SHANTABEN NAROTTAMDAS Vs. CONTROLLER OF ESTATE DUTY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A proposition which has not been questioned and a position which has not been disputed for more than 80 years in England since the estate duty was imposed for the first time in 1894 and for more than 20 years in India since the Estate Duty Act was enforced in 1953, viz., whether estate duty payable on an estate passing on the death of a person can be claimed as deduction in making valuation of the estate of the deceased, has been questioned in two allied references raising an identical question. Both these references, viz., References No. 7 of 1974 and Reference No. 9 of 1974, will, therefore, for the sake of convenience, be disposed of by this common judgment.

(2.) OF course, the fact that estate duty is, so far, being paid on the premise that the amount payable as estate duty cannot be claimed as deduction in making valuation of the estate of the deceased, is no ground for making a sceptical approach. That no such point was raised so far is not by itself a circumstance which reflects on the merits of the argument in support of the proposition which must be examined with an objective eye and approached with an unbiased mind. No doubt, the problem must be examined closely, carefully and thoroughly inasmuch as if the proposition were to be upheld, it would result in unsettling an unquestioned position in the sphere of taxation after a lapse of such a long time.

(3.) REFERENCE No. 7 of 1974 :