Mehar Singh, J.

1. This reference under Section 66(1) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 (Act 11 of 1922), arises in these facts and circumstances.

2. The assessee was incorporated as a public limited company under the Indian Companies Act, 1913 , on September 21, 1942, with the name Bharat Bank Limited. In paragraph 3 of its memorandum of association items (a) and (b) concern banking business alone and so does the beginning sentence of item (c) which reads--" to carry on the business of banking in all its branches and departments--". The rest of the item (c) and all the remaining items down to item (s) substantially correspond to items 1 to 17 in Section 277F of the Indian Companies Act, 1913 . Those are such items of business which may be carried on by any person or company not carrying on the business of banking. Even in Section 277F of the above Act it is clearly stated that a banking company, apart from its principal business, may engage in addition in one or more of the 17 items of business which then follow. At the end of paragraph 3 it is declared that the company undertook to restrict its activities only to such banking business as specified in that paragraph or to