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TMI Blog1950 (10) TMI 24X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aj of Darbhanga executed the deed aforesaid under which a Babuana grant was given to the applicant in respect of a number of villages in separate enjoyment. I shall briefly refer to the relevant terms of the document in question. After the preliminary recitals, it proceeds to state as follows: Now these presents witness that in accordance with the family custom or usage, otherwise called Dastcor Khandan or Kulachar of Darbhanga Raj, of assigning a maintenance of Babuana grant to the younger son or sons of the family and also in pursuance of the aforesaid amicable settlement and arrangement the said Mabarajadhiraj Kameshwar Singh Bahadur doth hereby grant and convey to the said Maharajadhiraj Kumar Visheswar Singh such interest in all the villages or parts of villages other classes of lands, appertaining to and in fact constituting the Bajnagar Circle of Darbhanga Raj as per detailed list given in Schedule A below with all arrears of rent due in respect thereof with all buildings, structures, erections, standing thereon, except such as are hereinafter specified as trust properties and all rights appertaining thereto as are usually conveyed under a Babuana grant to the junior ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ances. The said Maharajadhiraj Kumar shall stand possessed of the said palace, temples with their appurtenances and the villages mentioned in Schedules B and C below upon trust for the purposes above mentioned and shall be the first trustee in respect thereof. I may also refer to another relevant recital in the document as contained in para 6. The relevant portion is The aforesaid palace and temples as also the villages mentioned in Schedules B and C shall not be liable to be partitioned, sold, exchanged or otherwise disposed of or dealt with by the trustee nor shall the income of the aforesaid villages or any of them be used or spent otherwise than for the purposes set forth above. These recitals indicate that the properties specified in Schedules B and C of the document were given to the Raja Bahadur to be held as a trustee for disbursing the income thereof over the performance of the daily worship, Raj Bhog periodical festivals and ceremonies of the deities as well as for the upkeep, preservation, repair and maintenance of the monumental works of art with their appurtenances of gardens, tanks, etc. The recitals also show that the income from Schedule B properties ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... p of the deities is of the different temples, the assessment should not be at the maximum rate but at the rate applicable to each beneficiary and deity. In doing so, they relied upon a decision of this Court Sri Sri Jyotishwari Kalimata v. Commissioner of Income tax, B O. In regard to Schedule C properties, however, they took the view that the income from these properties stood on a different footing. They held that the income of these properties was to be utilised for the upkeep of she palaces, gardens, tanks, temples, etc. As these objects were not juridical persons, it could not be said that the properties were vested in them; nor could it be said that the income was to be disbursed over these objects according to some determinate shares. They, therefore, held that the assessment in respect of the income from these properties in Schedule C should be at the maximum rate; in other words, they allowed the objection of the assessee in respect of Schedule B properties but rejected his claim in respect of Schedule C properties. And this they did on the basis that in their view the document created two different trusts, one for the Puja Path etc. of the deities, the other for the m ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ifferent ways, one exclusively for the purposes of worship the other for the upkeep of the temples, gardens other appurtenances thereof- If the above construction of the documents is adopted, then it is quite clear that both Schedules B C properties have the same characteristics, in that case the income from both the properties is to be spent over determinate objects, namely, the deities which are undoubtedly juridical persons. It is true that; the shares of these deities have not been defined but all the various deities have been mentioned in the document, as such, it will have to be assumed that in the eye of law they had equal shares in the income of the properties, in the circumstances, the income of the properties in Schedule C also should be assessed in the same manner as the income of the properties in Schedule B. The Tribunal have relied upon a decision of this Court in Sri Joytishwari Kalimata v. Commissioner of Income Tax, B. O., which clearly lays down the principle that the income of the trust property in the hands of the trustee is not liable to be assessed at the maximum rate under the first proviso to Section 41 (1), Income tax Act, but should be assess ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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