UGARMAL NEMICHAND Vs. INCOME TAX OFFICER SECOND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN these petitions under article 226 of the Constitution, the petitioner has challenged the validity of section 171 of the INcome-tax Act, 1961 ("the Act") as violative of article 14 of the Constitution.

(2.) THE petitioner is the karta of a joint Hindu family consisting of himself, his wife, his sons and daughters which was an assessee on the file of the IInd Income-tax Officer, Chickmagalur. According to the petitioner, there were partial partitions in the Hindu undivided family on September 25, 1978, September 26, 1978, September 27, 1978, and they have not been recognised by the Income-tax Officer, the validity of which are being separately challenged before the authorities constituted under the Act. Even before those proceedings are concluded, the petitioner contends that section 171 of the Act that discriminates Hindu undivided families that are assessed to tax and Hindu undivided families that are not assessed to tax is violative of article 14 of the Constitution and is liable to be struck down.

(3.) EVEN otherwise, section 171 of the Act that treats all undivided Hindu families that were previously assessed to tax, but are partitioned alike, cannot be condemned as offending the principles of permissible classification or as arbitrary also. In this view also, the challenge to section 171 of the Act has no merit.