9911796707
TMI Blog2001 (9) TMI 75X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... right in law in directing the Wealth-tax Officer to include the same value of Darbargadh in the total wealth of the assessee when the valuation is under challenge by the assessee?" The assessment years involved are 1966-67 to 1971-72 and the relevant valuation dates are March 31, 1966 to March 31, 1971, respectively. The assessee who is an individual claimed before the Wealth-tax Officer that the value of the building known as "Darbargadh City Palace", should not be included in his net wealth in view of the fact that as per the terms of the covenant which was entered into with the then Government of the United States of Kathiawar, the said property was belonging to the family and not the assessee as an individual. The Wealth-tax Offi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ty was an impartible estate and it was not possible to take any other view of the matter. Mr. J. P. Shah, learned counsel for the assessee-applicant, has based his case on the provisions of section 4 read with section 5(ii) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, to submit that the assessee was in occupation of the Darbargadh property by virtue of the terms of the covenant and that the said covenant did not relate to an estate which had descended to a single heir. It was, therefore, urged that the property in question was belonging to the Hindu undivided family of the assessee and not to the assessee as an individual and, hence, the provisions of section 4(6) of the Act were not applicable. In support of his submissions, reliance was placed on ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the apex court would not carry the case of the Revenue any further inasmuch as the apex court was not called upon to deal with the controversy with which we are required to deal. The dispute before the apex court was in relation to the nature of the property purchased by one of the parties in the name of his friend and whether in such circumstances the said property could be belonging to the said assessee as a sovereign property or as a private property. It is pertinent to note that the Bombay High Court in the assessee's own case CWT v. H. H. Maharaja Mayurdhwaj Singhji [1982] 136 ITR 279, had held that the impartible property cannot be treated as the personal property of the assessee before sub-section (6) was introduced in section 4 o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h the Acts, namely, the Income-tax Act and the Wealth-tax Act, it is apparent, that an identical fiction is provided by the Legislature that in a case where a person is the holder of an impartible estate, such a person shall be deemed to be the individual owner of the properties comprised in such estate. In the case of Pratapsinhji [1983] 139 ITR 77, this court has taken into consideration the effect of section 4 read with section 5(ii) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, to hold that any custom or usage which enjoins the devolution of an estate on a single heir is not effective except in those cases where such descent is provided by the terms of any covenant or agreement entered into by a Ruler of an Indian State with the appropriate Gove ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s of the covenant, the property did not devolve upon a single heir as required by the provisions of section 5(ii) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. For the purpose of saving the property from losing its characteristics by operation of section 4 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, in the case of Pratapsinhji [1983] 139 ITR 77, this court has specifically laid down that unless, therefore, a particular estate, the devolution of which is to a single heir is saved and excepted under section 5(ii) of the Hindu Succession Act, it cannot be claimed successfully that that estate continues to be impartible. Hence, the position is that as per the terms of the covenant, the property in question was granted to the dynasty and not to the assessee as a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
