9911796707
TMI Blog1989 (1) TMI 77X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ied one Aravammal, a resident of Ceylon, on September 17, 1940, and through her, he had a daughter, Vijayalakshmi, and two sons, Viswanathan and Rajendran. He was earning some income from some estates in Ceylon. The income earned by him from the assets in India were assessed in his hands as a non-resident. On July 23, 1951, he filed an application under the Indian and Pakistani Residents Citizenship Act, 1949, for registration as a citizen of Ceylon. But, this application was not granted till he died on March 7, 1965. However, his Ceylonese wife and children were later granted citizenship on the basis of the application filed by the deceased, M. T. Veerappa Pillai. He also left a will dated February 18, 1959, under which he bequeathed lifetime annuities of Rs. 1,000 each for both his wives, Akilandathammal and Aravammal, and the other properties in favour of his children. On his death, Akilandathammal filed an account of the estate of the deceased, M. T. Veerappa Pillai, and, in that, she claimed that the value of the movable properties in Ceylon could not be included as properties passing on his death on the ground that the deceased, M. T. Veerappa Pillai, was domiciled in Ceylon ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the movable properties belonging to him situate in Ceylon were properly included in the principal value of the estate for the purpose of levy of estate duty. On the view so taken by the Tribunal, the two questions of law set out earlier have been referred to this court. Learned counsel for the accountable person, inviting attention to sections 3(1)(d) and 21(l)(b)(i) of the Act and strongly relying upon the circumstances that the deceased, M. T. Veerappa Pillai, had lived in Ceylon for nearly a period of 25 years and had also made an application for acquiring citizenship, contended that there was a clear manifestation of an intention on the part of the deceased, M. T. Veerappa Pillai, to abandon his domicile of origin and to acquire a domicile of choice in Ceylon and, therefore, the value of the movables in Ceylon ought to be excluded from the principal value of the estate. Our attention was also drawn in this connection to the decision reported in CED v. Dr. Ida Bella Scuddar [1980] 123 ITR 104 (Mad). Per contra, learned counsel appearing for the Revenue contended that the domicile of origin continued and that the onus of proving that a domicile has been chosen in substitution o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... vides that the domicile of origin prevails until a new domicile has been acquired. Section 10 states that a man acquires a new domicile by taking up his fixed habitation in a country which is not that of his domicile of origin and the Explanation to section 10 states that a man is not to be deemed to have taken up his fixed habitation in India merely by reason of his residing there in the civil, military, naval or air force service of Government, or in the exercise of any profession or calling. Section 13 provides that a new domicile continues until the former domicile has been resumed or another has been acquired. We may observe that there is no dispute that the father of, the deceased, M. T. Veerappa Pillai, when he was born, was domiciled in India and, therefore, the domicile of origin of the deceased, M. T, Veerappa Pillai, was in India. The question is, whether the deceased, M. T. Veerappa Pillai, abandoned the domicile of his origin in India and secured the domicile of choice in Ceylon. That would depend upon the state of mind or animus manendi of the deceased, M. T. Veerappa Pillai, apart from his mere personal appearance in a locality in Ceylon. We may usefully refer in t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as been lost. The domicil of origin continues unless fixed and settled intention of abandoning the first domicil and acquiring another as the sole domicil is clearly shown ... We are of the view that the only intention required for a proof of a change of domicil is an intention of permanent residence. In other words, what is required to be established is that the person who is alleged to have changed his domicil of origin has voluntarily fixed the habitation of himself and his family, in the new country not for, a mere special or temporary purpose, but with a present intention of making it his permanent home." Against the background of the aforesaid observations of the Supreme Court, we have to consider the facts in the present case for deciding whether the deceased, M. T. Veerappa Pillai, had adopted Ceylon as his permanent residence with the intention of making a domicile of choice there and abandoning his domicile of origin in India. We may now refer to the two circumstances relied on by learned counsel for the accountable person. The first was that the deceased had stayed in Ceylon for nearly 25 years. Merely on the basis of the length of the stay of the deceased, M. T. Veera ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Pillai, had bequeathed annuities in favour of Akilandathammal in India. The cumulative effect of these facts, viz., his continuing to own properties in India, his visits to Akilandathammal in India and the bequests in favour of the wife in India, is that the deceased, M. T. Veerappa Pillai, had always thought of his domicile of origin as continuing and not having been substituted by the acquisition of domicile of choice in Ceylon. We may now refer to the other circumstances strongly relied on by learned counsel for the accountable person, namely, the making of an application by the deceased, M. T. Veerappa Pillai, for securing citizenship. We have not had the benefit of ascertaining the conditions under which citizenship could be granted under the Indian and Pakistani Residents Citizenship Act 1949. The application stated to have been made by the deceased, M. T. Veerappa Pillai, has also not been placed before us and there is, therefore, no knowing whether the deceased, M. T. Veerappa Pillai, had made any clear and unequivocal declaration under his hand to acquire citizenship by totally severing all his ties and connections with India including his domicile of origin. What is, h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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