Probate valuation deductions are limited to statutory items; estate duty is not deductible from the estate value.

Under the Madras Court-fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955, probate valuation is governed by the statutory scheme in sections 55 and 56 read with Part I of Schedule III, so deductions are confined to the items expressly listed in Annexure B. Estate duty, though payable out of the estate, was held not to be a "debt due and owing from the deceased" in its plain and natural sense, and therefore cannot be deducted from the estate value for computing court-fee on probate. The Court rejected the contrary Mysore view and treated the listed statutory deductions as exhaustive.

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Issues: Whether estate duty payable on an estate vested in the executor is deductible from the value of the estate while computing court-fee for probate under the Madras Court-fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955.

Analysis: The statutory scheme under sections 55 and 56, read with Part I of Schedule III, requires the valuation of the estate and permits deduction only of the items expressly listed in Annexure B. The expression "debts due and owing from the deceased" was construed in its natural and plain sense, and estate duty was held not to answer that description, even though it is payable out of the estate. The Court declined to follow the contrary view taken by the Mysore High Court, holding that market value is not first reduced by liabilities outside Annexure B before applying the statutory deductions. Section 50 of the Estate Duty Act was also noticed as supporting the view that court-fee paid on probate is separately recognized from estate duty liability.

Conclusion: Estate duty is not deductible from the estate value for the purpose of computing court-fee under the Act, and the contention of the petitioner was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The statutory deductions for probate valuation are confined to the items specifically enumerated in the schedule, and estate duty cannot be treated as a deductible debt of the deceased for that purpose.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a probate-fee statute specifies the deductible items for valuation, only those express statutory deductions can be allowed, and a liability payable from the estate does not become deductible unless it is also a debt due and owing from the deceased within the meaning of the statute.

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