TMI Blog1965 (11) TMI 25X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for the purposes of section 3 of the Act till he is actually born. Income-tax is a liability and it could not have been the intention of the legislature to impose a liability on persons yet unborn. Even if a Hindu undivided family was in existence towards the end of the accounting year, still the whole income received or accrued in the accounting year did not thereby become the assessable income of the Hindu undivided family. Till the child was born the income which accrued to, or arose to, or was received by the assessee was his income. The Act disregards subsequent application of income and profits once they have arisen. When the income and profits arose, they belonged to the assessee, as no Hindu undivided family was then in existence ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... limited company, he also received substantial remuneration. The first son, named Venugopal, was born to the assessee on December 11, 1952, and it is common ground that the conception of the child must have taken place some time in March, 1952. For the assessment year 1952-53, the assessee was asessed as an individual with reference to all his sources of income. For the assessment year 1953-54 (accounting year April 1, 1952, to March 31, 1953), the assessee claimed that income from all sources, except salary, should be assessed in the hands of the Hindu undivided family, consisting of himself and his son, Venugopal, which, according to him, had come into existence in or about March, 1952, when Venugopal was conceived. The Income-tax ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rom the beginning of the accounting year 1952-53. The learned Attorney-General, who appears on behalf of the revenue, does not dispute the existence of the doctrine of Hindu law relied on by Mr. Sastri, but says that this doctrine applies only for a special purpose, the purpose being to safeguard the rights of the son to property, and that Hindu law itself recognises that this doctrine is not of universal application. He urges, in the alternative, that at any rate the Act is concerned with realities ; under the Act the person to whom income accrues must be a visible reality, and, he says, the only visible person who existed up to December 11, 1952, was the assessee. He further says that we would be introducing anomalies in the working of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... scope of the power must be reasonably construed so as to enable the donee of the power to discharge his religious duty. We, therefore, hold that the existence of a son in embryo does not invalidate an adoption." The question that arises is whether this doctrine of Hindu law can be applied for the purpose of determining the coming into being of a Hindu undivided family as an assessable entity. As this court held in C.B.C. Deshmukh v. Mallappa Chanbasappa, the doctrine is not of universal application and it applies mainly for the purpose of determining rights to property and safeguarding such rights of the son. It seems to us that this doctrine does not fit in with the scheme of the Act, and it could not have been the intention of the legi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ribed form. The person had then to file a return. If the contention of Mr. Sastri is right, in many cases an assessee would not have been able to file a return. Suppose the wife of an assessee conceived in February, 1954, and his accounting year was the year ending March 31, 1954. By June/July, 1954, the assessee would not know whether he should file the return as an individual or as Hindu undivided family because he would not know whether the child was going to be a son or a daughter. However, if a conditional return was filed, the Income-tax Officer would have to hold his hands and not assess till the child was delivered. Part IIIA of the prescribed form required the following particulars to be filled up in the case of a Hindu undivided f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e alternative that what we are concerned with is the status at the end of the accounting year and that at least in this case where the child was in existence at the end of the accounting year, the status would be that of a Hindu undivided family. This point was not raised before and the learned Attorney-General rightly objected to it being raised at this stage. But even if a Hindu undivided family was in existence towards the end of the accounting year, still the whole income received or accrued in the accounting year did not thereby become the assessable income of the Hindu undivided family. Till the child was born the income which accrued to, or arose to, or was received by the assessee was his income. The Act disregards subsequent applic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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