TMI Blog1966 (9) TMI 12X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ourt : " (1) Whether the assessee could impress the character of a joint family property on the property separately owned by him only for the benefit of himself and his sons constituting a separate Hindu undivided family to the exclusion of his father notwithstanding the fact that the Hindu undivided family consisted of the assessee, his father and his sons ? (2) Whether there was any material before the Tribunal to reject the assessee's version that he impressed his individual property with the character of joint family property from 1949 onwards ? " The relevant assessment year in respect of which the above questions arise is 1957-58 for which the valuation date is March 31, 1957. The assessee is one of the members of a coparcenary ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... int family property should belong to one set of members and the remaining to another set. A Hindu, even if he be joint, can possess separate property. Such property belongs exclusively to him. No other member of the coparcenary, not even his male issue, acquires any interest in it during his lifetime. On his death intestate, the property passes by succession to his heirs and not by survivorship to the surviving coparceners as in the joint Hindu family. He can, under the law, voluntarily throw his property into the common stock and it will become the joint property of the family. But the intention of abandoning all separate claims must be there. In the present case leaving aside the fact whether the assessee had, in fact, actually done so, h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the property. He observed : " The main family and its branches may possess joint property not only by operation of law but also by act of parties. Property acquired without the aid of joint family property, by one or more individual members thereof,--whether they belong to different branches or to one and the same branch of the family,--may by act of parties be incorporated with the joint property of the main family or of one of its branches ; and a stranger may also give property to the family as a whole (vide Radhabai v. Nanarav), or to one of its branches (vide Kunacha Umma v. Kutti Mammi Hajee), as a corporate body. Even if the undivided family is not possessed of any nucleus of property which has come to it as 'unobstructed heri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the same High Court in Damodar Krishnaji Nirgude v. Commissioner of Income-tax, Natesan v. Commissioner of Income-tax, In re T. Arumuga Mudaliar, D. Sadashiv v. B. Rattain and Keshvalal v. Commissioner of Income-tax. The last three cases further lay down that no formalities are necessary to impress the character on a separate property of joint family property. Umamaheswaram J., delivering the judgment of the Division Bench of this court consisting of himself and Krishna Rao J., has put this aspect of the case tersely as follows : " By a clear expression of intention, such as by a statement in a deposition or by an affidavit or by executing a document or by course of conduct he may alter the character of the self-acquired or separate prop ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... inate corporate body. The said family unit, whether the larger one or the subordinate one, can acquire, hold and dispose of family property subject to the limitations laid down by law. Ordinarily, the manager, or by consent, express or implied of the members of the family, any other member or members can carry on business or acquire property, subject to the limitations laid down by the said law, for or on behalf of the family. Such business or property would be the business or property of the family. The identity of the members of the family is not completely lost in the family. One or more members of that family can start a business or acquire property without the aid of the joint family property, but such business or acquisition would be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... doing so, no formalities are required, and that an unequivocal expression of intention, whether by course of conduct or declaration or any document or any statement in a deposition, etc., would be sufficient to impress the separate property with the character of a joint family property. On the second question, we must sustain the stand taken by the Tribunal inasmuch as the only intention of treating the property of the value of Rs. 4,000 gifted to the assessee by his maternal grandfather as joint family property was made evident when he filed his income-tax and wealth-tax returns in August, 1958. These returns were followed by a letter given by the assessee on July 23, 1959 in which he informed the Wealth-tax Officer that he had treated t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
