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TMI Blog1998 (7) TMI 56X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... inside East Fort, Trivandrum ; and (b) 1521/2 cents of land in Sy. No. 210/3A in Nemom village. A return of gift was filed by the assessee on December 31, 1980. The Gift-tax Officer, for the purpose of gift-tax, estimated the value of these properties taking into consideration the value fixed by the Valuation Cell for the purpose of wealth-tax assessment of the donee for the subsequent years. Aggrieved, the assessee carried the dispute in appeal before the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals). Apart from disputing the valuation of the properties as fixed by the Gift-tax Officer, the assessee contended before the appellate authority that no gift of the property was made by the assessee voluntarily, within the meaning of section 2(xii) of the Gift-tax Act, but the properties were gifted by her to her daughter to discharge "a moral, if not a legal obligation to give her daughter in marriage and to provide for her comfortable living after marriage". The assessee relied on CGT v. Ch. Chandrasekhara Reddy [1976] 105 ITR 849 (AP), which in turn, relied on Kamla Devi v. Bachulal Gupta, AIR 1957 SC 434 and CGT v. Ramanathan Chettiar [1969] 74 ITR 758 (Mad). The Commissioner of Income-ta ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... operties in the form of immovable and movables like jewellery for their future life. It is not quite unnatural that a parent is prepared to bequeath the property before the marriage to fulfil the requirement for a happy married life of her daughter. From the facts of this case, it is clear that the assessee has bequeathed her property in favour of her daughter only for her well-being by getting married to a suitable husband . . . ." To re-enforce their view, the Appellate Tribunal relied on a certificate from S.N.D.P. (an association of Eazhava community) and relying on that, it found as under : "Further, the assessee has also produced the certificate from S.N.D.P. to show that the custom prevalent in her community is for the parents to give properties, and jewellery, etc., to the daughter at the time of marriage .....". Thus, the finding of the Appellate Tribunal is mainly based on the passages from Mulla's Hindu Law and on the custom, prevailing in the Eazhava community. Before dealing with the question, it is nothing but appropriate to understand the correct position under the law, relating to maintenance. The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (hereinafter to be refe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hter who is unmarried extends in so far as the parent or the unmarried daughter, as the case may be, is unable to maintain himself or herself out of his or her own earnings or property." (emphasis supplied) Section 20(1) enjoins upon a Hindu to maintain his or her legitimate or illegitimate children, inter alia. Sub-section (3) of section 20 narrows down the legal obligation to maintain an unmarried daughter, in so far as she is unable to maintain herself from her own earnings or property. In short, under section 20, a Hindu is under legal obligation, to maintain, amongst others, her unmarried daughters), in so far as such unmarried daughter is unable to maintain herself from her own source of income. This obligation to maintain is personal and legal in character and arises from the existence of the relationship between the parties. The daughter of the assessee in this case was married in May, 1979, and the gift deed was executed on April 30, 1979. Before the Appellate Tribunal, the assessee contended that the gift was made "for her future well-being and for her education here and abroad and for her livelihood out of her love and affection". The question is, whether the assessee w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ition of "maintenance" under section 3(b)(ii) of the Act does not take within its ambit the post-marriage expenses. After codification of law on maintenance, we are of the considered view that there is no scope for argument that there is legal obligation on a parent to maintain his or her married daughter or to make a provision for her well-being and luxurious living after marriage. As it was done before the first appellate authority, before us also, learned counsel for the assessee relied upon the case of Chandrasekhara Reddy [1976] 105 ITR 849 (AP) which, in turn, relied on the case of Kamla Devi, AIR 1957 SC 434. These decisions were further relied On by the Andhra Pradesh High Court in CGT v. Bandi Subba Rao [1987] 167 ITR 66. The question is whether any aid can be taken from the decision of the Supreme Court in Kamla Devi's case, AIR 1957 SC 434, which related to the pre-codification era. In Kamla Devi's case, AIR 1957 SC 434, a suit was instituted for a declaration that a deed of gift dated March 10, 1940, executed by Smt. Sumithra Devi in favour of her daughter, Kamla Devi, was void and inoperative beyond the lifetime of Sumithra Devi and was not binding on reversion. Revie ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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