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TMI Blog1970 (10) TMI 10X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... what was the estate left by Nagammal. On this question, the Assistant Controller of Estate Duty held in a particular manner, the Appellate Controller of Estate Duty varied it and the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal varied it still further. (These variations and decisions are not material for the reference before us). Subsequently, the Assistant Controller of Estate Duty filed a petition before the Appellate Tribunal to review its order ; and the Appellate Tribunal reviewed the order and held that the estate left by Nagammal was the absolute and whole estate in the properties in schedule C. Thereafter, at the instance of the accountable persons, the following question has been referred to this court : " Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was right in holding that the full value of the C schedule properties in the partition deed dated December 16, 1953, could be included in the dutiable estate of the deceased ? " If the case arose in British India where the Hindu Women's Rights to Property Act was in force the widow would have been entitled under section 3(3) of the Act to claim partition of her husband's share as a male owner in the non-agricult ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o this extent the law might be different from the Hindu Women's Rights to Property Act) ; but, in case the sons partitioned, the widow had also the right to claim her share (might be equal to that of a son or a moiety thereof). In the case before the Division Bench, it has also been held that, to such a share taken by the widow on partition, section 14(1) of the Hindu Succession Act applied and the said provision enlarged her limited estate into a full and absolute estate. This decision, therefore, indicates that a Mitakshara Hindu widow in Travancore had, in the event of a partition of her husband's estate by her sons, the right to claim her share, and on taking her share, the estate she took was a Hindu woman's estate or a widow's estate as contemplated by the Mitakshara law and such restricted or limited estate, on the coming into force of the Hindu Succession Act, was enlarged into a full and absolute estate. The question for us to consider then is as to the nature of the estate taken by Nagammal in the properties in schedule C allotted to her in the partition of 16th December, 1953. The partition deed is annexure " A " in the case ; and there is a crucial and clinching recita ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e Hindu woman's estate as contemplated by the Hindu Women's Rights to Property Act or by the Hindu law, but was only a restricted estate limited by reason of her contract with the sons, in which case section 14(2) of the Hindu Succession Act would alone apply. We do not think there is anything wrong in this proposition, because the scheme of section 14-the intention of the legislature in enacting section 14-is only to enlarge the limited estate (the Hindu woman's estate) into an absolute estate and not to do away with the sanctity of a contract, which is still recognised by us. See in this connection the latest Division Bench ruling of this court in P. S. Krishna Iyer v. P. K. Saraswathi Ammal. But, as already indicated, the recital in the partition deed indicates fairly clearly that the estate Nagammal took was only the limited estate known in Hindu law as the Hindu woman's estate or the Hindu widow's estate. And, naturally, section 14(1) of the Hindu Succession Act applied to the case. The counsel for the accountable persons has also made an attempt to claim that the case came within section 24 of the Estate Duty Act. Section 24(1) provides that where, by a disposition of any pr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... state the widow had in the 25 acres of agricultural land could not have been treated as woman's estate which was enlarged into a full and absolute estate by section 14(1) of the Hindu Succession Act. The Andhra Pradesh High Court held in that case that the word " disposition " in section 24 must be given a wide connotation and the allotment of 25 acres of agricultural land to the widow in exchange for her right in the non-agricultural properties must also be construed as a disposition coming within the mischief of section 24(1) of the Estate Duty Act. Naturally, since the widow had no right to claim partition of agricultural lands under the Hindu Women's Rights to Property Act, the proviso to section 24 could not apply. And, consequently, the allotment of 25 acres of agricultural land, over which the widow had no right to claim partition, was a disposition, as distinct from the case before us, where the widow took her share in schedule C by virtue of her pre-existing right to take a share on partition. Therefore, the decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court cannot avail to the accountable persons in the case before us. Incidentally, another decision has also been brought to our n ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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