BAIDYNATH BANERJEE Vs. ASSISTANT CONTROLLER OF ESTATE DUTY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a petition under Art. 227 of the Constitution against an order passed by the Asstt. CED- cum-Income- tax Circle, Calcutta, dt. the 24th Jan., 1960, wherein he informed the petitioner that the proposed assessment of estate duty would be completed taking valuation as stated therein.

(2.) ONE Nagendra Nath Banerjee died on the 3rd Nov., 1930, leaving a will. By the said will Sudhir Bala, the widow of the testator, was appointed executrix to the said will and probate was taken. By the said will, with regard to items 4, 6 and 7 of the said will, a life estate was created in favour of his widow, Sudhir Bala Devi, and an absolute bequest thereafter to the petitioner and his brothers. Sudhir Bala thereafter died on the 5th Sept., 1960.

(3.) ACCORDING to Mr. Mukherjee, s. 5 has no application for the reason that the property vested in the petitioner on the death of Nagendra Nath which event occurred in 1930 long before the ED Act came into force and the property passed to the petitioner on the death of Nagendra Nath and nothing passed by the death of Sudhir Bala. Sudhir Bala had merely a life estate which ended with her death. Therefore, the property could not have "passed" by the death of Sudhir Bala.