9911796707
TMI Blog1998 (4) TMI 114X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er in the year 1974 shifted to Chicago, United States of America (for short "USA"). He arrived in India on April 7, 1983, and brought with him his car used by him in the USA and other articles, on transfer of residence to India. Necessary formalities were completed by the deceased with the authorities of the Reserve Bank of India. As the deceased found that the conditions in India were not conducive, he thought of again going back to America and in this regard he wrote some letters to a few hospitals seeking employment. He had also made an application to the Reserve Bank of India on November 10, 1983, for availing of reconversion of currency. The deceased was a green card holder. When he returned to India, he stayed in the house belonging t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e of his death?" The main argument of counsel for the accountable person is that the deceased was a green card holder having acquired domicile in America and he died domiciled in America and not in India as he had no intention to settle down in India, though he had returned to India with an intention to settle down in India. In support of his contention, he relied upon a judgment of the Supreme Court in Sankaran Govindan v. Lakshmi Bharathi, AIR 1974 SC 1764, while learned counsel for the Revenue supported the order of the Tribunal. The question, therefore, is whether the deceased died domiciled in India and if he died domiciled in India, is the accountable person liable for the assets lying in a foreign country. Section 21 of the Estate ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ased to the Reserve Bank of India and also to some hospitals seeking employment in America. From these letters learned counsel contended that since there is a change in the mind of the deceased to migrate to America, he ceased to have domicile in India. To consider the argument of learned counsel, it is necessary to refer to these letters. The first letter dated November 10, 1983, is written to the Reserve Bank of India before his death. In the covering letter dated November 11, 1983, sending the application he wrote as follows : "Dr. D. Waghray, 11-11-1983 To The Controller, Exchange Control, RBI, Hyderabad. Sir, I, Dr. D. Waghray, have returned to India from USA. At present I am establishing my practice and seeking for opportuniti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... settle down in India. From this we can draw an inference that the deceased was not domiciled in India but died domiciled in America. In this context, it is necessary to extract the relevant portion of the judgment of the Supreme Court in Sankaran's case, AIR 1974 SC 1764, 1774. "'It is impossible to lay down any positive rule with respect to the evidence necessary to prove intention. All that can be said is that every conceivable event and incident in a man's life is a relevant and an admissible indication of his state of mind. It may be necessary to examine the history of his life with the most scrupulous care, and to resort even to hearsay evidence where the question concerns the domicile that a person, now deceased, possessed in his lif ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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