Aggregation of coparcenary shares under estate duty upheld; Hindu Succession Act fiction did not bring about complete partition.

Section 34(1)(c) of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 required aggregation of the lineal descendants' shares in the joint family estate for rate purposes where a Mitakshara coparcener died and his coparcenary interest devolved on death. Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 was held to create only a limited legal fiction for ascertaining the deceased coparcener's share, not a complete partition or total disruption of the Hindu undivided family. The fiction could not be extended beyond its purpose, so the surviving coparcenary continued and the descendants' interests remained aggregable.

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Issues: Whether, on the death of a Mitakshara coparcener, the lineal descendants' shares in the joint family estate were liable to be aggregated under section 34(1)(c) of the Estate Duty Act, 1953, and whether section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, required a complete partition of the Hindu undivided family.

Analysis: The statutory scheme under section 34(1)(c) required aggregation where the deceased's coparcenary interest passed on death and the lineal descendants' interests in the joint family property had to be taken into account for rate purposes. Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, created only a limited legal fiction for ascertaining the deceased coparcener's share and did not effect a total disruption of the coparcenary or a complete partition of the family property. The fiction was confined to the devolution of the deceased's interest and could not be extended beyond its legitimate purpose. On that footing, the surviving coparcenary continued, and the shares of the lineal descendants remained aggregable.

Conclusion: The aggregation of the lineal descendants' shares under section 34(1)(c) was valid, and the contention that section 6 brought about a complete partition was rejected.

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