Trust deed terms must be examined before taxing minor beneficiaries' trust income; earlier precedent cannot be applied mechanically.

Income from trusts for minor beneficiaries could not be included or excluded on the existing record because the trust deeds were necessary to determine the settlor, beneficiaries, corpus contributions and distribution ations. The court held that earlier Supreme Court authorities could not be applied mechanically without examining the governing instruments, especially because the wording of section 64(1)(v) before 1 April 1976 and section 64(1)(vii) thereafter was materially different. The reference was therefore not answered on merits, and the matter was remitted to the Tribunal for fresh disposal after scrutiny of the trust deeds.

---

---

Issues: Whether the income accruing to the minor children from the trusts was includible in the assessee's total income under the relevant provisions, and whether the reference could be answered without the trust deeds on record.

Analysis: The answer depended on the terms of the trust deeds, including the creator of the trust, the beneficiaries, the mode of contribution to the corpus, and the conditions governing distribution of income. In the absence of the trust deeds, the factual basis necessary to apply the statutory provisions could not be satisfactorily examined. The statutory language of section 64(1)(v) before 1 April 1976 and section 64(1)(vii) thereafter was also materially different from the earlier provision considered in the cited Supreme Court authorities, so a mechanical reliance on those authorities without examining the trust instruments was not permissible.

Conclusion: The questions referred could not be answered on the existing record, and the Tribunal's conclusion excluding the trust income from the assessees' hands could not be sustained without fresh examination of the trust deeds.

Final Conclusion: The references were not decided on merits and the matters were sent back to the Tribunal for fresh disposal in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the taxability of trust income depends on the terms of the trust deed, the court cannot answer the reference or apply earlier authority mechanically unless the relevant trust instruments are before it and the statutory setting is properly examined.

---