Recognised partition severs joint family status; remaining property held as tenants-in-common unless deed shows a contrary intention.

A recognised partition under section 25A of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 severs joint family status and treats the family properties as divided in definite portions. After such severance, the persons who continue to hold the remaining properties do not retain a joint family interest unless the deed and surrounding circumstances clearly show an intention to continue the joint family. On the deed's construction, the remaining properties were allotted to the deceased and his wife together, so they held them as tenants-in-common. Accordingly, only the deceased's one-half share passed on death and was liable to estate duty, not the entire property.

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Issues: Whether, after a recognised partition under section 25A of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, the remaining family properties were held by the deceased and his wife as tenants-in-common so that only the deceased's half share passed on his death and was liable to estate duty.

Analysis: An order under section 25A recognising partition means that the joint family status stands severed and the family properties are treated as divided in definite portions. Once the status is severed, the members who continue to hold the remaining properties do not retain a joint interest unless the deed and surrounding circumstances clearly show an intention to continue as a joint family. On the deed's true construction, the remaining properties were allotted to the deceased and his wife together, and the references relied on by the revenue did not justify reading the deed as conferring the whole balance exclusively on the deceased. In the absence of a joint family relationship after severance, the deceased and his wife held the properties as tenants-in-common.

Conclusion: The entire estate was not taxable in the deceased's hands; only his one-half share passed on death and was liable to estate duty, in favour of the accountable person.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered against the revenue, with estate duty confined to the deceased's half interest in the remaining properties.

Ratio Decidendi: A recognised partition under section 25A of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 severs the joint family status, and where the remaining properties are allotted to the deceased and his wife together, they hold as tenants-in-common unless the deed clearly provides otherwise.

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