COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX Vs. THAKUR UMMED SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS judgment will dispose of Income-tax Reference No. 20/71 and Wealth-tax Reference No. 18/71, made by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Delhi Bench "C". The assessment years under consideration in the income-tax reference are 1962-63 to 1966-67, whereas those, in wealth-tax reference are 1964-65 to 1966-67.

(2.) THERE were five reference applications under Section 256(1) of the I.T. Act, 1961, in respect of five assessment years. Similarly, there were three reference applications under Section 27 of the W.T. Act, 1957. The Tribunal consolidated the five reference applications in the income-tax matter and the three reference applications in the wealth-tax matter and has made a consolidated reference in the income-tax as well as wealth-tax matters. The points involved in both the references are identical. The questions referred in both the references are the same which read as under :

(3.) LEARNED counsel for the assessee has further pressed upon us that in any case the assessee has declared his unequivocal intention of treating the property as that of an HUF by filing returns in the status of an HUF continuously during the years under consideration and even thereafter and, therefore, it would be reasonable to presume that the property in question was a part of the HUF property. In support of this submission learned counsel has relied upon Mohan Rao v. Satyanarayana [1972] 84 ITR 685 (AP) and Thakur Hari Singh v. CIT [1967] 65 ITR 267 (Raj). In Thakur Hari Singh's case this court observed as follows (p. 279):