1. At the instance of the Revenue, the Appellate Tribunal has referred the following question under Section 256(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, for the opinion of the court :
' 1. Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal is justified in holding that the income derived by the Radhaswami Satsang, a religious institution, is entitled to exemption under Sections 11 and 12 of the Income-tax Act, 1961
2. Whether the Appellate Tribunal was legally correct in holding that the Appellate Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax was justified in entertaining the appeals filed by the assessee with respect to the charge of interest under Section 217 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ?'
2. So far as question No. 1 is concerned, the Supreme Court has found in the case of assessee-trust, which is reported as Radhasoami Satsang v. CIT : [1992]193ITR321(SC) , that the income of the assessee-trust is entitled to exemption under Sections 11 and 12 of the Act. Following this authority, we answer the question in the affirmative, that is, in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue.
3. Turning to question No. 2, we rely on the case of Central Provinces Manganese Ore Co. Ltd. v. CIT : [1986]160ITR961(SC) in which the Supreme Court held that levy of interest is part of the process of assessment and, therefore, it is open to an assessee to dispute the levy in appeal, provided he limits himself to the ground that he is not liable to the levy at all. The assessee-trust being entitled to exemption in view of the afore-mentioned Supreme Court decision, the liability to be assessed is fully denied by the assessee-trust and, therefore, we hold that the Appellate Tribunal was right in holding that the Appellate Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax was justified in entertaining the appeals filed by the assessee-trust in regard to charge of interest under Section 217 of the Act. Therefore, this question is also decided in the affirmative, that is, in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue. No order as to costs.