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TMI Blog1938 (1) TMI 21X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tionship is regarded as the prospective heir to the estate. He has no right to the estate during the lifetime of Rani Ram Kunwar Sahiba but a right of reversion on her death. In view of this fact the assessment is in respect of a maintenance allowance which, at ₹ 541-8-0 a month, works out to ₹ 6,498. This allowance the Income Tax Officer assessed along with other income to income tax for the year in dispute. A copy of the assessment order is annexed as Appendix A. Dissatisfied with the assessment, the assessee appealed to the Assistant Commissioner contending (i) that the allowance was paid to him as a member of a Hindu undivided family and was in consequence exempt under Sec. 14(1) of the Act, and (ii) that it was also exempt as agricultural income. The Assistant Commissioner overruled both the contentions and dismissed the appeal. A copy of his appellate order will be found in Appendix B. The assessee has now presented an application demanding a reference under Sec. 66(2) unless I cancel the assessment. I am at one with the officers below and unable to comply with the assessee's request under Sec. 33. 3. Question for the Decision of the Hon'ble the High Cour ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Ghazipur. The proprietor of the estate and the ward is Mst. Rani Dulhin Ram Kunwar, who is the widow of Babu Sri Narain Singh, the last male owner of the estate. The assessee is Babu Kedar Narain Singh, the daughter's son of the Rani and he by virtue of his relationship is regarded as the prospective heir to the estate. He has been assessed to income tax for the year ending the 31st March 1934 on an income of ₹ 6,498 along with other income about which there is no dispute. It is, however, said that the sum mentioned above ought not to have been included in the income of the assessee for the year in dispute. This amount is paid to him under Sec. 25 of the Court of Wards Act. That provision reads as follows:- "The Court of Wards may from time to time determine what sums shall be allowed in respect of the expenses of any ward and of his family and dependants." and the contention of the assessee is that the alleged income is actually the amount of personal expenses of the petitioner incurred by the Court of Wards under Sec. 25 of the Court of Wards Act, as the petitioner is a dependant of the ward. The Income Tax Officer, the Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lastic ambit, and courts when considering whether any particular sum can be said to be the income of an assessee have attempted either to bring it in, or to exclude it from, a certain description which they have chosen to give to the word 'income', but they have always qualified the said description by saying that it is not exhaustive. It is, however, clear that the words "income, profits and gains" used in the Act are used in a disjunctive sense, and the word 'income' is not limited by the words "profits and gains". As observed by their Lordships of the Privy Council in the case of Maharaja Kumar Gopal Saran Narain Singh v. Commissioner of Income-tax, Bihar and Orissa, "anything which can properly be described as income is taxable under the Act unless expressly exempted ". That perhaps is the best definition, although it may be said to be tautologous. There can be no doubt that the entire income of the Ausanganj Estate is taxed in the hands of the Court of Wards, and in one sense it may be said that any sum paid to the assessee in respect of his expenses as a dependant of the ward has been taxed, but the main question is whether the I ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... or in his hands the character of the income has been changed. If it is treated as a gift, it would be liable to tax and would not be exempted under Sec. 4(3)(vii), because it is not an isolated gift and is not an income of a casual and non-recurring nature, but is a gift of a periodical and regular kind, even if it be said to be made to the assessee by the ward out of considerations of love and relationship. The chief contention that is advanced before us is that the assessee can claim exemption under Sec. 14(1) of the Act which says that the tax shall not be payable by an assessee in respect of any sum which he receives as a member of a Hindu undivided family. In this connection we have to consider whether the assessee can be treated as a member of a Hindu undivided family. Ordinarily, a married daughter is not a member of the family of her father or mother, nor can the daughter's son be said to be such a member, but it is said that the expression 'undivided Hindu family' used in Sec. 14 differs from what is called a Hindu coparcenary body which is a much narrower body and which includes those male members who take by birth an interest in the coparcenary property. Thi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a poor dependant in the sense in which that term is understood in Hindu Law, and the expression 'dependants' used in Sec. 25 of the Court of Wards Act is a wholly different expression. Only those members of a Hindu undivided family can claim exemption under Sec. 14(1) of the Act who either on partition would be entitled to demand a share or are entitled to maintenance under the Hindu Law and who therefore might be said to have an interest in the joint income of the family. The assessee is entitled neither to claim partition nor to claim maintenance as of right nor has the sum in question been received by him by virtue of his position as a member of the Hindu undivided family and, therefore, the exemption provided in Sec. 14(1) is not available to him. Our answer, therefore, to the question formulated by the Commissioner mentioned in an earlier portion of our judgment is in the affirmative, and we direct that a copy of our judgment shall be sent under the seal of the Court and the signature of the Registrar to the learned Commissioner of Income-Tax, Central and United Provinces. The assessee must pay the costs of the reference. The hearing of the case lasted for a day, and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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