TMI Blog1979 (7) TMI 34X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e Act "), whereby the said authorities refused the petitioner's prayer for payment of interest on the amount overpaid as estate duty. The petitioner is the son of the deceased, Budh Mal Duggar, who expired on March 17, 1954. The petitioner and his mother, Smt. Dhanni Devi, widow of Budh Mal Duggar, being the accountable persons, furnished an account of the property owned by the deceased, Budh Mal. The Dy. CED, Delhi, held that the entire property left by the deceased, Budh Mal, would be deemed to have passed on his death to the accountable persons. Accordingly, the Deputy Controller determined the principal value of the property as Rs. 26,75,288, and the duty payable thereon, Rs. 6,03,986.15 by his order dated October 30, 1958. The accoun ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... countable persons applied to the Asst. CED for refund of the estate duty overpaid together with interest. The department refunded Rs. 4,66,194, being the amount overpaid by the accountable persons, but refused to pay any interest on the amount overpaid, vide annexs. " G " and " I". The petitioner's mother, Smt. Dhanni Devi, died on April 29, 1975, and hence the petitioner has filed this petition challenging the impugned orders, annexs. " G " and " I ". The short point arising for decision in this case is whether the CED was justified in refusing payment of interest on the amount overpaid. The answer to this question depends upon the interpretation of s. 64(7) of the Act, as amended by s. 21 of the Estate Duty (Amendment) Act, 1958 (No. 33 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e assessments made subsequent to July 1, 1960, and, therefore, the order rejecting the claim for interest is contrary to the requirements of sub-s. (7) of s. 64 of the Act. In this connection, it has been urged that the CED has not correctly interpreted s. 29 (savings) of the Amendment Act. In support of his submission, the learned counsel has placed reliance on M.S. Narayanacharlu v. Asst. CED [1972] 85 ITR 25 (AP). Section 29 of the Amendment Act reads as under : " 29. Savings.--Nothing contained in section 21 shall affect (a) any appeal pending before the Board in respect of any order made by the Controller before the commencement of this Act ; or (b) any right or remedy by way of appeal which has accrued to any person in respect o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... effect to it. The learned counsel for the revenue, however, urged that s. 29 of the Amendment Act, which has a material bearing on the point, was not noticed in M. S. Narayancharlu's case [1972] 85 ITR 25 (AP.) It is submitted that if s. 29 of the Amendment Act had been brought to the notice of the learned judges, the result of the case would have been different. It would, therefore, be proper to examine the effect of s. 29 of the Amendment Act. When we analyse s. 29 of the Amendment Act, it comes to this : (i) Any appeal pending before the Board from an order by the Controller, before the commencement of the Amendment Act, will not be affected in any way by the provisions of section 21. (ii) Remedy by way of appeal which has accru ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion for a particular relief has arisen after the coming into force of the Amendment Act. Now, in the present case, even though the Deputy Controller had completed the assessment proceedings on October 30, 1958, the appeal filed by the accountable persons was pending before the Board when the Amendment Act came into force. The fact that an appeal was pending against the assessment, is a material one. The assessment proceedings had not come to an end nor they were dead. The accountable persons had kept the proceedings alive by filing an appeal and the proceedings were thus pending for decision. The appeal filed by the accountable persons was undoubtedly disposed of as if the Amendment Act had not been passed. The reference to the High Cour ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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