GHIASUDDIN BABU KHAN Vs. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX

JUDGEMENT

(1.) (R.C. No. 108 of 1977) The Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Hyderabad, referred the following question for the opinion of this court, under s. 256(2) of the I.T. Act :

(2.) LATE Babu Khan married Smt. Shahzadi Begum in or about 1927. In 1928, he transferred the property concerned herein to his wife in lieu of the deferred dower. Babu khan died in October, 1968. For the assessment years 1967-68, 1968-69 and 1969-70, a question arose in the assessment proceedings under the I.T. Act, whether the income from the said property should be included in the income of Babu Khan. The assessee's contention was that, inasmuch as the said property was transferred to his wife as far back as 1928 in lieu of "deferred dower", i.e., for adequate consideration, the income therefrom cannot be included in his income under s. 64 of the Act. This was rejected by the ITO, but accepted by the AAC in appeal. However, when the matter came to the Tribunal, the Tribunal rejected the assessee's contention, following the decision of this court in CWT v. Khan Saheb Dost Mohd. Alladin [1973] 91 ITR 179. The assessee then obtained this reference under s. 256(2) of the Act.

(3.) ON the other hand, it was contended by Sri Habeeb Ansari, the learned counsel for the assessee, that the decisions of this court relied upon by the Revenue does not represent the correct position in Muslim law and that a contrary view has consistently been taken by the Allahabad and Nagpur High Courts, which decisions were nor brought to the notice of the Bench. He, therefore, submitted that the aforesaid Bench decision requires reconsideration.