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TMI Blog1957 (9) TMI 82X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... its merger with the Union of the States of Saurashtra, integrated in Saurashtra on 16th March, 1948. The question which we are called upon to determine requires us in effect to decide the real nature of a Resolution passed by the Saurashtra Government on 30th March, 1950. It will be convenient immediately to refer to that Resolution, which is as under : "In pursuance of the decision taken at the Jamnagar conference of December, 1948/January, 1949, the grant of the village, Mota Dahisara, made by the Ruler to the person named below has been decided to be resumed and the grantee is to be paid cash annuity in lieu thereof as stated against name of the grantee. The cash annuity is in liew of the village and it is payable to the grantee from the date possession of the village was made over to the Government in pursuance of the above decision. Morvi Cash Annuity Maharani Shri Kesarkunwerba Saheb in lieu of the village, Mota Dahisara... ₹ 35,807. The grantee is also to be paid her jiwai as Raj Mata ₹ 24,193 per annum as decided at the Cabinet meeting on 14th January, 1950. The combined cash allowance is payable to the grantee only for her lifetime." Th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nces which happened prior to the passing of the Resolution clearly show that the whole amount of ₹ 60,000 although paid in the form of a cash annuity under the two heads was nothing short of a maintenance allowance. It becomes necessary for us, therefore, to examine the background and the circumstances in which this Resolution came to be passed. The first fact to which our attention has been drawn is a Royal Resolution of the Maharaja of Morvi, dated 26th September, 1947, the material part of which is as under: "By H.A. No. 13712 dated 26th September, 1947, the following monthly jiwai has been sanctioned and it has been resolved that the same be handed over in the same manner and the provision be made by the Treasury Officer in the budget in the same manner as it is being made at present." On the material before us, it is only possible to say that from 26th September, 1947, Raj Mata was granted jiwai (maintenance) at ₹ 5,000 per month by the Maharaja Saheb. Within two or three months of 26th December, 1947, to be precise on 16th March, 1948, a formal grant of the village of Mota Dahisara was made by the Maharaja Saheb in favour of the assessee. Freely tran ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s fixed by her husband at ₹ 5,000 per month, it is difficult for us to accept the contention urged on behalf of the assessee. In our opinion, the grant of the village was not for what can properly be regarded as maintenance within the meaning of that expression but was a mere gift. After the merger of the Morvi State into Saurashtra on 20th March, 1948, the Saurashtra Government refused to allow the maintenance allowance of ₹ 5,000 a month to the assessee. The Saurashtra Government also declined to recognise the grant of the village in favour of the assessee, and it appears that for a considerable time thereafter the assessee got neither the jiwai nor the revenue of the village. On 23rd March, 1949, the Maharaja wrote a letter to the Rajpramukh of Saurashtra. In that letter it is stated inter alia as follows: "Your Highness already knows that the Saurashtra Government has unconstitutionally and illegally deprived my mother of her rightful possession of her village of Mota Dahisara and they also want to deprive her of her legitimate jiwai which was sanctioned by my father from 1st October, 1947. It is not necessary for me to explain what an embarrassing position ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... egional Commissioner and adviser to the Rajpramukh. In that letter he stated as follows: "After the return of my son Mahendrasinghji we have with great difficulty been able to persuade her to accept one or the other and she has agreed that if she gets ₹ 5,000 a month she will not insist for more. Most ladies are sentimental and she is no exception, and says her abru would go if she loses her village, so we suggested that if she gets the income of the village, whatever it may be, and any amount over and above that will be given to her as a jiwai, making a total of ₹ 60,000 a year; with this she can say she got both the things and her prestige will not suffer. She has agreed to this proposal and I hope the State Ministry will approve of it and pass orders accordingly. By this the Saurashtra Government will be gainers by ₹ 46,000 (the income of the village), and it will satisfy my wife." It is clear from this letter that the Maharani was all along insisting on her village. It had become a matter of prestige with her and whatever be the amount of the jiwai that she would get her insistence was on the village, or the income of the village. The effort made ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ew taken by the Tribunal. The Tribunal took the view that the village was granted to the assessee for the purpose of maintaining the assessee's status and reputation as Raj Mata, and, therefore, it must be treated as given to her for her maintenance. The suggestion was that we should be slow in disturbing this finding of the Tribunal and taking a contrary view. We are slow in matters of this kind in taking a view contrary from that taken by the Tribunal. But what we are concerned with is the Resolution which, as we have already pointed out was purely the result of an agreement between the assessee and the Saurashtra Government. The assessee insisted, so did her son and so did her husband, that she must get something in lieu of the village which she had lost, and if that village was not given to her in lieu of maintenance, as we have already held, the first part of the cash annuity of ₹ 35,807 in terms given in lieu of the village cannot be treated as given to her by way of maintenance. In the course of the arguments at the bar, there was some suggestion about the true nature and substance of the transaction. Now, it is not open to this court in a matter of this kind to t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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