Marriage expenses and family liability: personal receipts used by parents were not attributable to the Hindu undivided family.

Marriage expenses of an unmarried daughter are a legitimate charge on the joint family estate, and the father also has an independent parental obligation to meet them; the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 recognises that obligation without creating inconsistency with Hindu law. For expenditure-tax purposes, amounts paid from gifts received by the parents in their individual capacity were not attributable to the Hindu undivided family because no actual use of family funds was proved. The marriage expenditure was therefore not treated as expenditure incurred by the family under section 4(i), and the reference was answered in favour of the assessee on the proved facts.

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Issues: (i) Whether the legal liability to meet the marriage expenses of the daughter rested only on the Hindu undivided family or also on the parents; (ii) whether the expenditure of Rs. 1,00,795 could be treated as expenditure incurred by the Hindu undivided family under section 4(i) of the Expenditure-tax Act.

Issue (i): Whether the legal liability to meet the marriage expenses of the daughter rested only on the Hindu undivided family or also on the parents.

Analysis: Under Hindu law, the marriage expenses of an unmarried daughter are a legitimate charge on the joint family estate, and the father is also independently bound to meet such expenses. The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 statutorily recognises the parental obligation, but section 4 of that Act overrides only inconsistent Hindu law rules. No inconsistency was found between the liability of the parents and the liability of the joint family.

Conclusion: The liability to meet the marriage expenses rested not merely on the Hindu undivided family but also on the parents.

Issue (ii): Whether the expenditure of Rs. 1,00,795 could be treated as expenditure incurred by the Hindu undivided family under section 4(i) of the Expenditure-tax Act.

Analysis: Section 4(i) applies where expenditure is incurred by a person other than the assessee in respect of the assessee's obligation. On the facts found, the marriage expenses were met out of gifts received by the father and mother in their individual capacity, and no actual utilisation of joint family funds was proved. Expenditure made out of their own receipts towards their own obligation could not, without more, be attributed to the family.

Conclusion: The expenditure could not be treated as expenditure incurred by the Hindu undivided family under section 4(i).

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered in favour of the assessee, with the marriage expenditure held not to be includible in the family's taxable expenditure on the proved facts.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a family member expends money from personal receipts in discharge of a personal obligation that is also shared by the joint family, the expenditure is not attributable to the family unless actual utilisation of family funds or a direct nexus with the family obligation is proved.

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