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TMI Blog1969 (5) TMI 8X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l Finance Co. Ltd. and the interest thereon till the date of Munshi Lal's death. The case of the assessee was that the deceased had gifted the sum of Rs. 30,000 to his minor daughter on the date of deposit and, therefore, no estate duty was payable on this amount, the gift having been made more than two years before the date of death. The deceased made a will on 24th February, 1955, and it is necessary to read clause 7 and the material part of clause 8 of the will which are : " I have also deposited Rs. 30,000 as a fixed deposit in Motor General & Finance Co. Ltd., in the name and for the benefit of my minor daughter, Niloo, under my own guardianship. She is absolutely entitled to it, it is my gift to her outright. In case of death her g ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ill be covered by section 9 of the Act ........" At the instance of the assessee, the following question of law was referred to the High Court : " Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the sum of Rs. 36,030 deposited with M/s. Motor General Finance Co. Ltd,, in the name of the minor daughter of the deceased, was correctly included in the principal value of the estate of the deceased ? " The controversy between the assessee and the revenue may now be stated. The assessee had contended that the deceased gifted this amount to his minor daughter on 8th November, 1954, when the money was deposited in her name and the will provided evidence of the said gift having been made on that date. On the other hand, the revenue ma ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iple of law, such a finding may be subjected to review because in the first case it would be a question of law and in the other case, a mixed question of law and fact. Again the conclusion, though of fact, may be such as could in no case have been arrived at by a judicial mind properly instructed as to the relevant law. In that situation also, it wilt be a question of law. It is not in all cases easy to distinguish between a question of law and a question of fact. But a conclusion of fact cannot be indirectly assailed by posing a question : " consider whether, as a matter of law, the fact-finding authority came to a correct conclusion on a point of fact ? " The unassailability in all cases belongs only to a finding on a question of pure fac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... edly there is no question here of construction of any statutory provision or document of title. The issues which arise for determination whether the sales entered in the books of the appellant in the names of the intermediaries were genuine and if not, to whom the goods were sold and for what price, are all questions of fact. Their determination does not involve the application of legal principles to facts established in the evidence." The supreme Court approved the following statement of law by the Judicial Committee in Wali Mohammad v. Mohammad Baksh : " Where the question to be decided is one of fact, it does not involve an issue of law merely because documents which were not instruments of title or otherwise the direct foundation of r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 954. This decision of the Board is, therefore, based on a complete misreading of the will. Clause 7 of the will does not even remotely suggest that the gift was made by the said will. As a matter of fact, clauses 7 and 8 read together, as they must be, clearly show that the assessee had made the gift before he signed the will. This finding of the Board is, therefore, based not only on a misreading of a material document but also on surmise and conjecture. If the will does not even remotely bear out the finding of the Board, the decision cannot but be termed as one based on conjecture. In a given case a later document can provide good evidence of an anterior transaction. If the will had been susceptible to both the interpretations, I would h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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