BIMLA DEVI SUD Vs. CONTROLLER OF ESTATE DUTY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a reference under Section 64 (1) of the Estate Duty Act, 1953, (hereinafter called the Act), by the Appellate Tribunal (Central Board of Direct Taxes, New Delhi) at the instance of the accountable person. The questions, which the Tribunal has placed before us for decision, are--

(2.) THE estate duty assessment pertains to the assessment of the property of Nandlal Sud who died on 26th November 1957. His widow, as the accountable person, furnished to the Assistant Controller of Estate Duty, Nagpur, a statement of the property passing on the death of the deceased. THE Assistant Controller included in the property of the deceased liable to estate duty the following items amongst others--

(3.) IN regard to the amount of Rupees 33,694/- under insurance policies on the life of the deceased, the policies, as found by the Tribunal, were no doubt assigned by Nandlal Sud to his wife. The recital in paragraph 7 of the will is of no avail whatsoever for showing that the amount payable under the insurance policies had been gifted away to the accountable person by the deceased even before his death or before the amount became payable on his death. IN paragraph 7 of the will there is only a recital of the fact that seven insurance policies on the life of the deceased had been assigned to Nandlal Sud's wife. The Tribunal has found as a fact that the policies on the life of the deceased were wholly kept up by him for the benefit of his wife to whom the policies had been assigned. On this finding, the Tribunal held that by virtue of Section 14 (1) of the Act the amount of the insurance policies must be deemed to have passed on the death of the assured.