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TMI Blog1968 (8) TMI 52X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gust 6, 1950, created a trust known as " H. E. H. the Nizam's Miscellaneous Trust " for the benefit of his family and dependants. One of the beneficiaries was Sahebzadi Ghousunnisa Begum, a stepsister of the Nizam, to whom an annuity of Rs. 12,000 had to be given. She died on November 10, 1955. The property passing on her death became, liable to estate duty under the Estate Duty Act, 1953 (XXXIV of 1953), hereinafter called " the Act ". The trust fund consisted of three, items one of which was a loan deposited with the Government of Hyderabad bearing interest at 1 1/4%. The main dispute before the Assistant Controller of Estate Duty related to the correct valuation of the aforesaid loan. He valued it at Rs. 2,01,30,000 and, after making the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... perty escaping assessment. It is common ground that the amendment Act came into force on July, 1 1960. The Assistant Controller issued a notice on August 12, 1960, to the trustees in exercise of the powers conferred by the new section 59 of the Act. In that notice it was stated that he had reasons to believe that property chargeable under the Act to estate duty had escaped assessment by reason of undervaluation and, therefore, a statement of account was called for in respect of the market value of the securities of Rs. 4.5 crores. On September 20, 1960, the present respondents filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the validity and legality of the notice issued under section 59 of the Act and praying that it be quashed. In the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... inion of the Central Board of Revenue did not amount to " information " within the meaning of section 59(b) of the Act. The writ petition, Consequently, was allowed. The appellant preferred an appeal under clause 15 of the Letters Patent which was disposed of by a Division Bench on July 2, 1964. The Bench did not decide the first point, namely, whether section 59 as newly introduced by the Amendment Act was applicable or not and rested its decision on the second point. It was held that a mere expression of opinion by the Central Board of Revenue did not amount to " information " within the meaning of section 59(b) of the Act. The learned Solicitor-General has argued on behalf of the appellant that the decision of the High Court on the sec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n contended that sections 33B and 35 confer ample powers on the specified authorities to revise the Income-tax Officer's orders and to rectify mistakes respectively and so it would be legitimate to construe the word ' information ' in section 34(1)(b) strictly and to confine it to information in regard to facts or particulars. This argument also is not valid. If the word ' information ' in its plain grammatical meaning includes information as to facts as well as information as to the state of the law, it would be unreasonable to limit to information as to the facts on the extraneous consideration that some cases of assessment which need to be revised or rectified on the ground of mistake of law may conceivably be covered by sections 33B and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... being received by the assessee-firm in the capacity of a partner but in its capacity of a financier advancing monies to Bisesar House as a banker. It was held that the Income-tax Officer had not acted on his own initiative or on the change of his own opinion when he took proceedings under section 34(1)(b). The correct position had been brought to his notice by the decision of the Tribunal and the High Court and that must be held to be " information " as a consequence of which he came to believe that the provisions of section 34(1)(b) were attracted. The learned counsel for the respondents in the presence of the above state of law, as settled by this court, sought to contend that the question of valuation of the securities was neither pur ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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