Provisional estate duty assessment cannot disregard bona fide disputed deductions at the summary stage.

A provisional assessment under the Estate Duty Act is confined to a summary examination on the basis of the accounts delivered by the accountable persons, so disputed deduction claims cannot be ignored at that stage. Bona fide objections concerning deductibility of estate duty liability and probate duty involved questions of law that required fuller adjudication and were not suitable for provisional determination. The provision was treated as analogous to the provisional assessment mechanism under the Income-tax Act, where disputed questions of law and fact are not examined summarily. The assessment order and demand notice were therefore set aside.

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Issues: Whether, while making a provisional assessment under the Estate Duty Act, the Controller could ignore disputed claims for deduction and proceed otherwise than on the basis of the accounts delivered by the accountable persons.

Analysis: The statutory scheme of provisional assessment was held to be summary in character and confined to the basis of the account delivered under the Act. Where the accountable persons raised bona fide disputed questions of law regarding deductibility of estate duty liability and probate duty, those disputes could not be disregarded at the provisional stage. The provision was treated as analogous to the corresponding provisional assessment provision under the Income-tax Act, under which disputed questions of law and fact are not to be enquired into at that stage.

Conclusion: The Controller could not ignore the disputed deduction claims while making the provisional assessment, and the assessment order and demand notice were set aside in favour of the petitioners.

Ratio Decidendi: A provisional assessment provision limited to a summary assessment on the basis of the returned accounts does not permit the authority to adjudicate disputed questions of law or reject claimed deductions at that stage.

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