Partition for tax assessment requires proof of joint family property and statutory conditions before income can be clubbed.

For assessment after partition, the authority must first find that a Hindu undivided family was assessed under the Act and that the properties were joint family property. Where the record showed the properties in the father's name and the authorities failed to examine their true character, a family arrangement could not automatically be treated as a transfer or partition for tax inclusion purposes. The revisional authority's focus on unequal division was irrelevant to that statutory inquiry. The assessment and revisional orders were therefore unsustainable and were set aside, with remand for fresh disposal in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the family arrangement could be treated as a partition giving rise to a transfer of agricultural holdings so as to include the wife's and minor son's income in the father's assessment; and whether the revisional and assessment orders required interference for non-consideration of the relevant statutory requirements.

Analysis: For the operation of the provision dealing with assessment after partition, there must first be an assessment of a Hindu undivided family under the Act. The record did not show any such prior assessment. The authorities also failed to enquire into the nature and character of the properties dealt with under the family arrangement. Since the properties stood in the name of the father and the revenue records also showed him as owner, the crucial question was whether those properties were impressed with the character of joint family property. Without such a finding, the family arrangement could not automatically be treated as effecting a transfer of interest or as merely declaring a pre-existing right. The revisional authority also proceeded on an irrelevant consideration by focusing on unequal division rather than on the true character of the property.

Conclusion: The assessment and revisional orders could not be sustained and were set aside, with the matters remitted for fresh disposal in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: A family arrangement can be treated as a partition for tax purposes only after the authority first determines that the property was joint family property and that the statutory conditions for assessment after partition are satisfied; absent such findings, inclusion of the allotted income in the transferor's assessment is unsustainable.

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