Hindu undivided family status upheld for wealth-tax assessment where the assessee had a wife and widowed mother.

A Hindu undivided family can exist where a coparcener is associated with his wife or widowed mother, and that family unit is sufficient for assessment in HUF status under the Wealth-tax Act. Applying that principle, the assets standing in the assessee's hands were held to belong in law to the HUF constituted by him and his mother, with further support from the presence of his wife. The question was answered in the assessee's favour, and the assets were held assessable as HUF property.

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Issues: Whether the assets assessed in the hands of the assessee belonged in law to the Hindu undivided family constituted by him and his mother and were assessable as such under the Wealth-tax Act, 1957.

Analysis: The reference was decided by applying the principle that a Hindu undivided family can exist where there is a coparcener together with his wife or widowed mother, and the existence of such family members is sufficient to support assessment in the HUF status. The court followed its earlier view on the corresponding income-tax question and held that the position in the present case was even stronger because the assessee was accompanied not only by his wife but also by his widowed mother.

Conclusion: The question was answered in the affirmative and in favour of the assessee; the assets were liable to be assessed in the status of a Hindu undivided family.

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