Hindu undivided family tax arrears remain recoverable from joint family property; avyavaharika debt doctrine does not defeat statutory liability.

Where income-tax arrears are finally assessed on a Hindu undivided family, the joint family property remains liable for recovery. Section 25A of the Income-tax Act, 1922 was relied on to state that the death of the karta does not alter that liability, and partition would not by itself defeat recovery from the member's allotted share. The doctrine of avyavaharika debt was held inapplicable because it concerns a son's liability for a father's personal debt under pious obligation, not a statutory tax liability of the family unit itself. On that basis, injunctive relief against recovery was unavailable.

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Issues: Whether the joint family property was liable to be proceeded against for recovery of income-tax arrears assessed on the Hindu undivided family, and whether the assessee could resist such recovery on the ground that the liability was an avyavaharika debt.

Analysis: The assessment for the relevant year had been made on the Hindu undivided family and had attained finality. Once the assessment against the family unit became final, the joint family property was liable for recovery of the tax arrears. Section 25A of the Income-tax Act, 1922 was relied upon to hold that the death of the karta did not alter the liability, and even a partition would not have enabled the appellant to escape liability from his allotted share. The plea that the tax demand arose from speculative and estimated income and was therefore an avyavaharika debt was rejected, because that doctrine applies to the personal debt of a sought to be enforced against a son on the basis of pious obligation, not to a statutory tax liability of the Hindu undivided family itself.

Conclusion: The joint family property remained liable for recovery of the income-tax arrears, and the appellant was not entitled to an injunction.

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