TMI Blog1976 (12) TMI 53X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eceased's employer, was not chargeable to estate duty ? " The relevant facts which are necessary to be noticed to answer the question are as follows : Ramanujam was an employee of M/s. Shardlow India Ltd., Madras. While he was on an air flight between Delhi and Paris, he met with an accident on the 24th of January, 1966, and he lost his life thereby. The company in which he served has a peculiar practice of its own. It takes out what is known as personal accident insurance policy with a reputed insurance company in respect of the lives of each of their employees. It pays the premium and the recitals in the policy admittedly are that the policy has been taken by the company for and on behalf of their employees specified in the policy and/o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ntion which was raised before the Tribunal, whether the sum of Rs. 65,000 which was admittedly received by the heir of Ramanujam could be said to be an estate which shall be deemed to have passed on his death to his heirs and, in particular, in the hands of the accountable person. Section 15 of the Act runs as follows : " Any annuity or other interest, purchased or provided by the deceased, either by himself alone, or in concert or by arrangement with any other person shall be deemed to pass on his death to the extent of the beneficial interest accruing or arising, by survivorship or otherwise, on his death." The essential limb or nexus which would connect the asset with the element of taxation is that the deceased should have provide ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... contract shows that the taking of this policy was not a part of the scheme of the contract of service. Reliance, however, was placed upon the recitals in the policy itself. The policy says that it was entered into on behalf of the employees and/or their legal heirs, This is again a statement made by the employer so as to demonstrate that they were interested not only in their employees but also in the heirs of such employees and was once again made by them without reference to their employee or without consulting him. It is that element of screening of the employee from the field of consultation and arrangement that makes the policy exclusively the result of a voluntary act on the part of the employer with which the employee has no concern. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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