9911796707
TMI Blog1973 (8) TMI 29X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ly ? " As is clear from the above question, the reference arises out of three orders of the Tribunal, two under the Wealth-tax Act for the assessment years 1962-63 and 1963-64 and another under the Income-tax Act for the assessment year 1962-63. The assessee was the owner of a house property No. 189-191, Ramnad Road, Madurai. He executed a will on 6th March, 1961. The house property is referred to in that will in the following manner: "As regards the house property bearing No. 189-191, Ramnad Road, Madurai, it is my desire that this property should belong to the Hindu undivided family of which I am the karta, the other coparceners being my sons. I have no separate interest over the property except as that of a Hindu undivided family. On ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ch can come into operation only on the death of the assessee, still the declaration of such intention made by the assessee in the will can be taken to impress the property in question with the character of the property of the joint Hindu family. The Tribunal, therefore, disagreed with the view of the departmental authorities that the desire expressed by the assessee and the other statements made in the will by the assessee will not be taken to be effective as on the date of the will to impress the house property with the character of joint family property on that date by the wording he has used in the will. The reasoning of the Tribunal can be stated in their own words: " In the present case, when we take note of the writing in the documen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... has come to the right conclusion in this case. The mere fact that the statement or declaration of the assessee is contained in a document styled as a will, the effect of the statement or declaration cannot be ignored or overlooked for finding out the actual intention of the assessee. If the intention of the assessee is to treat his property as joint family property in future which is clear from the statements made by the assessee, it has to be given effect to and the property has to be treated as having been impressed with the character of joint family property. Though the learned counsel for the revenue may be right in his statement that the will can come into operation only on the death of the assessee and whatever dispositions that have ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t he makes no separate interest over the said property except as that of a Hindu undivided family. This subsequent sentence, in our view, makes the assessee's intention clear that he treated the house property as the property of the Hindu undivided family thereafter by disclaiming any separate interest in relation to the house property. The subsequent clause under which the assessee has stated that his wife will have a right of occupation in the house during her lifetime does not in out view run counter to the clear intention of the assessee expressed already. It may be that the assessee wanted to make it clear that his wife in the event of his death will have a right of residence in the house as a member of the family along with others and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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