TMI Blog1979 (4) TMI 8X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tire value of the property is to be included in the principal value of the estate of the deceased ? " The material facts, giving rise to the above reference as incorporated in the statement of case drawn up by the Tribunal, may be briefly stated : The deceased and his three brothers constituted a HUF. By an award dated March 9, 1952, registered in the office of the Registrar at Kakinada the deceased and his brothers became divided. Certain properties were allotted thereunder to the HUF consisting of the deceased and his five sons, Venkata Narayana, Ramamohan Gupta, Laxmana Rao, Bharata Raju and Shatrugnudu. On March 16, 1952, there was a division in status between the deceased and his five sons and in the first instance, certain movable p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . 2,20,000 being the value of the Kakinada house. He rejected the contention of the accountable person that the deceased was entitled to a 1/5th share in the said house and that that alone passed on his death under s. 5 of the E.D. Act. He held that the deceased was entitled to a life interest in the said house under the earlier deed of partition dated March 30, 1952, that the said right was not in any way affected by the deed of partition dated June 16, 1964, and that under s. 7 of the Act, the entire house should be deemed to pass on his death. The decision of the Assistant Controller was affirmed on appeal by the Appellate Controller by his order dated March 18, 1970. On further appeal to the Tribunal, it was held by the Tribunal that th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s allotted to the deceased and his other four sons with absolute and equal rights therein. The arrangement evidenced by the deed of partition dated June 16, 1964, is genuine and perfectly valid and not a device to evade the estate duty, as rightly held by the Tribunal. It is, therefore, clear that on the death of the deceased on May 7, 1965, he had only 1/5th share, with absolute right, in the Kakinada house and had no life interest in the entire house. Section 7 of the Act cannot, therefore, be invoked by the revenue for the purpose of inclusion of the entire value of the Kakinada house in the estate of the deceased, as rightly held by the Tribunal. It is, however, urged by Sri P. Rama Rao, standing counsel for the revenue, that the arra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ubject to that interest, the property in which the interest subsisted would have been deemed by virtue of section 7 to be included to a particular extent in the property passing on the death, the property in which the interest subsisted shall be deemed by virtue of this section to be included to that extent in the property passing on the death. " It may be noted that if a limited estate is either disposed of or determined within two years before the death of the deceased, by reason of fiction enacted in s. 11, the total value of the limited estate so disposed of or determined, is liable to estate duty. The question which, therefore, falls for consideration is whether, under the deed of partition dated June 16, 1964, there was disposition ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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