KAMLAWATI RAIZADA Vs. CONTROLLER OF ESTATE DUTY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) SRI Bishambhar Das Raizada died on 7th September, 1966. The Assistant Controller of Estate Duty, while evaluating his estate, took into consideration the goodwill of his shares in the two partnership firms, which were carrying on business. He also included a sum of Rs. 55,000 as estimated value of jewellery and other household effects available to the deceased at the time of his death.

(2.) THE assessee went up in appeal to the Central Board of Direct Taxes. THE Board held that a business firm does have a goodwill. It, however, adopted a different measure for computing the goodwill of the share of the deceased. In the firm, M/s. Bishambhar Dass Kishan Lal, the share of the goodwill of the deceased was assessed to Rs. 2,500. THE Board upheld the addition of the value of jewellery but estimated its value at Rs. 35,000 on the ground that some part of the jewellery must have belonged to the wife of the deceased as her stridhan and so it could not be held to be deceased's property at the time of the death of the deceased.

(3.) IN the next place it was submitted that a partnership firm carrying on the business of buying and selling commodities which are ordinarily available in the market does not obtain any goodwill, which may be said to have any money value. For this reliance was placed upon Seethalakshmi Ammal v. Controller of Estate Duty, 1966 61 ITR 317. IN that case it was held that: