Unborn child status cannot create Hindu undivided family tax liability under income-tax law.

For income-tax purposes, an unborn son in the mother's womb cannot be treated as a member of a Hindu undivided family so as to shift the assessee's property income to that family from the start of the accounting year. The fiction that a child in ventre sa mere is deemed born is confined to protecting the child's proprietary rights and cannot be extended to create tax liability or status for a third person. A Hindu undivided family is a taxable unit only when more than one member is actually in existence during the relevant year of account.

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Issues: Whether, for income-tax purposes, an unborn son in the mother's womb could be treated as a member of a Hindu undivided family so as to require the assessee's property income to be assessed as the income of such family from the beginning of the accounting year.

Analysis: The fiction that a child in ventre sa mere is treated as born is a limited one and is applied to protect the child's proprietary rights. It cannot be extended for the benefit of a third person or to create a liability or status under a taxing statute. Under the Income-tax Act, a Hindu undivided family is a taxable unit only when more than one member is in actual existence during the relevant year of account. The statutory scheme in sections defining

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