1972 (11) TMI 10

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..... uestion answered in the affirmative
Judge(s) : SATISH CHANDRA., N. D. OJHA. JUDGMENT The judgment of the court was delivered by SATISH CHANDRA J.-The In come-tax Appellate Tribunal has, under section 27(1) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957, referred to us the following question of law : "Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the assessee's status was correctly taken as that of an 'individual'? " Shri Ramji Mehrotra, the assessee, was a member of a Hindu undivided family along with his father, mother, a brother and an uncle and aunt and four cousins. In 1951, there was a partial partition in the family at which a sum of five lakhs of rupees was divided between some of the members of the family. In 1953 another partia .....

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..... onsist of a widow with a right of adoption and her unmarried daughter. In such a case the widow can by adoption add a male member to the family. (See Srinivasa Krishnarao Kango v. Narayan Devji Kango). For the assessee, reliance was placed upon Gowli Buddanna v. Commissioner of Income-tax . In that case, A constituted a Hindu undivided family along with his wife, two unmarried daughters and his adopted son, B. The Supreme Court observed that the expression " Hindu undivided family " in the Income-tax Act is used in the sense in which a Hindu joint family is understood under the personal law of the Hindus. Under the Hindu system of law, a joint family may consist of a single male member and widows of deceased male members, and the Income-ta .....

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..... n if some members of a Hindu undivided family, like females, may not possess powers of transfer, yet the family can continue as a Hindu undivided family and the property belonging to it retains that character. The decision of the Supreme Court in N. V. Narendranath v. Commissioner of Wealth-tax shows that, for purposes of wealth-tax, a Hindu undivided family can validly consist of a person with his wife and minor daughters, even though he has no sons. It was observed that the property which is joint family property of a Hindu undivided family does not cease to be so because of the temporary reduction of the coparcenary unit to a single individual. A coparcenary is a much smaller body than a Hindu undivided family. Females cannot be member .....

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..... idered as a Hindu undivided family. The Madras High Court in K. R. Ramachandra Rao v. Commissioner of Wealth-tax held that in the absence of persons entitled to a claim on the estate, a sole surviving coparcener does not constitute a Hindu undivided family for purposes of assessment to wealth-tax. In the present case, the assessee does not have any other person, male or female, as a member of his family. As a sole coparcener, he cannot, in law, be deemed to constitute a Hindu undivided family. He was rightly assessed in the status of an individual. We answer the question referred to us in the affirmative, in favour of the revenue and against the assessee. The department will be entitled to costs. Fee of the learned counsel is assessed at .....

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