TMI Blog2019 (9) TMI 247X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Notary, who Notarized the Will or from the office of the District Magistrate, where the same was probated. As such, the Revenue s endeavor to discard the said Will without the production of any evidence to establish the same as a fraudulent document, cannot be appreciated. There was no requirement to amend the specifications of the gold bar in the old Will inasmuch as no specifications, in any case, were mentioned in the original Will - apart from the said gold bars, Revenue has not found any other gold bars from the possession of the appellant. If the gold bars mentioned in the Will of Smt.Dadan Devi were not the one which stand seized and confiscated by the officers, then the authorities would have found another set of three gold bars from the appellants possession. The gold in question were possessed by the appellants as a result of the legacy transferred to the appellants by Smt.Disha Tulsiani s grandmother through her Will, it cannot be held that the goods in question were smuggled items. In such a scenario, the confiscation of the same or imposition of penalties upon the appellants cannot be held to be sustainable. The Revenue s appeals which are only against conve ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a Tulsiani reiterated the same position that the gold bars in question were received by them from Late Smt. Dadan Devi, grand-mother and they produced the photocopy of the Will in question. It was also brought to the notice of the officers that the Will was to be executed through Smt.Disha Tulsiani s father Shri Ashok Tulsiani, as he was the executor of the referred Will. It was further submitted that the said Will was made on 3 April 2005 and the recovered gold bars owned by the grand-mother Late Smt. Dadan Devi were left with her by grand-father Late Parmanand Tehlani. It was admitted by Smt. Disha Tulsiani that the Will in question has not given any details of the gold bars like Sl.No., make, purity etc.. The said Will was executed in the year 2010 after death of her grand-mother through her father Sri Ashok Kr. Tahlani, who was the executor of the Will. The officers further sought information from the office of the Additional Registrar of Assurance, Kolkata seeking details of registration of the Will and it was found that the same was not registered. The officers entertained certain doubts about the said Will and were of the view that the gold bars in question were not covered ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d that the said two appellants, even before the operation of the said locker by Assistant Director, Income Tax, produced the photocopy of the front page of the Will dated 3 April 2005 of her grand-mother Smt.Dadan Devi. The Appellants case right from the beginning of the proceedings before the Income Tax authorities as also before the DRI and the adjudication proceedings has been that the gold bars in question represented the legacy of Smt.Disha Tulsiani s grandmother and were given to Smt.Disha Tulsiani by her grandmother vide Will dated 3 April 2005 wherein Smt.Disha Tulsiani s father Sri Ashok Kumar Tahlani was appointed as the executor of the Will. It is after the death of her grandmother on 29 July 2910 that the Will was executed by her father and the bars in question were handed over to them. 7. As such the entire dispute in the present appeal revolves around the said Will produced by the appellants at the very first instance of operation of lockers by the Income Tax authorities. We have seen the said Will, which bears the signatures of Smt.Dadan Devi as also of the appellants. On going through the same we find tha the same stands executed by Smt.Dadan Devi, w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... erial numbers on the stamps. Thus non-mention of serial number on the same on which the Will had been executed, has no bearing on the issue of genuineness and authenticity of the Will. The Revenue has also objected that at the time of production of front page of the Will before the Income Tax authorities, there was no endorsement on the back side of the stamp paper showing various details. Subsequently the appellants have produced a photocopy of the full Will along with back sides wherein all the details i.e. date of purchase, name of the purchaser etc. stand given. Similarly the Revenue s objection is that the Will is not registered. The appellants contention is that Will does not require any registration under the Registration Act and the same was Notarized as is clear from the stamp of the Notary Public, who is an officer of the court. Revenue has further sought to dislodge the appellant s claim of having received the gold bars under the said Will by submitting that she has not filed any Wealth Tax returns. Smt.Disha Tulsiani contended that as she was not lone beneficiary of the Will, she was under no obligation to file the Wealth Tax ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng any details, might have been exchanged by her grandmother. There was no requirement to amend the specifications of the gold bar in the old Will inasmuch as no specifications, in any case, were mentioned in the original Will. We also note that apart from the said gold bars, Revenue has not found any other gold bars from the possession of the appellant. If the gold bars mentioned in the Will of Smt.Dadan Devi were not the one which stand seized and confiscated by the officers, then the authorities would have found another set of three gold bars from the appellants possession. 10. In view of the foregoing, having held that the gold in question were possessed by the appellants as a result of the legacy transferred to the appellants by Smt.Disha Tulsiani s grandmother through her Will, it cannot be held that the goods in question were smuggled items. In such a scenario, the confiscation of the same or imposition of penalties upon the appellants cannot be held to be sustainable. Accordingly the same are set aside and all the three appeals are allowed. 11. Inasmuch as the appellants appeals have been allowed, the Revenue s appeals which are only against ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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