Income must be classified by true nature; rent from property could not be taxed as other sources absent ownership.

Rental income must be classified by its true nature under the appropriate head of income, and the heads are mutually exclusive. Because the receipt was income from property, it could be taxed only under the property head; failure to satisfy the ownership condition for assessment under that head did not permit reclassification as income from other sources. The Court noted that such an approach would risk double taxation of the same property income in the hands of both owner and recipient, for which the Acts provided no express basis. On that reasoning, rent received by a non-owner was not chargeable in her hands as income from other sources under either the 1922 Act or the 1961 Act.

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Issues: Whether rent received by a person from property of which she was not the legal owner could be charged in her hands as income under the residuary head, under the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, and the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The relevant scheme required the income to be first classified under the appropriate head according to its true nature. The character of the receipt was income from property, and the heads of income were mutually exclusive. Once income was properly classified under the head relating to property, it could be brought to tax only under the corresponding charging provision. Failure to satisfy the ownership condition for assessment under the property head did not permit the revenue to reclassify the same receipt under the residuary head. The Court also noted that such a construction would expose the same property income to double taxation in the hands of both the owner and the recipient, for which there was no express warrant in the Act. The later Act did not alter this scheme in any material respect.

Conclusion: The rental income from the property, though received by the assessee when she was not the owner, was not chargeable in her hands as income from other sources under either enactment.

Ratio Decidendi: Income must be classified by its true nature under the relevant head of income, and if it falls within a specific head, it cannot be taxed under the residuary head merely because the conditions for assessment under the specific charging provision are not satisfied.

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