ASHOK BHAN, J.

1. At the instance of the Revenue, Tribunal, Amritsar, in exercise of its powers under s. 256(1) of the IT Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), has referred the following question of law to this Court for its opinion :

"Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal is right in law in upholding the CIT(A)s order that the assessee is entitled to interest under s. 244(1A) of the IT Act on the amount of Rs. 65,281 being pre-assessment tax paid and found in excess of regular demand after giving effect to appellate order ?"

2. Shortly stated, the facts relevant to the controversy in this reference petition are :

For the asst. yr. 1976-77, relevant to the accounting period from 1st October, 1974 to 30th September, 1975, assessee had paid a sum of Rs. 4,44,145 as advance tax. Rs. 91,755 were paid as self-assessment tax. Total of both these amounts comes to Rs. 5,35,900. The ITO framed the regular assessment under s. 143(3) of the Act on 30th August, 1976. The net income was determined at Rs. 8,13,688, on which the tax payable was determined at Rs. 5,55,342. After deducting the advance tax and the self-assessment tax already paid