Voluntary family allowance is not taxable income absent enforceable obligation, binding custom, or definite legal source.

A purely voluntary monthly payment, made without contractual obligation, enforceable right, or proved binding custom, is not income under the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922. Mere regularity of payment or its description as jiwai or personal allowance does not create a taxable source. A voluntary allowance becomes taxable only if it is referable to a definite legal source such as office, profession, vocation, or another legally cognisable origin; no such source was shown here, so the receipt was not taxable.

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Issues: Whether the recurring monthly payment of Rs. 10,000 received by the assessee from his son was income chargeable to tax under the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922.

Analysis: The payment was found to be voluntary, with no contractual obligation, no legally enforceable right in the recipient, and no proved custom or usage having the force of law requiring such payment. Mere regularity of payment, or the description of the amount as jiwai or personal allowance, did not establish a real source of income. A voluntary allowance becomes taxable only if it is referable to a definite source, such as office, profession, vocation, or another legally cognisable origin; on the facts, no such source was shown.

Conclusion: The receipt was not income within the meaning of the Act and was not taxable.

Ratio Decidendi: A purely voluntary payment, unconnected with any enforceable legal obligation or proved binding custom and not traceable to a definite source, does not constitute income under the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922.

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