TMI Blog1992 (1) TMI 26X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tate Duty Act, 1953, of the rents payable by the defendant to the plaintiff, the suit is not maintainable. The said issue alone is agitated in this appeal by learned counsel for the appellant. The trial court negatived the said contention of the defendant and decreed the suit. Hence this appeal. The few facts necessary for dealing with the abovesaid issue may be stated as follows : The plaintiff purchased the suit property from one Sambandam under exhibit A-3 sale deed dated July 17, 1974. The said Sambandam inherited the said property from his father, Manicka Chettiar, who died in about 1963 and the said Manicka Chettiar's estate was sought to be assessed to estate duty under the abovesaid Estate Duty Act. The said Sambandam was the acco ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he plaintiff was to the knowledge of the said Controller and whether the estate duty had been cleared by the said Sambandam and whether it would be in order for the defendant to make payment to the plaintiff. The Assistant Controller of Estate Duty replied by exhibit B-6 dated October 19, 1974, stating that the abovesaid sale was void and was in violation of section 74(1) of the Estate Duty Act and that, hence, it would not be in order for the defendant to pay the rent to the plaintiff without estate duty clearance certificate. Subsequently, by exhibit B-16, dated January 13, 1978, the Assistant Controller of Estate Duty sent another notice under the very same provisions of the Estate Duty Act and the Income-tax Act asking the defendant to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and incumbrances allowable under Part VI of this Act ; and any private transfer or delivery of such property shall be void against any claim in respect of such estate duty. (2) A rateable part of the estate duty on an estate, in proportion to the value of any beneficial interest in possession in movable property which passes to any person (other than the legal representative of the deceased), on the death of the deceased shall be a first charge on such interest : Provided that the property shall not be so chargeable as against a bona fide purchaser thereof for valuable consideration without notice. " Further, the above-referred to section 73 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953, provides for a notice of demand and recovery of estate duty, an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ction 74(1) and that since the respondent was a bona fide purchaser of the property, the property purchased by her shall not be a charge for the duty payable. But, I am unable to agree with this contention. The proviso is only for section 74(2) which relates to movable property and it will not apply to section 74(1). In the text book Estate Duty in India by 0. P. Chopra, Fourth edition, the author also has mentioned at page 68 that the proviso to sub-section (2) of section 74 governs only that sub-section. Apart from pointing out this passage from the said text book, learned counsel for the appellant also drew my attention to the following passage in the report of the Select Committee of 1948 referred to at page 867 of the same text book as ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... te. (In fact, as already stated, the defendant became the owner of the property only subsequently, that is, on July 17, 1974). So, learned counsel for the respondent argues that the suit for the rental arrears, which accrued subsequently, could be maintained. This contention has force. But, subsequently, the abovesaid exhibit B-16 garnishee order also had been issued. That is dated January 13, 1978. From exhibit B-17, the covering letter, it could be gathered that exhibit B-16 was served in person the same day. But, the suit was filed only subsequent to the said date, viz., on March 18, 1978. So, on the date when the suit was filed, there was a bar preventing the respondent from filing the suit and recovering the abovesaid arrears. So, the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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