Partner's share in partnership agricultural land qualifies for wealth-tax exemption despite no identifiable exclusive portion.

A partner may claim the agricultural land exemption under section 5(1)(iva) of the Wealth-tax Act to the extent of his share in partnership property, because partnership assets are owned by the partners and a partner is not denied exemption merely for inability to identify a specific portion as exclusively his. The Court treated this ownership position as settled by earlier authority, while also noting that the record lacked sufficient foundational facts to test the exemption's precise application to the assessee's share in the firm's agricultural land. The legal question was answered in favour of the assessee.

---

---

Issues: Whether a partner in a firm owning agricultural land is entitled to deduction under section 5(1)(iva) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957, in respect of his share, even though no specific part of the partnership property can be pointed out as exclusively belonging to him.

Analysis: The legal position was treated as settled by earlier authority of the Court, which recognised that a firm has no separate legal existence for ownership purposes, that partnership property is owned by the partners, and that a partner is not disentitled to the statutory exemption merely because he cannot identify a specific portion of the property as exclusively his. The Court also noted that the existing record did not disclose adequate foundational facts to examine the precise application of the exemption to the assessee's share in the agricultural land of the firm.

Conclusion: The legal question was answered in the affirmative in favour of the assessee, and the deduction under section 5(1)(iva) was held to be available to a partner to the extent of his share in the partnership property.

---