Hindu undivided family status can include a son born under the Special Marriage Act when raised as a Hindu.

A legitimate child of a Hindu father, though born of a marriage solemnised under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, may be treated as Hindu if brought up as a Hindu and not shown to have adopted another faith. On that basis, the father and son could constitute a Hindu undivided family for assessment under the Income-tax, Wealth-tax and Expenditure-tax Acts. Section 21 of the Special Marriage Act was confined to succession to the property of spouses and their issue under the Indian Succession Act, 1925, and did not alter the joint family character of the family unit or the father's ability to treat his property as joint family property.

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Issues: Whether the assessee and his son constituted a Hindu undivided family for the purposes of assessment under the Income-tax, Wealth-tax and Expenditure-tax Acts.

Analysis: A joint Hindu family includes persons lineally descended from a common ancestor, and ancestral property can be held in a joint family capacity so as to confer birthright interests on sons governed by Hindu law. The decisive question was whether the son, though born of a marriage solemnised under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, was a Hindu governed by Hindu law. The Court held that a legitimate child of a Hindu father, brought up as a Hindu and not shown to have adopted another faith, could be treated as a Hindu. The extended meaning given to "Hindu" in the codifying Hindu statutes supported that conclusion. Section 21 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954, which directs succession to the property of the spouses and their issue to the Indian Succession Act, 1925, was held to regulate succession only and not to destroy or alter the joint family character of the family unit or the father's ability to treat his properties as joint family properties.

Conclusion: The assessee and his son constituted a Hindu undivided family for assessment purposes, and the revenue's contrary contention failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A legitimate child of a Hindu father, born of a marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, may constitute with the father a Hindu undivided family if the child is brought up as a Hindu; section 21 of that Act affects succession only and does not alter the joint family status under Hindu law.

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