Provisional estate duty assessment must rest on the statutory account alone, not on unrelated property references.

A provisional assessment under section 57 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 must be based on the statutory account delivered under section 53(3). Where that account stated that only property worth Rs. 26,000 was admittedly liable to estate duty, references to earlier gifts and to properties no longer owned could not be treated as an admission supporting a much larger estate value. The statutory account is confined to property in respect of which estate duty is admitted to be payable, so material outside that scope cannot justify provisional assessment on a higher figure. The provisional assessment was therefore invalid and set aside.

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Issues: Whether a provisional assessment under section 57 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 could be founded on an alleged admission in an account delivered under section 53(3) when that account stated that only a small sum was liable to estate duty.

Analysis: A provisional assessment under section 57 must rest on the account delivered under section 53(3). The account produced stated that the value of the property in respect of which estate duty was payable was only Rs. 26,000, and not Rs. 14,42,509. The reference made in the account to earlier gifts and to values of properties no longer owned could not be treated as an admission fixing a larger estate for provisional assessment, because the statutory account is concerned with the property in respect of which estate duty is admittedly payable.

Conclusion: The provisional assessment was invalid and was set aside in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A provisional assessment under section 57 of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 must be based only on the statutory account under section 53(3) and cannot be founded on references to properties that are not admitted to be liable to estate duty.

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