TMI Blog1994 (3) TMI 38X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the hands of the firm for the assessment year under consideration ? (2) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Appellate Tribunal was right in holding that the transfer of the house property belonging to the firm, Messrs. E. L. Navaneetha Chettiar and Sons, to the partners without any registered document while the firm was still in existence, by mere book entries, was a valid transfer in law ? " The brief facts are the following : These two references relate to the assessment years 1974-75, and 1975-76. The respondent/assessee was a partnership concern. For the assessment years in question, the Income-tax Officer added Rs. 6,000 and Rs. 9,000, respectively, as income from the house property. That was objec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and this court, in the decision rendered in CIT v. Dadha and Co. [1983] 142 ITR 792, differed from the view taken by the Tribunal and held that unless the transfer was by a process known to law, the same cannot be recognised and, therefore, the house property will continue to be the property of the firm. In the said decision, the learned judges (Ramanujam J. and Balasubrahmanyan J.), though delivered separate judgments, concurred on the view abovementioned. In the view of Ramanujam J. : " .....even on the basis that the properties of the firm should be deemed to have been held in common by all the partners, as a firm is not a legal entity and cannot hold properties, there could not be a division of the properties purchased in the nam ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... regular deed of partition. Co-ownership of property cannot fall apart as separate individual interests without a deed of partition or at any rate a deed of mutual release. Any such instrument, whether it be a regular deed of partition or a release deed, must be duly stamped as contemplated under the Indian Stamp Act, if the value thereof is over Rs. 100. Book entries do not make a conversion of any kind known to law. They are only entries made by the book-keeper and find a place only in account books. They cannot by their own force effect any conveyance, release, partition or other transfer of immovable properties. A combined reading of the entries in the instant case would clearly show that the position which was wished for by the parti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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