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TMI Blog1969 (4) TMI 9X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the department, but accepted by the Tribunal. At the instance of the Commissioner of Income-tax, the reference comes before us of the question: " Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was right in law in holding that the value of shares transferred by the assessee to her minor son is not caught by section 4(1)(a)(ii) of the Wealth-tax Act, and is not therefore liable to be included in her wealth-tax assessments for the years 1960-61 and 1961-62?" Section 3 of the Wealth-tax Act charges for every financial year a tax in respect of the net wealth of every individual. The term "individual" has not been defined, but, obviously, without anything more, it should indicate a male or female, in accordance with t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ourse, to keep in view the context of those words in the particular section, and proceed in the light of the other sections, as well as the scheme, intendment and general scope of the Act. The normal rules of construction are, of course, to be followed in the elucidation, but eventually it is the opinion of the court, formed on a consideration of those words in the context and the arguments addressed for and against a particular meaning to be given to them. We are inclined to think that rarely is the problem of interpretation satisfactorily solved by matching decided cases rendered on particular provisions in different enactments which the court is called upon to construe. The object of section 4 of the Wealth-tax Act is not for to seek wh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rrevocable transfer. In the first case, the individual who transferred without doubt is the husband, and that is in keeping with the opening words that in computing the net value of an individual "there shall be included, as belonging to him". But, what does the expression "an individual" mean in the second case? It is here divergent arguments have been addressed to us on the one hand stating that "an individual" for the purpose of that case should mean a male, as in the first case, and on the other, it should mean, in the context, either that or a female. The second alternative contention appeals to our minds, that is, "an individual" in the second case takes its meaning, whether it is a male or a female, from the context, and there is no ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... his country might perhaps have been different, for, it is common knowledge that there were more cases of husbands transferring properties without consideration to their wives or their children, rather than wives or females doing that in favour of either their husbands or their children. It was, perhaps, this aspect that weighed with the Select Committee, which made the report, in the light of which section 16(3) of the Income-tax Act, 1922, was formulated and it was passed through the legislature. Commissioner of Income-tax v. Sobra Devi which has been strongly pressed upon us for the assessee, found ambiguity in the language of section 16(3), and solved it in the light of the history of the provision, particularly the report of the Select ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ns only a male and does not include a female, according to the context. When we come to the next case of inclusion in section 4(1)(a), "an individual", again, as it appears to us, indicates either a male or a female, according to the context, and, for instance, in the context of a wife, it can only mean a male. But when we come to minor child, it can mean a male or female. The word "both", which occurs in section 16(3)(b) of the Income-tax Act, is not used in section 4(1)(a)(ii) of the Wealth-tax Act. The fourth case of inclusion also does not suggest that it is confined only to the male and so also section 4(1)(b). Though, at first sight, section 16(3) of the Income-tax Act and section 4(1) of the Wealth-tax Act may appear to resemble each ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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