9911796707
TMI Blog1996 (11) TMI 41X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the petitioner, Teja Singh. The authorities under the Estate Duty Act issued notice to Dalip Singh and Mohan Singh under section 59 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), on February 25/27, 1973, calling upon them to submit an account of the property left by the deceased as required under section 53 of the said Act. Accordingly, Dalip Singh and Mohan Singh filed the return. On the basis of the said return, the assessment proceedings were finalised on August 2, 1974. Against the said assessment, Dalip Singh and Mohan Singh filed an appeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, Jalandhar, who by his order dated March 19, 1975, set aside the assessment on the ground that there was failure of giving a reason ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and, therefore, his father, the deceased, had only a 1/4th interest in the property at the time of his death and even otherwise during his lifetime his father partitioned the property and the said partition had been reflected in the khasra girdawri of 1967-68 which was prepared prior to the death of his father and, therefore, no estate duty is leviable and as no notice was given to him, the entire proceedings are void ab initio and, therefore, the assessment orders passed on the basis of return filed by his brothers, Dalip Singh and Mohan Singh, are liable to be set aside and he cannot be made liable to pay any estate duty or contribute anything to his brothers even if they pay or are made liable to pay the estate duty on the return submit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... writ petition has to be accepted by this court. I am unable to agree with the same. It is the case of the Department throughout the proceedings before the authorities that the property does not belong to the Hindu undivided family and that the assessment was made on the basis that the property was the separate property of the deceased Kapur Singh and it devolved on his death upon his sons. In such a situation, there is no need to specifically controvert the allegation made, in the written statement as the same has already been controverted in the proceedings taken against Dalip Singh and Mohan Singh. It is next contended by learned counsel for the petitioner that his father, Kapur Singh, partitioned the property between himself and his th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to and the proprietary rights in immovable property are determined. They are nothing of the kind, as has been pointed out times innumerable by the Judicial Committee. They are much more in the nature of fiscal inquiries instituted in the interest of the State for the purpose of ascertaining which of the several claimants for the occupation of certain denominations of immovable property may be put into occupation of it with greater confidence that the revenue for it will be paid. Orders in mutation proceedings are not evidence that the successful applicant was in possession as the sole legal owner in a proprietary sense, to the exclusion, for example, of all claims of the other members of the family as co-owners or for maintenance or other ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ounsel that the orders are void ab initio qua Dalip Singh and Mohan Singh does not hold any water and cannot be accepted. The petitioner never approached the authorities under the Act. He filed this petition straightaway. It is an admitted case that no notice was given to the petitioner calling upon him to pay the estate duty. The orders were passed against Dalip Singh and Mohan Singh and these orders are binding on them and they are liable to pay the estate duty. Having failed in their attempt up to the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal to avoid the payment of estate duty, it is clear that the brothers of the petitioner set up the petitioner to file this writ petition taking the pleas which were already taken by them before the authorities. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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