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TMI Blog1979 (3) TMI 14X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an amount which the deceased had a right to recover from the vendor? (2) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the land comprising Gaddemane Estate, standing in the name of the daughter of the deceased, was includible in the principal value of the estate as passing under section 5 of the Estate Duty Act ? " The matter relates to the computation of estate duty payable in respect of the estate of one Raghupathy Hebbar, who passed away on October 20, 1967. He left a will dated August 19, 1967. The executors appointed under the will were the accountable persons and they filed the returns. The dispute relates to two parcels of lands-(1) in regard to certain paddy lands which had been purchased in or about July, 1967, for ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eceased. Befere the Appellate CED, the inclusion of these items as well as the estimate of their value was questioned. The Appellate CED held that certain lands in the Gaddemane Estate had to be valued at Rs. 650 per acre instead of Rs. 1,000 as adopted by the Assistant CED and the value of the paddy lands should be taken at Rs. 30,000 only, instead of Rs. 74,500 as adopted by the Assistant CED. Before the Tribunal, it was contended that the inclusion of the value of the paddy lands was not justified as the title of the deceased in regard to this property was not clear. It was also contended that the Gaddemane Estate stood in the name of the daughter of the deceased and, therefore should not be treated as property passing on the death of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the purchase money would have to be valued and included in the computation of the value of the estate passing on the death. That would depend upon various factors as to the solvency of the vendor, cost of litigation and the defence that may be put forth by the vendor or his representatives. That value would be only a notional one and would have to be estimated in a reasonable manner having regard to all the circumstances. From the facts it is clear that in regard to one land, survey No. 595, which was about 5 acres and about one-third in extent compared to the other survey No. 596, the title had been upheld by the Special Deputy Commissioner for Inams Abolition and proportionate value of the same on the basis of the estimate made by the Ap ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er of the property and the title would not vest in her. Therefore, in view of this, the property was rightly charged for estate duty. This view of ours finds support from the Full Bench decision of the Allahabad High Court in Chawla's case [1973] 90 ITR 68 as also the decision of the High Court of Madras in CED v. Smt. S. M. Muthukaruppi Achi [1977] 109 ITR 345. In the latter case, the learned judges referred to the observations of the Privy Council in Petheperumal Chetty v. Muniandy Servai [1908] ILR 35 Cal 551 at 559 to the following effect: " Where a transaction is once made out to be a mere benami, it is evident that the benamidar absolutely disappears from the title. His name is simply an alias for that of the person beneficially inte ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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