Blending self-acquired property with the family hotchpotch keeps house property income taxable in the Hindu undivided family's hands.

A unilateral declaration by a Hindu coparcener blending self-acquired property with the common family stock is treated as an act of throwing it into the joint family hotchpotch, not as a transfer of property. The fact that the house property was mortgaged, and the loan remained unpaid, did not change the legal character of the blending or prevent the property from being treated as family property. Since the property had also been assessed in the hands of the Hindu undivided family in earlier years, the income was properly assessable in the hands of the HUF and not in the individual assessee's hands.

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Issues: Whether the income from the house property was assessable in the individual hands of the assessee or in the hands of the Hindu undivided family when the self-acquired property had been declared as thrown into the common hotchpotch, notwithstanding that the property was mortgaged and the loan had not been fully repaid.

Analysis: A unilateral declaration by a Hindu coparcener throwing self-acquired property into the common stock of the joint family does not amount to a transfer of property. The existence of a mortgage or restriction on alienation did not alter the legal character of the act of blending the property with the family hotchpotch. The property had in fact been assessed in the hands of the Hindu undivided family in earlier years, showing acceptance of the family ownership position.

Conclusion: The inclusion of the house property income in the individual assessment could not be sustained, and the income was rightly assessable in the hands of the Hindu undivided family.

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