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TMI Blog1971 (10) TMI 32X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of Sreemanavikraman Raja were his personal heirs. They were not made parties to the assessment. No notice of the assessment proceedings was given to them. Kanjunni Raja was not one of his legal representatives. Even if it is considered that the sthanam properties had devolved on the members of the tarwad by succession, Kanjunni Raja alone could not have represented the entire body of successors numbering 692. There was no question of any bona fide enquiry by the assessing authority. It was clearly a case of misunderstanding of the legal position. Further, it does not appear that Kunjunni Raja was assessed as the legal representative of the deceased sthani. He appears to have been assessed as the successor sthani liable to pay the debts due ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nalty due, as coercive proceedings were threatened to be taken against him. On the death of P. C. Cheria Kunjunni Raja, the next seniormost member in the Zamorin family was K. C. Cheria Kunjunni Raja. When the Agricultural Income-tax Officer attempted to collect the tax imposed under the assessment order mentioned earlier from K. C. Cheria Kunjunni Raja, he filed a petition before that officer representing that he had nothing to do with the sthanam property and the sthanam property stood divided under section 7(3) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, on the death of Sreemanavikraman on May 2, 1958. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956, had come into force on June 18, 1956. After the receipt of that representation, the Agricultural Income-tax Offi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... manded. But, those representations were not accepted by the authorities. They threatened to proceed against the assets in the hands of the receivers. At that stage, the receivers filed the writ petition from which this appeal arises. Therein, they challenged the right of the Agricultural Income-tax Officer to collect the arrears of tax and penalty from out of the properties in their hands. The question before the High Court was whether the tax due from Manavikraman Raja was realisable from the assets in the hands of the receivers. The writ petition was heard by a Full Bench of three judges. By a majority, the High Court came to the conclusion that the only persons who were liable to pay the tax in question were the personal heirs of Sreeman ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d by any custom or usage to succeed to the position of sthanamdar if this Act had not been passed. We have considered the scope of this section in Civil Appeal No.1137 of 1969. Hence, it is sufficient for our present purpose to state that in view of section 7(3) of the Hindu Succession Act, it must be held that on the death of Sreemanavikraman Raja, each of the members of his tarwad took a per capita share in the sthanam property as co-owners and not as his heirs. His personal heirs took the share which the deceased was deemed to have got as his share when he was taking his last breath. Section 7(3) of the Hindu Succession Act embodies a fiction. The purpose of that fiction was to gradually abolish the sthanam and to provide for the devol ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... took the property as co-owners and not as the heirs of the deceased sthani. This fiction was created for the purpose of providing for the devolution of the sthanam properties. The Act 28 of 1958 came into force only on May 12, 1958. Therefore, that Act cannot have any effect on the sthanam with which we are concerned in this case because that sthanam stood destroyed on May 2, 1958. Hence, we need not refer to the provisions of that Act. The income of the sthanam property during November 1, 1956, to March 31, 1958, was the exclusive property of Sreemanavikraman Raja. He was alone entitled to that income. Therefore, he alone was liable to pay the tax. Under the Agricultural Income-tax Act, no charge is created on property in respect of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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