9911796707
TMI Blog1981 (4) TMI 38X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 1, 1966, in Civil Suit No. 1-A of 1965 was only an application of income and not diversion thereof by overriding title under a legal obligation ?." The assessee is an individual and derives income from salary, house property, interest, deposits, etc. Assessment years under reference are 1971-72 to 1975-76. For all the assessment years in question the assessee claimed deduction of Rs. 3,300 which he had paid to his adoptive mothers, Smt. Solankiriji and Smt. Dodnaiji. The ITO disallowed the claim. The matter was taken in appeal by the assessee before the AAC. It was contended by him before the AAC that there was a legal obligation on his part to pay maintenance out of his jagir property to his adoptive mothers who were widows and, therefo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... arat Abolition of Jagirs Act (Act No. 23 of 1951). The judgment further shows that compensation amounting to Rs. 1,84,723 was determined as payable to the assessee and the jagir Commissioner acting under s. 9 of the Abolition of Jagirs Act fixed the amount of maintenance payable to the widows of late Thakur Narayansinghji (adoptive mothers of the assessee). The suit was instituted by one of the adoptive mothers of the assessee against the assessee and the other adoptive mother, i. e., the co-widow, claiming partition and, in the alternative, maintenance. The Additional District judge dismissed the claim for partition but held that the plaintiff's claim for maintenance was based on her right under s. 9 of the Abolition of Jagirs Act. He, h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he court is not deductible from the income. We have already stated the facts to show that the maintenance was payable in view of the statutory obligation which entitled the widow of jagirdar to claim maintenance at the time of determination of the amount of compensation payable to the jagirdar whose jagir was resumed. In Bai Vajia v. Thakorbhai Chelabhai, AIR 1979 SC 993, their Lordships observed thus (headnote): "A widow's right to maintenance, though not an indefeasible right to property, is undoubtedly a pre-existing right ...... The claim to maintenance, as also the right to claim property in order to maintain herself, is an inherent right conferred by the Hindu law and, therefore, any property given to her in lieu of maintenance is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... receive maintenance was attached to the property. It would amount to an overriding charge inasmuch as this obligation had for its basis the personal law governing these persons, the statutory provisions contained in s. 13 read with Schedule II of the U.P. Estates Act, 1920, and s. 71 of the U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1951. It was also based on the special custom obtaining in the family." The above cited case is more or less identical with the facts of the present case and we follow the statement of law made therein. For the aforesaid reasons we answer the question referred to us as follows : On the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was not right in holding that the amount of maintenance paid ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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