TMI Blog1967 (6) TMI 46X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ? This question arises in respect of the estate of one Gunda Eswaraiah, who died on June 6, 1958. The deceased, representing his Hindu undivided family consisting of himself and his son, was a partner with another person, in a firm which had contracts with the Garrison Engineers. The deceased was the financing partner and, according to the terms of the partnership deed, all the assets and liabilities of the firm belonged to the deceased except to the extent of the capital share of profits of the other partner. The contract with the Garrison Engineers stood in the name of the deceased. At the date of death of the deceased a sum of ₹ 2,91,000 was due to be paid by the military authorities in respect of works done by the firm. They i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... dismissed the appeal as untenable because, in its view, section 50 did not envisage deduction of the entire amount of the court-fee paid. Mr. Mallikarjuna Rao contends that under section 34 of the Estate Duty Act, the entire estate has to be aggregated in order to fix the rate in respect of the interest of the deceased and, if this is so, the court-fee paid to recover the amount due to the joint family should also be deducted. Secondly, he contends that the word leviable used in section 50 would indicate an intention on the part of the legislature to include the entire estate for the purposes of relief under that section. We cannot accept these con- tentions as being warranted either under section 34 or section 50 of the Act. The relev ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ty under section 33; (ii) any agricultural land situate in any State not specified in the First Schedule. Section 50 of the Act reads-- Where any fees have been paid under any law relating to court-fees in force in any State for obtaining probate, letters of administration or a succession certificate in respect of any property on which estate duty is leviable under this Act, the amount of the estate duty payable shall be reduced by an amount which is equal to one half of the court-fees so paid. An examination of the provisions of section 34 would show that what is sought to be provided for is the aggregation of the estate of the deceased for the purposes of determining the rate of the estate duty leviable upon it. We cannot a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... du Succession Act whereunder, if a Hindu coparcener dies intestate, he is deemed to have effected partition on the date of his death. Under these provisions, the estate will be ascertained as on that date. We may observe that even before that date the same effect was given under sections 7 and 39 of the Act. Section 7 reads as follows: 7. (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, property in which the deceased, or any other person had an interest ceasing on the death of the deceased, shall be deemed to pass on the deceased's death to the extent to which a benefit accrues or arises by the cesser of such interest, including, in particular, a coparcenary interest in the joint family property of a Hindu family governed by the Mitak ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the death of a member thereof shall be the principal value of the share in the property of the tarwad or tavazhi or, as the case may be, the kutumba or kavaru which would have been allotted to the deceased had a partition taken place immediately before his death. (3) For the purpose of estimating the principal value of the joint family property of a Hindu family governed by the Mitakashara, Marum- akkattayam or Aliyasantana law in order to arrive at the share which would have been allotted to the deceased had a partition taken place immediately before his death, the provisions of this Act, so far as may be, shall apply as they would have applied if the whole of the joint family property had belong- ed to the deceased. Sub-section (3) ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the deceased upon which estate duty is leviable under the Act, and from that duty which is leviable, the amount which is equal to the court-fees so paid in respect of the share of the property of the deceased has to be deduct- ed. Thus, the word leviable is used in relation to that which is leviable, had there not been any provision for deduction. It is only after the various variations and deductions that are permissible that estate duty could be levied and till then it can only be described as leviable. We think that the provisions of section 50 do not admit of any doubt and the view taken by the estate duty authorities is clearly warranted. In this view, our answer to the question is in the affirmative and in favour of the depart ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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