TMI Blog1973 (11) TMI 38X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ndian Airlines Corporation. Shri Dhawan claimed that this amount is exempt as this asset was not in existence at the time of death of the deceased and Shri Dhawan, therefore, claimed that it is not a property which passed on the death of the deceased. I have considered the contention of Shri Dhawan and I cannot agree to it. According to the definition of property under section 2(15) "property" includes any interest in property also and this definition clearly lays down that property includes any property converted from one species to another by any method. In the above case, the deceased had certain rights as a fare paying passenger of the Indian Airlines Corporation. On account of this right, his legal heirs were given compensation of Rs. 42,000. Therefore, when the legal heirs were paid the compensation of Rs. 42,000 it was directly because the right of the deceased as a fare paying passenger which was converted into the right of the deceased to receive the above compensation. It, therefore, is obvious that the compensation received by the legal heirs was a property which existed in the lifetime of the deceased and ceased on the death of the deceased because of his death. The ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . Awasthy, learned counsel for the department, has very strenuously contended that the Tribunal as well as the Zonal Appellate Controller were wrong in holding that the amount of Rs. 42,000 did not form part of the estate of the deceased and not liable to estate duty. The learned counsel's contention is that this amount pissed on the death of the deceased to his heirs and, therefore, is liable to estate duty. Before proceeding to deal with the contention of the learned counsel, it would be proper to examine what actually has happened and whether this amount of Rs. 42,000 was in existence during any part of the life of the deceased ? In the air crash that took place, the deceased died. There is no evidence whether he died instantaneously or later. The fact of the matter is that he was found dead when the crash was discovered. As a result of that crash, under the Indian Carriage by Air Act, 1934, as adapted to internal flights, the heirs of the deceased were paid Rs. 42,000 as compensation. Therefore, the amount of Rs. 42,000 came into being only after the death of the deceased. It existed at no point of time either contingently or otherwise during the lifetime of the deceased. Secti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bt or right; (16) 'Property passing on the death' includes property passing either immediately on the death or after an interval, either certainly or contingently and either originally or by way of substitutive limitation, and 'on the death' includes 'at a period ascertainable only by reference to the death'." Thus, keeping in view the provisions of section 5, section 2(15) and section 2(16) of the Act, what can be charged to estate duty is that property which passed on the death of the deceased. Therefore, the short question is, whether the sum of Rs. 42,000 did pass on the death of the deceased ? We fail to see how what was not in existence at all during the, lifetime of the deceased could pass on his death. If this is kept in view, the case presents no difficulty. Mr. Awasthy's attempt in his very learned arguments has been to bring this property into being as if it existed at some point of time during the lifetime of the deceased, but we must say that he has been unable to convince us on this part of his argument. He drew our attention to section 1A and section 2 of the Fatal Accidents Act, 1855, and contended that before this Act was brought on the statute book, there wa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nger shall be limited to a sum calculated at the rate of Rs. 40 per day for every day during which he continues to be so disabled or a sum of eight thousand rupees, whichever is less. (2) In the carriage of registered luggage and of goods, the liability of the carrier is limited to a sum of Rs. 80 per kilogram unless the consignor has made, at the time when the package was handed over to the carrier, a special declaration of the value at delivery and has paid a supplementary sum if the case so requires. In that case the carrier will be liable to pay a sum not exceeding the declared sum, unless he proves that that sum is greater than the actual value to the consignor at delivery. (3) As regards objects of which the passenger takes charge himself, the liability of the carrier is limited to Rs. 250 per passenger......" Rule 1 of the Second Schedule is in the following terms: "The liability shall be enforceable for the benefit of such of the members of the passenger's family as sustained damage by reason of his death. In this rule the expression 'member of a family' means wife or husband, parent, step-parent, grand-parent, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, chil ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an air crash, the amount received by a person undoubtedly becomes a part of his estate, but then is not dead and he does not become chargeable to the estate duty because, during his lifetime, he may dissipate his estate and nothing may be left for the revenue to lay their hands upon on his death. However, if the compensation is received by the heirs of the person after his death in an air crash it cannot partake of his estate or form a part of his estate and it cannot be said to be his property which will pass on his death. We fail to understand the argument that when a person boards an aeroplane he is, at that time, considered to create an estate or in terest capable of passing after his death when compensation is received by his heirs in case of his death in the air crash. The argument of the learned counsel, in a nutshell, is without basis. Even by placing the widest construction on the statute, this result cannot be achieved. The view we have taken finds ample support from the view expressed by the author of Green's Death Duties, third edition. Reference in this connection may be made to the following passage at page 21: "Damages or compensation moneys, payable in respect o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hat it must crash and he must die, an assumption we are not prepared to make. Section 15 provides for those types of cases where the owner of property tries to dissipate his property in such a way that it passes on to his heirs, but without suffering estate duty. It does not contemplate the type of cases with which we are dealing. However, on this matter also, the observations of Green are very pertinent and may be read with advantage. They are to the following effect: "It is not considered that a deceased person 'provided' any damages or compensation which may be payable in connection with his death under the Fatal Accidents Act, 1846 (Lord Campbell's Act), the Employers' Liability Act, 1880, the Carriage by Air Act, 1932, or the Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme, 1940." In this view of the matter, we are not impressed with the contentions of the learned counsel that section 15 of the Act brings the amount of Rs. 42,000 to the charge of estate duty. Mr. Awasthy then referred to K. C. Manavedan v. Deputy Controller of Estate Ditty. His contention is that it is not necessary that the deceased should have interest in praesenti or controlling power on property during his l ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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