Quick succession relief under estate duty law must be calculated by statutory scale, not Board discretion.

Section 31 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 provides that quick succession relief is triggered once the Board is satisfied that estate duty has become payable on the same property on two deaths within the prescribed period; the relief must then be calculated by the mandatory statutory percentage scale. The provision does not leave the Board with discretion to fix a lower amount, and the assessing authority must work out the relief when raising the demand. On that analysis, the higher relief claimed by the accountable person was admissible.

---

---

Issues: Whether the extent of quick succession relief under section 31 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 was to be determined by the Board in its discretion or was required to be calculated by the Assistant Controller in accordance with the statutory scale.

Analysis: Section 31 requires the Board only to satisfy itself that estate duty has become payable on the same property on two deaths within the prescribed period. Once that satisfaction is communicated, the relief is to be worked out under the mandatory percentage scale laid down in the section. The provision does not confer any discretion on the Board to fix the amount of relief at a figure lower than that which follows from the statutory calculation. The relief therefore has to be computed by the assessing authority when raising the demand.

Conclusion: The extent of relief was not left to the Board's discretion and the Assistant Controller was bound to grant relief as calculated under section 31. The higher relief claimed by the accountable person was admissible.

---