Relinquishment in partition deed did not create a deemed gift under the Gift-tax Act, with no taxable transfer found.

A coparcener's relinquishment in a partition deed was examined under the Gift-tax Act to determine whether it created a gift or deemed gift. Reading the deed as a whole, the recitals showed that the first executant gave up her share in favour of the other sharers and no separate share was allotted to her, so the arrangement was treated as a partition among the remaining parties rather than an exclusive transfer to the assessee. Section 4(1)(c) applied only where abandonment was found not bona fide to the Assessing Officer's satisfaction, and no such adverse finding existed. The Tribunal's view that no taxable deemed gift arose was upheld, and its refusal to refer the questions of law was justified.

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Issues: Whether the relinquishment of a coparcener's share in a partition deed amounted to a gift or deemed gift under the Gift-tax Act, and whether the Tribunal was justified in refusing to refer the questions of law.

Analysis: The recitals in the partition deed were read as a whole. Although the document mentioned division of the properties into five equal shares, it also recorded that the first executant relinquished her share in favour of the others and that no separate share was allotted to her. The Tribunal treated the arrangement as a partition among the remaining sharers and found that there was no exclusive allotment to the assessee giving rise to a transfer or gift. The Court held that section 4(1)(c) of the Gift-tax Act could apply only where the abandonment was not found to be bona fide to the satisfaction of the Assessing Officer, and no such adverse finding existed. On that basis, the Tribunal's conclusion that there was no deemed gift and no taxable transfer disclosed no error of law.

Conclusion: The relinquishment did not amount to a gift or deemed gift, and the Tribunal was right in declining to refer the questions of law.

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