Mehr payment treated as marital obligation, not spouse transfer, so it was excluded from net wealth under wealth-tax law.

Mehr under Mohamedan law was treated as an enforceable marital obligation, not as a gratuitous transfer of assets to a spouse. Because section 4(1)(a) of the Wealth-tax Act applies only to transfers to the spouse otherwise than for adequate consideration or in connection with an agreement to live apart, payment of mehr did not fall within that provision. The amount paid as mehr was therefore not includible in the assessee's net wealth under section 4(1)(a), and the reference was answered against the Revenue.

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Issues: Whether the amount paid by the assessee to his wife as mehr or dower could be treated as a transfer of assets to the spouse falling within section 4(1)(a) of the Wealth-tax Act and included in the assessee's net wealth.

Analysis: Section 4(1)(a) applies only where assets are transferred to the spouse otherwise than for adequate consideration or in connection with an agreement to live apart. Mehr under Mohamedan law is a sum payable by the husband to the wife in consideration of marriage and is an enforceable obligation arising from the marriage itself. The payment was not shown to be a gratuitous transfer or one made in connection with an agreement to live apart, but a payment discharging a marital obligation.

Conclusion: The amount of Rs. 1,20,000 paid as mehr was not includible in the assessee's net wealth under section 4(1)(a) of the Wealth-tax Act. The reference was answered in the affirmative and against the Revenue.

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