Good text book for MAFA

how to study direct tax

You mentioned no Pattabhiram then I believe your basic concepts are clear and you want some higher level studies.

If you want to enjoy FM then refer Prasanna Chandra.

Want to become Hero in FM then go for James C Van Horne OR Brearly & Myers

For Direct Tax refer any of the following if want to enjoy and want your basics to be very clear.

Dr. V.K.Singhania OR Dr. Girish Ahuja OR Vinod Gupta.

These are excellent books of DT

Thanks for the input Sushil.

You can go for A.N.Sridhar..  Thats a good one..

A.N Sridhar is the best book for MAFA.

L Muralidharan & A N Sridhar