Hindu succession and coparcenary property: estate devolving under section 8 does not become ancestral in heirs' hands.

Property that had ceased to be coparcenary property on partition, and later devolved on the death of the owner under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, was governed by section 8 rather than section 6 because the deceased had no coparcener in existence and the property was no longer coparcenary in his hands. The heirs took the estate absolutely and simultaneously as tenants-in-common, not as joint tenants. Any relinquishment by female heirs only enlarged the shares of the sons as absolute owners. Such property did not acquire the character of ancestral property in the sons' hands, so their own sons did not obtain a coparcenary interest during the fathers' lifetime.

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Issues: Whether the income from properties received on partition and later inherited on intestate succession could be assessed in the hands of the assessee in the status of a Hindu undivided family.

Analysis: The properties in question ceased to be coparcenary properties after partition. On the death of the owner, the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 governed devolution of the estate. Section 6 did not apply because the deceased had no coparcener at the time of death and the properties were not coparcenary properties in his hands. The estate therefore fell under section 8, under which the widow, sons and daughters succeeded absolutely and simultaneously, as tenants-in-common and not as joint tenants. The relinquishment by the female heirs merely left the sons as absolute owners of their shares. Property so devolved under section 8 did not become ancestral property in the hands of the sons, and their own sons acquired no coparcenary interest during the fathers' lifetime.

Conclusion: The income from the disputed properties was not includible in the assessee's assessment in the status of a Hindu undivided family.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a male Hindu's property devolves under section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the heirs take it absolutely and not as coparcenary or ancestral property, so no coparcenary interest arises in favour of the heirs' sons during the heirs' lifetime.

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