S DEVENDRA SINGH Vs. CONTROLLER OF ESTATE DUTY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Allahabad Bench, Allahabad, has referred the following two questions for our opinion !

(2.) Whether the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal was right in holding that inclusion of the shares of other lineal descendants in the estate of the deceased for rate purposes was justified under Section 34(3)(c) of the Act?

(3.) Coming to the other question the facts giving rise to it, in brief, are that one Sri Balwant Singh died on October 27, 1965. His wife, Smt. Britain Kaur, as well died a little later and their son, Devendra Singh, filed a statement of the estate left by the deceased Balwant Singh. Balwant Singh constituted a joint family with his son, Devendra Singh, and hence the value of the interest of the lineal descendants in the joint family property was aggregated with the estate of the deceased for rate purposes by the Asst. Controller. The same view was taken on appeal by the Appellate Controller as also by the Appellate Tribunal on further appeal. Before the Appellate Tribunal reliance was placed on behalf of the accountable person on a decision of the Madras High Court in Devaki Ammal v. Asst. CED [1973] 91 ITR 24. In that case, Section 34(1)(c) had been held to be ultra vires. The Appellate Tribunal did not agree with the submission made on behalf of the accountable person for the reason that the Tribunal is not competent to consider the vires of the provisions of the E.D. Act and further some other High Courts have taken the view that this provision is not ultra vires. At the instance of the accountable person, the question has now been referred to this court.