TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2000 (4) TMI 192
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....icial to the interests of Revenue for the following reasons : "The assessee has claimed status as HUF. Record indicates that there was complete partition of HUF as on 30-9-1991. Partition has also been recognised by the Assessing Officer, ITO, Ward 2(5), Jaigaon, on 17-1-1995 as per provisions of section 171 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Although partition has been recognised by the Assessing Officer, still assessee claimed his status as HUF consisting of the assessee himself, Shri Ravindra V. Patil and three unmarried daughters. The assessee's claim of HUF is not in accordance with law because the total partition has already been taken place, and the relevant share was given to Mrs. Shailaj a R. Patil, assessee's wife, therefore, the Ass....
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....ct of maintenance and marriage expenses of the unmarried daughters by providing that these expenses will be incurred by the Karta out of the share given to him. Thus, there is no doubt that there is a total partition in the family and this has been rightly accepted by the Assessing Officer under section 171 of the Act, and after such partition, there existed a smaller HUF with the assessee as Karta, his wife and three unmarried daughters as members of the HUF. So, the assessee had rightly claimed the status of HUF. In support of his contentions, he relied upon the following decisions : (i) N.V. Narendranath v. CWT [1969] 74 ITR 190 (SC); (ii) Prem Chand v. CIT [1984] 148 ITR 440/17 Taxman 90 (AP); (iii) Harshvadan Mangaldas'case. ....
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.... decision is more relevant in the context of the assessee's case. The Hon'ble Gujarat High Court has stated that the expression 'Hindu undivided family' is used in the same sense in which a Hindu joint family is understood in the personal law of Hindus. A Hindu undivided family can consist of male as well as female members and in some cases even of females. The fact that there is only one male member in the family does not mean that such a family cannot be considered as Hindu undivided family. Consistently the Courts have been holding that a distinction must be made of coparcenary and Hindu undivided family. The former connotes a narrower body, while the latter connotes a larger body, which in fact is what the Income-tax Act contemplates. ....
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.... under section 263 that the CIT must point out how the adoption of the status of HUF has caused any prejudice to the interest of Revenue. In the absence of such a finding, the order under section 263 gets vitiated. If one goes by the rates applicable to the status of HUF in the assessment year 1992-93 and it is seen that the rates of individual and HUF were the same and in case any member- had any taxable income in his individual capacity, the rates applicable to the HUF were higher than those of an individual. In this view of the matter, it was particularly necessary for the CIT to state how adoption of status of HUF has caused any prejudice to the interests of Revenue. On this ground also, the order of the CIT under section 263 deserves t....