Branch Hindu undivided family property can be taxed separately when self-acquired assets are thrown into the branch hotchpotch.

A branch of a larger Hindu joint family may itself be recognised as a separate Hindu undivided family for tax purposes, and a member may impress self-acquired property with the character of branch family property even while the larger family remains undivided. The existence of a larger joint family does not bar treatment of the branch as an assessable unit, and the branch hotchpotch need not first contain an existing nucleus before such property is thrown into it. On that basis, the income from the property was assessable in the hands of the Hindu undivided family and properly excluded from the assessee's individual total income.

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Issues: Whether the income of Rs. 927 arising from property impressed with the character of joint family property of a branch Hindu family was rightly excluded from the assessee's individual total income.

Analysis: A Hindu joint family may consist of a larger corporate unit with smaller branch or sub-branch units within it, and each such branch may itself constitute a distinct Hindu undivided family capable of holding property as its own. A member of a branch family may impress his self-acquired property with the character of joint family property of that branch family even though the larger joint family remains undivided. The existence of a larger Hindu undivided family does not prevent recognition of a smaller branch family as a separate assessable unit under the Indian Income-tax Act, and there is no requirement that the branch hotchpotch must first be filled with existing nucleus before such property can be thrown into it.

Conclusion: The income of Rs. 927 was rightly treated as the income of the Hindu undivided family and was properly excluded from the assessee's individual assessment.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered in the affirmative, sustaining the exclusion of the amount from the assessee's individual total income and leaving the assessee entitled to costs.

Ratio Decidendi: A branch of an undivided Hindu family may constitute a separate Hindu undivided family and a member of that branch may validly throw self-acquired property into the branch hotchpotch while the larger family remains intact, so that the resulting income is assessable in the hands of the branch family and not the individual.

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