Estate duty applies to later enhanced jagir commutation where the right originated during the deceased's lifetime.

A statutory right to receive jagir commutation was treated as property passing on death for estate duty purposes. The court reasoned that later enhancement of the commutation amount, obtained after the deceased's death under the same pre-existing entitlement, was not a new asset created by the heirs but remained referable to the deceased's original right. Section 36 on open-market valuation did not limit the chargeable property to the unpaid balance standing at death. The enhanced amount was therefore included in the estate, and estate duty was payable on that basis.

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Issues: Whether the enhanced jagir commutation amount fixed after the death of the deceased could be included in the property passing on death for estate duty purposes, or whether only the balance amount fixed during the deceased's lifetime was chargeable.

Analysis: The charge to estate duty under the Estate Duty Act extends to property passing on death, including an interest in property and property passing after an interval or contingently. The right to receive jagir commutation arose to the deceased herself and devolved on the heirs only as successors under the applicable abolition and commutation regulations. The later enhancements were not new assets created by the heirs in their independent capacity, but were referable to the same pre-existing right to receive commutation for the jagir, and the statutory scheme fixed the commutation amount by reference to the jagir's basic annual revenue and the prescribed formula. Section 36, which concerns valuation in the open market, does not determine what property passes on death and cannot restrict the charge to the unpaid balance as at the date of death.

Conclusion: The higher commutation amount fixed after the death of the deceased was rightly treated as part of the property passing on death, and estate duty was payable on that basis.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a deceased person was entitled to a statutory right to receive compensation or commutation, any later enhancement made under the same pre-existing right remains property passing on death, even if the enhancement is obtained after death through proceedings taken by the heirs.

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