Estate duty and maintenance claims were held non-deductible absent a specific charge on identifiable estate property.

Estate duty payable is not deductible in computing the net principal value of an estate because it is not a charge on the estate and cannot be treated as a deductible debt; the text states that this question was answered by following the binding view of the same HC. A Hindu wife's maintenance claim is also not deductible unless it has matured into a specific charge on identifiable property by decree, agreement, will, or similar instrument; absent such charge, and where succession and maintenance rules cannot operate cumulatively on the same estate, no deduction is allowed. The reference was thus answered for the revenue on both questions.

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Issues: (i) Whether estate duty payable is deductible while computing the net principal value of the estate. (ii) Whether the wife's maintenance claim could be deducted from the estate passing on death.

Issue (i): Whether estate duty payable is deductible while computing the net principal value of the estate.

Analysis: The applicable principle was that estate duty payable is not a charge on the estate and therefore cannot be treated as a deductible debt in computing the net principal value of the estate. The question was answered by following the binding decision of the same High Court on the point.

Conclusion: The deduction is not allowable and the answer is against the assessee and in favour of the revenue.

Issue (ii): Whether the wife's maintenance claim could be deducted from the estate passing on death.

Analysis: A Hindu wife has a right to be maintained during the husband's lifetime, but that right does not become a specific or charged claim against any identifiable property of the husband unless it is fixed by decree, agreement, will, or other charge-creating instrument. On the husband's death, the wife succeeds to a share under the Hindu Succession Act and, by virtue of the scheme of maintenance under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, cannot simultaneously claim maintenance out of the same estate. The maintenance right therefore had no choate connection with the property so as to justify a deduction from the estate for estate duty purposes.

Conclusion: The deduction is not allowable and the answer is against the assessee and in favour of the revenue.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered in favour of the revenue on both referred questions, while the separate petition seeking reference on the daughter-related questions did not succeed.

Ratio Decidendi: A maintenance claim is not deductible from a deceased Hindu's estate unless it has matured into a specific charge on identifiable property, and estate duty payable itself is not a deductible charge against the estate.

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