Joint Hindu family estate duty: deceased's actual share, not assumed half, determines the property passing on death.

In a joint Hindu family estate, the property passing on the death of a coparcener for estate duty purposes is confined to the deceased's actual share, as determined by the wife's vested interest on partition, and not an assumed one-half merely because the property stood in his name or possession. Applying the earlier Full Bench ruling, the Court held that the Tribunal was wrong in treating only one-half of the property as passing on Mohanlal's death; two-thirds passed instead. It also held that Smt. Kessarbai was not entitled to one-half share at the relevant time, but to one-third.

---

---

Issues: (i) Whether the Tribunal was justified in holding that only one-half of the property passed on the death of Mohanlal. (ii) Whether Smt. Kessarbai was entitled to one-half share at the moment of Mohanlal's death.

Issue (i): The determination turned on the share in the joint Hindu family estate that actually belonged to the deceased at the time of death. The Court applied the earlier Full Bench ruling that, where the wife had an interest accruing to her on partition under the Hindu Succession Act, the estate passing on death is limited to the deceased's own share and not the whole of the property standing in his name.

Conclusion: The Tribunal was not justified in holding that one-half of the property passed on the death of Mohanlal. Two-thirds of the property held by him passed on his death.

Issue (ii): On the facts, the deceased, his son, and his wife constituted the joint Hindu family, and the wife's share had to be worked out in the joint family estate. The Court held that the Tribunal's one-half computation was inconsistent with the governing Full Bench decision and the wife's share had to be recognised at the relevant time.

Conclusion: Smt. Kessarbai was not entitled to one-half share. She had one-third share at the moment of Mohanlal's death.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered against the accountable person, and the estate duty consequence was confined to the deceased's two-thirds share in the property.

Ratio Decidendi: In a joint Hindu family after partition, the share passing on the death of the deceased for estate duty purposes is confined to the deceased's own share as determined by the wife's vested interest, and not an assumed one-half share merely because the deceased remained in possession of the property.

---