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TMI Blog1969 (4) TMI 14X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... i Nandlal Goenka passed on the death of the deceased ? (2) Whether, while disposing of an appeal under the provisions of section 63 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953, at it stood before the amendment in 1958, the Board had the power to enhance the value of one of the properties where the net effect of the Board's order was a reduction in the value of all the properties taken together. " The facts arising out of this reference are as follows : The estate duty assessment pertains to the estate of late Shri Gordhan Das Goenka, who died on the 26th December, 1953. His only son, Nandlal Goenka, furnished an account of the properties which passed on to him on the death of the deceased, to the Assistant Controller of Estate Duty, Dibrugarh. The Assi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... This contention was also negatived by the Board on the footing that the source of these investments was the undisclosed income of the joint family and not any outside source as claimed by the family. In the circumstances, the Board did not find any merit in the contention, that the properties standing in the name of Nandlal were his own individual acquisitions. This finding was based on a judgment of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner in an income-tax matter. Question No. 1 On the above findings, we have to decide the point of law whether the properties standing in the name of Nandlal were the properties of the joint family inherited from his father. Mr. J. P. Bhattacharjee has strenuously urged before us that the judgment of the Appel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t Commissioner on which the Board and the Estate Duty officer relied upon could not have been treated as a final judgment and as such, implicit reliance thereon was uncalled for. Further, it appears that the Board did not discuss the merits of the ground stated before and as such it cannot be said that the judgment of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner should be treated as a very strong material to negative the contention of Nandlal. In this reference, a judgment of the Tribunal has been filed in which it appears that the judgment of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner was on this matter set aside and the assessee's contention as now taken before the Board was upheld. We are not going to take any notice of this judgment as it is for all ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Estate Duty at Rs. 6,500, but after hearing the arguments, of the learned advocates, the estimated valuation of this property was raised by the Board to Rs. 18,500 as against Rs. 6,500, previously assessed in the assessment. Undoubtedly, as appearing from the statement of the case, there was a total reduction of valuation of the properties, but the question which requires our consideration is whether under the appropriate provisions of the Estate Duty Act, it was justifiable on the part of the Board to increase the valuation of the said property. Section 63 of the old Act provides for appeal against determination by the Controller. It appears that, amongst others, the Central Board of Revenue can entertain appeal of any valuation made by th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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