COMMISSIONER OF WEALTH TAX Vs. LAXMIPAT SINGHANIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN these three references under Section 27 of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), the following common question of law has been referred to this court by the INcome-tax Appellate Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as "the Tribunal" ):

(2.) EACH of these references relates to a separate assessee, but in respect of the same assessment years, i.e., 1965-66 and 1966-67. In each of these cases the assessee had valued for the purpose of wealth-tax certain shares which had not been quoted in the stock exchange, by adopting the average of the break-up value thereof and the average yield of dividends therefrom. The Wealth-tax Officer valued these shares on the basis of their break-up value only. But in appeals the Appellate Assistant Commissioner held that these shares should be valued according to Rules 1C and 1D, inserted by the Wealth-tax (Amendment) Rules, 1967, published by the notification dated October 6, 1967, and directed the Wealth-tax Officer to recompute the value of those shares accordingly.

(3.) CLAUSE (m) of Section 2 of the Act defines "net wealth" as the amount by which the aggregate value computed in accordance with the provisions of the Act, of all the assets in excess of the aggregate value of all the debts owed by the assessee (except certain specified categories of debts), on the valuation date.