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TMI Blog1968 (9) TMI 25X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ions of section 14 of the Estate Duty Act ? 3. Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the sum of Rs. 19,374 being debt due to the deceased from M/s. Kishandas Shamlal was rightly included in the principal value of the estate of the deceased? " The estate duty assessment pertains to the assessment of the property of Nandlal Sud who died on 26th November, 1957. His widow, as the accountable person, furnished to the Assistant Controller of Estate Duty, Nagpur, a statement of the property passing on the death of the deceased. The Assistant Controller included in the property of the deceased liable to estate duty the following items amongst others- (i) National Savings Certificates of the face value of Rs 50,000 purchased by the deceased in the joint names of himself and his wife. The encashable value of these securities was Rs. 62,300 on the date of death of Nandlal Sud ; (ii) Rs. 33,694 being the amount of insurance policies on the life of the deceased assigned to his wife ; and (iii) an amount of Rs. 19,374 being the amount of a debt owed to the deceased by M/s. Kishandas Shamlal. The Assistant Controller determined the principal value of the estate left by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... two years before his death. In fact, as the Tribunal has found, no evidence whatsoever was produced before it by the accountable person to establish the alleged gift. On the other hand, the facts found by the Tribunal altogether militate against there being any gift of the amount of the National Savings Certificates by Nandlal Sud to his wife. It was not disputed before the Tribunal that the National Savings Certificates had been purchased by the deceased out of his own moneys. It has been found as a fact that the Certificates were purchased between the years 1949 to 1951 and stood in the joint names of the deceased and his wife. If the amount of certificates had been gifted absolutely by Nandlal Sud to his wife, then the certificates would have been transferred to her name exclusively. But this was not done. The accountable person made no attempt whatsoever to show that after the alleged gift her name alone was entered in respect of the certificates. Indeed, in the memorandum of appeal, which the accountable person filed before the Tribunal, one of the grounds raised was that : " the amount of Rs. 62,300 which is the encashable value of the National Savings Certificates could not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... The recital in paragraph 7 of the will is of no avail whatsoever for showing that the amount payable under the insurance policies had been gifted away to the accountable person by the deceased even before his death or before the amount became payable on his death. In paragraph 7 of the will there is only a recital of the fact that seven insurance policies on the life of the deceased had been assigned to Nandlal Sud's wife. The Tribunal has found as a fact that the policies on the life of the deceased were wholly kept up by him for the benefit of his wife to whom the policies had been assigned. On this finding, the Tribunal held that, by virtue of section 14(1) of the Act, the amount of the insurance policies must be deemed to have passed on the death of the assured. Shri Dharmadhikari, learned counsel appearing for the accountable person, however, submitted that section 14(1) of the Act could not be applied when there was no evidence to show that after assignment the policies were wholly kept up by the deceased for the benefit of his wife to whom the policies had been assigned. Learned counsel suggested that if all the premiums in respect of the policies had been fully paid up bef ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y to speculate why this apportionment was provided for. The language of the sub-section seems sufficiently plain. It supports the view that when the Act refers to keeping up the policy it means the method of paying the premiums as they fall due. " It is thus plain that if the deceased kept up the policies wholly for the benefit of his wife to whom the policies had been assigned, then the entire amount of the policies must be deemed to have passed on the death of the assured. The Tribunal has found that the policies were on the life of the deceased and were kept up by him. Before the Tribunal, the accountable person made no attempt whatsoever to show that after the assignment the policies were not kept up by the deceased by paying any premium amount and that it was the assignee-wife who, thereafter, paid the amount of the premium or that even before the assignment the amount of all the premiums in respect of the policies had been paid. The burden of proving that the amount of the policies either wholly or partly did not pass on the death of the assured was clearly on the accountable person who claimed the exclusion of that amount from the property of the deceased passing on his dea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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