Domicile and estate duty on foreign movable property: long foreign residence defeated claim of Indian domicile.

Movable property situated outside India was excluded from the principal value of an estate unless the deceased was domiciled in India at death. Domicile under the Estate Duty Act had to be determined by the Indian Succession Act, which recognises a domicile of origin, acquisition of a domicile of choice by fixed habitation abroad, and resumption of Indian domicile only through the prescribed act after the required residence. Long residence and conduct in Kenya and the United Kingdom, British citizenship, passport declarations, and repeated stays outside India showed a domicile of choice abroad and no effective return to Indian domicile. Citizenship, residence, and ownership of property in India were held insufficient to prove Indian domicile; the foreign movable property was therefore not includible in the estate.

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Issues: Whether the movable property situated outside India was includible in the principal value of the estate on the ground that the deceased was domiciled in India at the time of death.

Analysis: Section 21(1) of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 excluded movable property situated outside India unless the deceased was domiciled in India at death, and section 3(1)(d) of that Act required domicile to be determined in accordance with the Indian Succession Act, 1925. Under that Act, a person has a domicile of origin, may acquire a domicile of choice by taking up fixed habitation in another country, and may resume the domicile of origin only by the prescribed act of declaration after residence in India for the required period. The deceased's long residence and conduct in Kenya and the United Kingdom, his British citizenship, his passport declaration, and his repeated return to and stay outside India showed acquisition of a domicile of choice abroad and no effective resumption of Indian domicile. Citizenship and residence were held not to be equivalent to domicile, and ownership of property in India was not enough to establish a return to Indian domicile.

Conclusion: The deceased was not domiciled in India at the time of death, and the foreign movable property was not includible in the estate.

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