TMI Blog1999 (2) TMI 9X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... : These appeals are directed against the judgment and order of a Division Bench of the High Court of Kerala. The High Court answered in the negative and in favour of the Revenue the following question : "Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in holding that a valid trust came into existence in pursuance of the document dt. 17th Aug., 1971, and whether the Tribunal was justified in holding that the assessment for the years 1973-74 and 1974-75 on the trustees had to be made in accordance with the provisions of s. 161 of the IT Act, 1961?" The question aforementioned relates to the asst. yrs. 1973-74 and 1974-75. (Similar questions for subsequent years were answered similarly and are ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f trust." The body of the trust deed states, "The trustees hereby accept this trust and acknowledge the receipt of Rs. 3 lacs received from each of the beneficiaries as under which they shall hold for and on behalf of the Trust: Rs. 1. Mary Varghese 6,000 2. Laisamma Varghese 33,000 3. Rosalin Varghese 33,000 4. Thankamma Baby 6,000 5. Daisy Scaria 54,000 6. Laly Scaria 54,000 7. Davis alias T.S. Varghese 54,000 8. Ammini Abraham 6,000 9. T.A. George ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... unal, having gathered all available evidence, had reached the conclusion that the trust was valid. This was a finding of fact which the High Court was not entitled in a reference application to ignore. It was submitted that if we were to accept the correctness of the impugned judgment, the functioning of the Tribunals would be destroyed. It wasalso submitted that the High Court had picked out the one word "nominee" in the trust deed out of the context and had based its entire judgment thereon, ignoring the letters and documents which the Tribunal had relied upon to come to the conclusion that in fact, the donations to the trust had not been made by or on behalf of minors. 6. In the first place, a reference to the question itself shows tha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ms of the trust deed. 9. Reliance was also placed on a judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Shri Digambar Jain Ors. vs. Sub-Registrar, Stamps, Indore AIR 1970 MP 23. It was stated there that it was the duty of the Court to give to the expression of a document its true meaning. It was competent for a Court to disregard the literal meaning of the words used in a document and to give to them their real meaning if they were sufficiently flexible to bear that interpretation. 10. It will be noted from what has been quoted above that the trust deed speaks of Mary Varghese having "on behalf of her minor daughters ........transferred and assigned to the trustees upon trust the sums...." Again, it recites in four separate clauses that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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