9911796707
TMI Blog1997 (6) TMI 15X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gricultural Income-tax Officer in pursuance of the above direction assessing the petitioner as a Hindu undivided family has also been assailed. The petitioner, his brother, Sri A. M. Manjunath, and his mother, Smt. Puttamma, were assessed to agricultural income-tax under the Karnataka Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1957, as a Hindu undivided family with Sri A. Malegowda as its karta. For the assessment year 1981-82, the karta of the Hindu undivided family filed a return of income dated February 6, 1992, declaring an income of Rs. 91,621.20 in their capacity as tenants-in-common. Reliance in support was placed upon an agreement dated March 5, 1980, executed by the members of the family, according to which they were to hold the immovable prop ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s as tenants-in-common by him was declared by him to be legally unsustainable. The Joint Commissioner accordingly set aside the order passed by the Agricultural Income-tax Officer and directed him to redo the same after determining the status of the assessee as a Hindu undivided family. Consequent upon the said order, the Agricultural Income-tax Officer issued a notice calling upon the assessee as to why the assessment be not concluded afresh by treating the assessee's status as an undivided family. In response, the assessee pointed out that it had filed the present writ petition in this court challenging the order passed by the Joint Commissioner. Since, however, the assessee did not produce any order of stay from this court within the ext ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of members of such family, branch, tarwad or tavazhi, the Agricultural Income-tax Officer shall make such inquiry thereinto as he may think fit, and if he is satisfied that there has been a partition or maintenance division of the property by metes and bounds among the various members or groups of members he shall record an order to that effect. The proviso to section 30(1) requires a notice of the enquiry to be served upon all the adult members of the family, branch, tarwad or tavazhi entitled to the property in the manner prescribed. Upon the making of an order under section 30(1), the Agricultural Income-tax Officer has in terms of section 30(2) to make an assessment of the total agricultural income received by or on behalf of the family ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er section 30, but went ahead to declare that the agreement propounded by the assessee in support of their claim of being tenants-in-common was no more than a device. This the Joint Commissioner was not justified in doing. That is so because whether or not there had been a partition as claimed by the assessee was a matter that could be decided only after a proper enquiry was conducted by the Agricultural Income-tax Officer in terms of section 30. No such enquiry having been held by the Agricultural Income-tax Officer, the proper course for the Joint Commissioner was to direct him to hold such an enquiry and record a proper order before proceeding further. Even assuming that the Joint Commissioner could have in exercise of his revisional pow ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... x Officer as also that passed by the Joint Commissioner to the extent the same declares the status of the assessee to be a Hindu undivided family shall have to be quashed with a direction to the former to redo the assessment in accordance with law after holding an enquiry under section 30(1) of the Act. In the result, this writ petition succeeds and is hereby allowed. The order dated December 15, 1989, passed by the Agricultural Income-tax Officer is hereby quashed with a direction that he shall conclude the assessment afresh after passing an appropriate order within the contemplation of section 30 of the Act after due and proper enquiry, in which the assessee and the adult members of the family shall be given a reasonable opportunity of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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