HUF character of inherited property upheld where conduct and return filings showed blending into the family hotchpot.

Inherited shares of sons and widow were treated as HUF property where the family had long functioned as a joint Hindu family and had consistently filed income-tax and wealth-tax returns in the HUF status, with prior acceptance by the Revenue supporting that position. The Tribunal regarded the surrounding conduct as showing an unequivocal blending of the sons' inherited interests into the family hotchpot. The widow's share, though not that of a coparcener, was treated on the facts as having been gifted to the HUF. The argument that succession under section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act required separate individual ownership did not prevail on the facts found.

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Issues: Whether the properties inherited by the sons and widow on the death of the father were assessable in the status of HUF or as individual properties.

Analysis: The evidence showed that the family had been living as a joint Hindu family, and the consistent filing of income-tax and wealth-tax returns in the status of HUF, followed by acceptance by the Revenue in earlier years, supported the conclusion that the sons intended to impress their inherited shares with the character of joint family property. The Tribunal treated the return filings and the surrounding conduct as sufficient indication of an unequivocal blending of the sons' shares into the family hotchpot. As regards the widow, although she was not a coparcener, her share was treated as having been gifted to the HUF. The contention that the estate devolved only as separate property under section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act did not prevail on the facts found.

Conclusion: The assessment was rightly made in the status of HUF and not as individual assessments.

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