TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1987 (5) TMI 81
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....Reddy were divided long back. Thereafter, Sri Kodandarama Reddy and his wife constituted a smaller HUF. Income-tax assessments up to and inclusive of assessment year 1974-75 were completed in the status of HUF. For assessment year 1975-76, which is now before us, the previous year of which ended by 31-3-1975, Sri Kodandarama Reddy did not file any income-tax return. On 11-1-1979 a notice under section 148 was issued to the assessee by the Income-tax Officer calling upon him to file income-tax return. There was no response from the assessee and ultimately the karta of the assessee-HUF viz., Kodandarama Reddy died on 25-9-1982 without filing return of income. He purported to have executed a registered will on 1-9-1982 at Madras, according to ....
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....the Estate of Sri Kodandarama Reddy went in appeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner and it was contended that there was an agreement between Sri Kodandarama Reddy and his wife Smt. Kausalyamma on 15-11-1984 to live apart and Smt. Kausalyamma surrendered her right of maintenance from the joint family property by taking pronotes worth Rs. 50,658. The agreement executed by Smt. Kausalyamma is said to be as under : " I, Kookati Kausalyamma, Gandhinagar, Nellore, do hereby declare that I have agreed to be legally separated from my husband Sri Kookati Kodandarama Reddy, sole surviving coparcener of HUF, Gandinagar, Nellore, and also to surrender my right to maintenance from my husband's family property in consideration of my having ....
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....as contended that it must be deemed that a dissolution of marriage had occurred under section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act. Rejecting this contention the then Acting Chief Justice A. Sambasiva Rao held that dissolution or divorce can be granted only under a decree of a court. Sub-section (1) of section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act provides only a ground for applying for dissolution of marriage. If the circumstances enumerated in that sub-section existed, then either party to marriage can apply for dissolution. There was no such application in this case much less a decree. Therefore it cannot be said that there was a dissolution of marriage thereby the plaintiff-respondent losing the status as wife. It was again contended that even judicial ....
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.... a decree for divorce was passed. In such a case it was held that the wife did not lose her status as wife and she is quite competent to succeed to her husband's property as his heir. When that was the case with a person against whom a decree for judicial separation was already obtained what about a person against whom no petition for judicial separation was even presented in the matrimonial court and no decree was obtained for judicial separation. Therefore after rejecting the contention that judicial separation can be brought about by mere agreement between husband and wife we hold that the wife does not cease to be wife of her husband simply because she happened to live apart from him in the later part of his life. 5. The second quest....
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....5-11-1984 referred to supra the assessee's family was not disrupted and the HUF comprising of the karta and his wife continued to exist. 7. In answer to the challenge that the reopening under s. 147(a) is invalid in view of the fact that the same income was assessed in the hands of the individual on 9-2-1978 is without substance the Appellate Assistant Commissioner relied upon the Calcutta High Court decision in Rajinder Mohan Bhandari v. ITO [1978] 111 ITR 407. In that case a house property was in fact shown as belonging to the HUF though according to the information of the Income-tax Officer it was acquired by the individual members. Therefore the Income-tax Officer issued notices to the individual members of the HUF even if such incom....