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TMI Blog1973 (6) TMI 9X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... or the assessment year 1957-58, for which the relevant valuation date is 2nd of November, 1956. The Hindu undivided family known as M/s. Kaniram Hazarimal was assessed to income-tax in such status up to the assessment year 1957-58. Under section 25A of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, the Income-tax Officer had recorded an order recognising the disruption in the family on 2nd of November, 1956, which was the last day of the accounting period relevant to such assessment. The case of the assessee before the Wealth-tax Officer, however, was that in respect of the instant assessment the Hindu undivided family had been disrupted on 31st of January, 1956, when one of the members of the Hindu undivided family, Sri Vijoy Kumar Kejriwal had filed a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e arbitrator mentions, inter alia, as follows : " I award, adjudge and declare that the parties to the said Suit No. 359 of 1956. (Vijoy Kumar Kejriwal v. Indrachand Kejriwal & Ors.) were members of a joint Mitakshara Hindu family up to Dewali Sambat year 2013 (corresponding to 2nd November, 1956) and that on and from 3rd November, 1956, there was a disruption of the said joint family and severance in the joint status of the parties. " The award is dated 4th January, 1960. Relying upon this aforesaid finding in the said award the Appellate Assistant Commissioner determined the date of disruption as 3rd of November, 1956. Since on the valuation date according to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner the Hindu undivided family was in existen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ected to wealth-tax before as the Wealth-tax Act came into existence from the 1st of April, 1957. It has been held by the decision of this court in the case of Srilal Bagri v. Commissioner of Wealth-tax, that section 20 of the Wealth-tax Act was only a machinery section directed towards assessment, where at the time the liability to pay wealth-tax arose the family was joint but it had disrupted at the time of the assessment. It was further held that the section did not empower assessment of a Hindu undivided family which had ceased to be a Hindu undivided family prior to the relevant valuation date according to the Hindu law. Where the family had never been assessed as a Hindu undivided family and a preliminary decree had been passed, secti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... se of Syed Kasam v. Jorwar Singh, Girja Bai v. Sadashiv Dhundiraj and also the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Puttrangamma v. M. S. Ranganna. It is true that an unequivocal expression of intention by a member of a joint family brings about the severance of his status and creates the disruption in the joint family so far as he is concerned. A controversy arose in this case whether a suit for partition or an expression of intention to separate by one of the members of the Hindu Mitakshara family creates a severance only of the person seeking separation while the others remain joint or whether it disrupts the coparcenary and brings the joint status to an end for all the members. It was contended by counsel for the revenue on the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the Judicial Committee in the case of Bal Krishna v. Ram Krishna. It is however, not necessary for us in this reference to embark upon this controversy whether in a Mitakshara Hindu family institution of a suit by one of the coparceners disrupts the whole family or only creates severance of status so far as the party seeking separation is concerned. It is admitted in this case that the family had been disrupted. The only controversy is from which date this family should be considered as disrupted. The principle seems to be that the unequivocal expression of intention to separate creates disruption and it is also true that institution of a suit for partition is expression of such unequivocal expression of intention. In normal cases, ther ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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