Estate duty and Mitakshara coparcenary: Hindu Succession Act did not automatically convert Jat families or trigger section 7 assessment.

Section 7 read with section 39 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 applies only where the deceased held a coparcenary interest in joint family property governed by Mitakshara law, so that the value of the benefit on cesser of that interest can be determined. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 does not by itself abrogate custom or automatically convert all Jat families into Mitakshara coparcenaries; that status must be established on the facts of each case. On the facts found here, no such conversion was proved, so the estate duty assessment could not be treated as one under section 7 read with section 39.

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Issues: Whether, on the death of a Jat assessee, the assessment of estate duty was to be made under section 7 read with section 39 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953, on the footing that the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 had abrogated custom and converted the family into a Mitakshara coparcenary.

Analysis: The statutory scheme of section 7 and section 39 of the Estate Duty Act applies only where the deceased was a coparcener in joint family property governed by the Mitakshara school, so that the value of the benefit arising from the cesser of that interest can be ascertained. The mere enforcement of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 does not by itself establish that custom has ceased to operate, nor does it automatically show that all Jats became governed by Mitakshara law or that every such family became a joint Hindu family with coparcenary rights. Those questions must be determined on the facts of each case, and the facts found in the present matter did not justify that conclusion.

Conclusion: The answer to the referred question was in the negative and the assessment could not be treated as one under section 7 read with section 39 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 merely because of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The answer was in favour of the department.

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