Hindu undivided family status governs partitioned property income where the family unit continues, not individual assessment.

Income from house property and business allotted to a coparcener on partition was treated, on the facts found, as belonging to the continuing Hindu undivided family comprising the assessee, his wife and minor daughters. A coparcener receiving partitioned property does not necessarily hold it as separate individual property where the family unit survives in law. On that footing, the reassessment proceeded on an erroneous assumption that the income was assessable in the assessee's individual status. The correct status was Hindu undivided family, so the individual assessments could not be sustained and had to be revised accordingly.

---

---

Issues: Whether the income from the house property and the business allotted to the assessee on partition was assessable in the status of an individual or in the status of a Hindu undivided family.

Analysis: The property and business received by the assessee on partition fell to be treated, on the facts found, as property belonging to the Hindu undivided family consisting of the assessee and his wife and minor daughters. The legal position applied was that a coparcener receiving his share on partition does not necessarily hold it as his separate individual property where the family unit continues to exist in law. The reassessment proceeded on an erroneous assumption that the income had to be assessed as individual income.

Conclusion: The income was not assessable in the hands of the assessee as an individual; it was correctly relatable to the Hindu undivided family, and the answer to the issue is in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The reassessments could not be sustained on the footing adopted by the revenue, and the assessments had to be revised in accordance with the correct status of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Property received by a coparcener on partition may, where the family unit survives, be assessable in the hands of the continuing Hindu undivided family and not as the coparcener's separate individual property.

---