COMMISSIONER OF WEALTH TAX Vs. MEGHJI GIRDHARILAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE connected five reference applications, presented by the Commissioner of Wealth-tax, Bhopal, under Section 27(3) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957, raise a common question of law as extracted below :

(2.) BRIEFLY stated, the facts of the case are that the value of certain gold ornament/silver ornaments weighing 20.200 kgs. was included by the Wealth-tax Officer in the computation of wealth of the assessee. The assessee filed an appeal before the Commissioner of Wealth-tax (Appeals). The appellate authority held that the gold ornament/silver ornaments weighing 20.200 kgs. belonged to three ladies, namely, Birsubai, Laxmibai and Chandrabai, and as such they were intended for personal or household use within the meaning of Section 5(1)(viii) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957. He, therefore, deleted this property from the wealth of the assessee. Against this appellate order, the Wealth-tax Officer filed appeals for the assessment years 1966-67, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1969-70 and 1970-71, registered respectively as W. T. A. Nos. 60/(Ind) of 1987, 61/(Ind) of 1987, 62/(Ind) of 1987 ; 65/(Ind) of 1987 and 64/(Ind) of 1987. The Tribunal dismissed all these appeals by common order dated August 24, 1988. Thereafter the applicant filed applications under Section 27(1) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957, and sought statement of the case and reference of the proposed question. The reference applications, registered as R. A. Nos. 76 to 80/(Ind) of 1988 arising out of the orders passed in appeals, W. T. A. Nos. 60 to 64/(Ind) of 1987 for the assessment years 1966-67 to 1970-71, were dismissed on November 16, 1989, holding that the orders of the Tribunal are based on the decision of this court and as such no referable question arose. Aggrieved by the order of rejection and main order of the Tribunal, the applicant has filed these five reference applications for five separate assessment years, as noted above, under Section 27(3) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957.

(3.) SHRI Vyas submitted that the decision of this court has since been overruled by the apex court by a decision rendered in CWT v. Smt. Binapani Chakravarty [1995] 214 ITR 721 and as such the question as proposed is a question of law and is required to be referred by the Tribunal. According to SHRI Vyas, the Tribunal was not justified in holding that Section 5(1)(viii) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957, would be applicable to the assessee's case for the assessment years 1966-67 to 1970-71.