COMMISSIONER OF WEALTH TAX Vs. KESHUB MAHINDRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS reference in which three questions have been referred at the instance of the Revenue and one question has been referred at the instance of the assessee arises out of the proceedings for assessment to wealth tax for the asst. yrs. 1964 65 and 1965 66.

(2.) THE father of the assessee died on 31st Oct., 1963. The assessee, while submitting the return for the asst. year 1964 65 stated that he had filed a separate return of the net wealth of his father, late K. C. Mahindra, because, according to the assessee, the estate was still to be administered and the final position could be ascertained only after completion of administration of his estate. The WTO declined to separately assess the estate of the deceased father, holding that the assessee, being the sole heir and the father having died intestate, took the entire estate with all the liabilities and since the assessee had become the sole owner of the estate, he should have declared all the assets left by the father as his wealth. Consequently, he included "the wealth of the estate as the wealth of the assessee" in his personal assessment. In respect of the asst. year 1965 66, for which the valuation date was 31st March, 1965, also the assessee did not include in his wealth what according to him was the unadministered estate of the deceased father on 31st March, 1965. The WTO, however, had declined to make any separate assessment in respect of what was described by the assessee as "unadministered assets of late Shri K. C. Mahindra".

(3.) ON these facts, the following questions have been referred under S. 27(1) of the Act, at the instance of the Revenue : Asst. year 1964 65 :