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TMI Blog1967 (9) TMI 5X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cts and in the circumstances of the case, the Appellate Tribunal was right in holding that the abandonment by the assessee of his exclusive right to the self-acquired properties in favour of the joint Hindu family amounted to a gift within the meaning of section 2(xii) read with section 2(xxiv)(d) of the Gift-tax Act, 1958 ?" Section 2(xii) of the Gift-tax Act, 1958, defines the expression "gift". According to that definition "gift" means "the transfer by one person to another of any existing movable or immovable property made voluntarily and without consideration in money or money's worth, and includes the transfer of any property deemed to be a gift under section 4". Section 4 deals with certain transfers which have to be deemed to be g ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n all its aspects and the authorities cited in support thereof, including the decision of the Supreme Court in Commissioner of Income-tax v. M. K. Stremann, under section 16(3)(a)(iv) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, of this court in Controller of Estate Duty v. Arunachalam Chettiar, under section 10 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953, and of the Mysore High Court in Smt. Laxmibai Narayana Rao Nerlekar v. Commissioner of Gift-tax, under the Gift-tax Act, 1958, itself, also do not arise for consideration and are not considered in this judgment. The first question for determination is whether the act of the assessee in throwing his self-acquisitions into the hotchpot of his joint family can be considered to be a "transaction" entered into by h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as been so held in several decisions. " "A transaction, in the ordinary sense of the word", said Garth C. J. in Gujju Lall v. Fatteh Lall," is some business or dealing which is carried on or transacted between two or more persons". To the same effect was the definition given by Jackson J. in the said decision : " A transaction, as the derivation denotes, is something which has been concluded between persons by a cross of reciprocal action as it were . . . . " Section 4(f) of the Australian Gift Duty Assessment Act, 1941-42, provides that the expression "disposition of property" includes "any transaction entered into by any person with intent thereby to diminish, directly or indirectly, the value of his own property and to increase the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n bankruptcy legislation. The word 'property' in paragraph (f), with which we are here concerned, has in my opinion much the same meaning as the word 'estate' in the corresponding provision of the Death Duties Act, 1921, of New Zealand, whence paragraph (f) was apparently derived. " This question too does not arise for consideration. In the light of our conclusion that the word "transaction" spells an act, which is bilateral or multilateral in character, and that the conduct of the assessee in throwing his self-acquisitions into the hotchpot of his joint family was nothing else or other than a unilateral act on his part. The question referred has to be answered in the negative, that is, in favour of the assessee and against the departme ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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