TMI Blog1978 (10) TMI 13X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 6, the assessee is Yash Kumar Singh. Chandra Kumar Singh and Yash Kumar Singh are sons of Raj Kumar Singh. The relevant assessment years are 1958-59, 1959-60 and 1960-61, and the relevant valuation dates for these three assessment years are October 23, 1957, November 12, 1958, and October 31, 1959. Raj Kumar Singh, father of the assessees, separated from a bigger HUF of which he was a member on 31st March, 1950. In this partition, Raj Kumar Singh acquired assets belonging to his branch. Raj Kumar Singh partitioned his HUF on 21st August, 1957. In this partition, both the assessees were allotted their shares of joint family assets. The assets included gold ornaments and jewellery. On the death of their mother, Smt. Prem Kumari Devi in Apri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Supreme Court in CWT v. Arundhati Balkrishna [1970] 77 ITR 505. In that case, it was held that s. 5(1)(viii) covered the case of jewellery intended for the personal use of the assessee. Their Lordships observed that it is well known that jewellery is widely used as articles of personal use by the ladies in this country, specially by those belonging to the richer classes. This case was followed by the Supreme Court in Pandit Lakshmi Kant Jha v. CWT [1973] 90 ITR 97. The expression " intended for the personal or household use of the assessee " as it occurs in s. 5(1)(viii] came up for consideration before the Bombay High Court in G. S. Poddar v. CWT [1965] 57 ITR 207. It was held that this expression meant articles which are normally, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... they would be entitled to exemption. This argument was negatived, and, as earlier pointed out, it was held that the question whether the articles are intended for personal or household use has got to be considered with reference to the facts and circumstances as they exist at the time when the question has to be determined. It was pointed out that what the position will be in future assessment if the assessee starts using these articles for his personal use hereafter, is irrelevant for determining the claim of exemption. Poddar's case [1965] 57 ITR 207 (Bom), was approved by the Supreme Court in H. H. Maharaja Rana Hemant Singhji v. CIT [1976] 103 ITR 61. The Supreme Court observed that in Poddar's case it was held that the expression " in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the female members of the family, such as, their sisters and sisters-in-law. It has to be noted that the assessees are being assessed as individual and not as HUF. The case that female members of the household of their father, with whom the assessees lived during the relevant period, were using the ornaments and jewellery or could have used them, was never raised before the Tribunal. The contention raised by the learned counsel for the assessee before the Tribunal is referred to in para. 7 of the Tribunal's order. Briefly stated, the submission of the assessees before the Tribunal was that the word " intended " means " suitable " or " apt " and the proper test for application of s. 5(1)(viii) will be the use to which an article could be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , their father's household was the household of the assessees, the finding cannot help the assessees as there are no facts found by the Tribunal to show that the gold ornaments and jewellery were intended for the use of any such female member of this bigger household. We may make it clear that the Tribunal cannot be blamed for not giving any finding on this question, the reason being that no such case was ever advanced before the Tribunal. The learned counsel for the assessees referred us to a decision of the Bombay Tribunal in Wealth-tax Officer, Companies Circle (I)(2), Bombay v. Shri XXZ (1970 Taxes Planning, Part VIII, p. 13). In that case, the gold ornaments belonging to the assessee were exempted under s. 5(1)(viii), as, on the fi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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