Agricultural land under estate duty: forest lands were largely exempt, with only rocky land treated as non-agricultural.

Agricultural land was treated as outside estate-duty charge unless brought within the statutory scheme applicable to States in the First Schedule under article 252, and the Court applied the widest meaning of agricultural land by looking to the general character of the land rather than temporary use. On the materials, the Tribunal's finding that the forest lands were non-agricultural was unsupported, so the revenue failed to justify inclusion of their value in the taxable estate. The Court also rejected reliance on section 30 of the Estate Duty (Amendment) Act, 1958, as unavailable and unsustainable on the construction of the principal Act. The question was answered against the revenue, subject to exclusion of 5,000 acres of rocky land found non-agricultural.

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Issues: Whether the forest lands in question were agricultural lands outside the estate-duty charge, and whether the revenue had established that the lands were non-agricultural so as to include their value in the taxable estate.

Analysis: Section 5 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 was the charging provision, and estate duty could be levied on agricultural land only in States included in the First Schedule pursuant to the constitutional mechanism under article 252 of the Constitution of India. The Court held that the character of the land had to be determined by its general nature, not by temporary use, and applied the widest meaning to agricultural land. On the materials, there was no basis to sustain the Tribunal's finding that the forest lands were non-agricultural. The Court also rejected the revenue's reliance on section 30 of the Estate Duty (Amendment) Act, 1958 as unavailable and, in any event, unsustainable on the construction of the principal Act.

Conclusion: The question was answered in the negative against the revenue, and the forest lands were held not liable to estate duty except for the 5,000 acres of rocky land found to be non-agricultural; thus, the assessee succeeded substantially.

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