COMMR OF AGRL INCOMETAX Vs. PARAMESWARA BHAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Kerala Agricultural Income tax Appellate Tribunal Additional Bench Kozhikode (hereinafter called the Tribunal) has referred to this Court under S.60 of the Kerala Agricultural Income tax Act hereinafter called the Act the following questions:

(2.) From the statement of the case furnished to this Court by the Tribunal the facts material for our present purpose may be extracted and briefly stated thus: The respondent herein - Parameswara Bhat, son of Narasimha Bhat filed a return before the Agricultural Income tax Officer, Kasaragod for the assessment year 1958-'59. That return was filed by him as an 'individual'. The assessment for that year was finalised by the Agricultural Income tax Officer under S.18(4) of the Act, and assigning the status of 'individual' to the assessee, his net income was estimated at Rs. 25,473/-. On receipt of the order of assessment and demand notice, the assessee Parameswara Bhat filed a petition praying for reopening the assessment under S.19 of the Act. That application was allowed by the assessing authority and the assessment was reopened as per an order dated 5-1-1960. Subsequently, the files appear to have been transferred to the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner of Agricultural Income tax and Sales Tax, Special, Kozhikode, who issued a pre assessment notice to the assessee on 6-3-1967 purporting to assess him afresh under S.19. By the said notice the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner proposed to finalise the assessment of the assessee under S.18(4) of the Act. It was however stated in the notice that since the respondent herein was a Kartha of the Chullikana Hindu Undivided Family, the status claimed in his return as 'individual' was not correct or acceptable and consequently the entire income of the family was assessable in his hands as Kartha of the Hindu Undivided Family.

(3.) On receipt of the aforesaid reassessment notice, the assessee filed a petition, wherein he questioned inter alia the legality and propriety of assessing him as the Kartha of the Hindu Undivided Family in the course of reassessment proceedings taken under S.19 of the Act when the original assessment made against him was in the status as 'individual'. He also put forward a contention that no Hindu Undivided Family was in existence at that time since there had been an automatic disruption of the family on the death of his father, Narasimha Bhat, which took place on 17-2-1957, by virtue of the operation of S.6 of the Hindu Succession Act. The Inspecting Assistant Commissioner rejected the aforesaid contention put forward by the assessee and passed an order of assessment against the respondent herein as Kartha of a Hindu Undivided Family estimating his net income at Rs. 1,08,442/-. The respondent - assessee thereupon preferred an appeal before the Deputy Commissioner of Agricultural Income Tax and Sales Tax (Appeals), Kozhikode, but that appeal was disposed of by the said authority by an order dated 26-8-1974 holding that the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner had acted rightly in assigning to the assessee the status of Kartha of a Hindu Undivided Family and assessing the joint family income in his hands, but making some modification in the estimate of the income.