Executor's assent to legacies divests title and shifts estate income assessment under section 41.

Assessment of a deceased estate's income under section 41 of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 depended on whether the executor had assented to the legacies so that title had vested in the beneficiaries and the executor no longer held the property in that capacity. The compromise in the probate proceedings was treated as sufficient assent because the executor joined an arrangement by which specified properties were taken as belonging to the legatees. Existing liabilities did not, on these facts, prevent assent from operating, and the estate was not shown to remain unascertained in a way that preserved the executor's title. Once assent was given, the income could not be assessed as the executor's income.

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Issues: Whether the assessment of the income of the estate of the deceased in the hands of the administrator had to be made under section 41 of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922.

Analysis: The assessment depended on whether the executor had assented to the legacies so that the estate had vested in the beneficiaries and the executor had ceased to hold the property in that capacity. The compromise reached in the probate proceedings showed that the executor was party to the arrangement by which specified properties were treated as belonging to the legatees, and the Court treated this as sufficient assent. The existence of liabilities did not, on the facts, prevent assent from operating, and the estate was not shown to remain unascertained in a manner that kept the executor's title intact. Once assent was given, the executor's title was divested and the income could not be treated as that of the executor for the relevant assessments.

Conclusion: The assessment was required to be made under section 41 of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, and the answer was in favour of the assessee.

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