Hindu undivided family status governs partitioned property, and minor sons' income cannot be clubbed with the karta's assessment.

Property allotted on partial partition retained its joint family character where the assessee lived with his wife and unmarried daughters, so it remained Hindu undivided family property. The later birth of a son gave the assessee a coparcenary right by birth, and he could no longer be treated as a sole surviving coparcener from that date. Once taxable as a Hindu undivided family, the clubbing rule for a minor child's income did not apply because it operates only against an individual and not the karta of a Hindu undivided family. The assessee was therefore assessable as a Hindu undivided family, and the minor sons' share income could not be included in his individual assessment.

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Issues: Whether the assessee, after the partial partition of family property and the subsequent birth of a son, was assessable as an individual or as a Hindu undivided family, and whether the share income of the minor sons could be clubbed under the clubbing provision.

Analysis: The property allotted on partial partition continued to retain its joint family character in the hands of the assessee where he was living with his wife and unmarried daughters. The later birth of a son gave him a right by birth in the property, so the assessee was no longer to be treated as a sole surviving coparcener from that date. Once the assessee was taxable as a Hindu undivided family, the clubbing provision for the income of a minor child did not apply because that provision operates only in the case of an individual and not the karta of a Hindu undivided family.

Conclusion: The assessee was assessable as a Hindu undivided family for both assessment years, and the share income of the minor sons could not be included in his individual assessment.

Final Conclusion: The departmental appeals failed because the assessee's status as a Hindu undivided family was accepted and the additions made by clubbing the minor sons' income were unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Property allotted on partition may continue as Hindu undivided family property in the hands of a coparcener living with female members, and section 64(1)(iii) does not apply to the karta of a Hindu undivided family.

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