Estate duty charge fails where a charitable trust gift falls outside deemed-passing rules and exemption denial cannot create tax liability.

Property gifted by the deceased to a public charitable trust more than six months before death was treated as outside the deemed-passing rule under the proviso to section 9 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953, so it did not attract estate duty. Once the property was found not to pass on death and therefore not to fall within the charging provisions, the exemption under section 22 became irrelevant. The absence of section 22 relief could not, by itself, create a charge under section 5 where no property passing on death had been established.

---

---

Issues: Whether property gifted by the deceased to a public charitable trust within the statutory period could be charged to estate duty, and whether the exemption under section 22 could be invoked when the property was not otherwise deemed to pass on death.

Analysis: The property had been transferred to a public charitable trust more than six months before the deceased's death, attracting the proviso to section 9 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953. On that footing, the property was not deemed to pass on death and therefore did not fall within the charge of estate duty. The applicability of section 22 became irrelevant once the property was found to be outside the charging provisions. Non-availability of the exemption provision could not by itself create a charge under section 5 when no property passing on death was established.

Conclusion: The property was not chargeable to estate duty and the question was answered in the negative, against the Department.

Ratio Decidendi: Property gifted to a public charitable trust beyond the period prescribed in the proviso to section 9 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 does not pass on death for estate duty purposes, and failure of section 22 exemption cannot independently attract the charge under section 5.

---