PADMALOCHAN PANDA Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) DECEASED, Brajamohan Panda, was assessed with agricultural income-tax for the assessment year 1951-52. His case was that there was a partition between him and his sons in the year 1949 and it is only the income from his share that was assessable and not the income of the entire property which belongs to all the sharers. His stand has been rejected by all the assessing authorities including the Tribunal. He died during the pendency of the second appeal before the Tribunal. His son, the present petitioner, has been substituted in his place. Being aggrieved by the order of the Tribunal, the petitioner asked for certain questions of law arising out of the order of the Tribunal to be referred to the High Court under Section 29(2) of the Orissa Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"). Four questions were framed. The Tribunal rejected questions Nos. (2) and (3) but referred questions Nos. (1) and (4) which run thus :

(2.) THE recital of this document is clear that there was a previous partition in 1949, and the document was executed acknowledging the previous partition. In fact, a list of properties was appended to the document to show that all the properties were separately allotted to the members of the joint family in the partition of 1949. Law is well-settled that a document recording an acknowledgement of previous partition is not compulsorily registrable. (See Brajamohan Das v. Radhamohan Das, AIR 1961 Ori 41 and Deo Chand v. Shiv Ram, 1969 3 SCC. 330. Question No. (1) must, therefore, be answered in the negative, that is to say, a document recording acknowledgment of previous partition does not require registration.