HUF partition under income-tax law requires a recorded finding; widow's absolute title alone does not split income.

For income-tax purposes, a Hindu undivided family continues to be treated as undivided under section 171 of the Income-tax Act unless and until the Assessing Officer records a finding of total or partial partition after inquiry. The mere fact that a widow's limited interest became absolute under section 14(1) of the Hindu Succession Act did not by itself establish disruption of the family or permit splitting of income between the family and the adopted son. Without the statutory inquiry and recorded finding of partition, no partition was recognised in income-tax law, and the income remained assessable in the hands of the Hindu undivided family.

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Issues: Whether, for income-tax purposes, the Hindu undivided family could be treated as disrupted and its income split between the family and the adopted son merely because the widow's limited interest had become absolute under section 14(1) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, without an inquiry and finding of partition under section 171 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: Section 171(1) of the Income-tax Act creates a deeming fiction that a Hindu undivided family assessed as undivided continues to be so treated unless and until a finding of partition is recorded under the Act. Before such a finding, the Department must inquire into whether there has been a total or partial partition and determine the date of partition. The absence of any such inquiry or recorded finding meant that, in the eye of income-tax law, no partition had been established. The fact that the widow's interest had become absolute under the Hindu Succession Act did not by itself displace the statutory scheme of section 171, and the prior assessments in a different manner could not override the legal requirement of a recorded finding of partition.

Conclusion: The income remained assessable in the hands of the Hindu undivided family as undivided, and the Revenue's view was correct.

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