice under Section 148 can be validly issued against him ?

2. If the question No. 1 is answered in the affirmative, whether the fact that the assessec filed return as an agent of Didar Singh Chug without admitting that it was his agent, cured the assessment order of the illegality in the initiation thereof? "

2. The relevant assessment year is 1960-61. The previous year ended on 31st March, 1960. On 9th of January, 1963, the Income-tax Officer issued a notice under Section 163 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, to Messrs, Kanhaya-lal Gurrnukh Singh (hereinafter referred to as " the assessee-firm ") to show cause why it should not be treated as an agent of the non-resident, Didar Singh Chug. The assessee-firm did not appear in response to this notice before the Income-tax Officer. The Income-tax Officer also on the due date did not pass any order u