CONTROLLER OF ESTATE DUTY Vs. HOMOJIT SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) AT the instance of the Controller of Estate Duty, Jalandhar (hereinafter referred to as "the Revenue"), the following question of law along with the statement of the case has been referred by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Amritsar (hereinafter referred to as "the Tribunal"), for the opinion of this court :

(2.) ONE Gurcharan Singh died on August 25, 1967. The estate of the deceased mainly comprised agricultural lands. The accountable person claimed that the lands being ancestral, belonged to the Hindu undivided family of the deceased and on his death only a 1/6th share which belonged to the deceased in these lands passed to the accountable person and not the entire lands. The Assistant Controller of Estate Duty rejected this contention and held that Jat agriculturists are governed by the customary law of Punjab and, therefore, the ownership of agricultural land vested in the deceased till his death and the value of the whole of the land will be taken into consideration for determining the estate duty.

(3.) THE Revenue filed an appeal before the Tribunal which was dismissed in view of a Full Bench decision of this court in Pritam Singh. v. Asst. CED [1976] 105 ITR 661, in which it has been held that Jat Sikhs can constitute a joint Hindu family.