MOHINDER SINGH Vs. CONTROLLER OF ESTATE DUTY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Central Board of Direct Taxes, New Delhi, has under Section 64(1) of the Estate Duty Act, 1953, referred the following question for our opinion :

(2.) THIS reference relates to the assessment of the estate of the deceased, S. Tahl Singh. The items of properties left by the deceased consisted of various bank accounts either in the name of the deceased or in the joint names of the deceased with his wife or his son, some agricultural land in District Karnal, Punjab, plots of land at Delhi and Dehradun and verified claims for properties left in Pakistan. The accountable person submitted a return voluntarily and claimed that the deceased had only one-third share in the various items of property, and that the accountable person and the widow held the remaining two-thirds share inasmuch as the property belonged to the Hindu undivided family. In support of his claim, the accountable person filed the following evidence:

(3.) COUNSEL for the applicant has contended that the Board having found that there was a joint family nucleus for acquisition of some property it erred in not allowing the claim in its entirety.