Estate duty relief by adjustment cannot be overturned on rectification when admitted facts show prior duty payment.

Rectification of an appellate order was held unsustainable where the admitted facts showed that the gifted property had already been included in the donor's estate and estate duty on that property had been paid. On that basis, the relief under section 50A of the Estate Duty Act was available by adjustment, and the direction to collect gift-tax in that manner could not be treated as a mistake apparent from the record. A strained reading that required prior payment of gift-tax before the relief operated was rejected, and the rectification attempt under section 34 of the Gift-tax Act failed.

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Issues: Whether the rectification of the appellate order was justified in view of section 50A of the Estate Duty Act, 1953, and whether the direction to collect gift-tax by adjustment against estate duty already paid could be treated as a mistake apparent from the record.

Analysis: The appellate authority had recorded that the gifted property had already been included in the estate of the donor and that estate duty referable to that property had already been paid. On those facts, the statutory relief under section 50A of the Estate Duty Act, 1953, was attracted, and the adjustment direction reflected the practical working of the provision. The rectification order proceeded on a narrow and circuitous construction that payment of gift-tax must first be made before relief could be worked out, but that approach ignored the admitted factual position and the proper operation of the statute. In those circumstances, no error apparent on the face of the record was shown to justify rectification under section 34 of the Gift-tax Act, 1958.

Conclusion: The rectification was not justified and the appellate direction was sustained; the question referred was answered in the affirmative, against the Revenue and in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The court upheld the original appellate direction and rejected the attempt to disturb it by rectification, holding that the statutory relief could be worked out on the admitted facts without any apparent error in the record.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the admitted facts show that the property has already suffered estate duty and the statute provides relief by adjustment, a rectification cannot be sustained on a strained construction that converts the relief into a prior-payment requirement.

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