TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1988 (8) TMI 2
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....nce in detail. The first two deeds specified a period of I 8 years from the date of execution as the period during which the net income could be distributed to the assessee, his wife and children, while the third specified a period of 30 years. The minimum annual payments to be made under the three trust deeds to the assessee by way of maintenance were Rs. 250, 150 and Rs. 250, respectively. Under each of the trust deeds, the settlor specified the interest of the beneficiaries in the trusts. The pertinent terms of one of them, the Arvind Narottam Trust deed, may be set forth here. Clauses 7 and 8 of that trust deed provide : "7. (a) Whatever income by way of interest or otherwise is received each year by the trustees from the trust fund should be first applied in meeting the expenses of the management of the trust and the payment of taxes thereof. For a period of 18 years hereafter, the trustees may pay to Arvind, or if Arvind gets married during the period to Arvind, his wife and children or to one or more of these persons, such portion of the net income remaining thereafter as the trustees deem fit. However, the trustees shall pay to Arvind, or if Arvind gets married dur....
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....d balance of income is to be distributed or it is not possible legally to give effect to the decision of the trustees or it is illegal to do so, then the proportion in which the distribution will be made will be an equal share for each of the persons or survivors comprising of Arvind, his wife and his children. If none of the said persons are alive at the time of distribution, then the distribution will be made to Niranjan, his wife and his children or survivors, all or such of them and in such proportion as the trustees deem fit. If none of the said persons are alive at the time of distribution, then the corpus and the balance of income will be given over by the trustees on such conditions as they deem fit as donation to the Gujarat University or any other educational institution or an institution giving medical aid or attending to the health of public in general. But, if Arvind and his wife are the trustees at that time, then they have no right to give vote in the above matter. But, if the other trustees unanimously agree to allow them to vote, then they can." 3. The Wealth-tax Officer made the assessment orders for the assessment years 1962-63, 1963-64 and 1964-65 under the W....
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.... from the person on whose behalf or for whose benefit the assets are held, and the provisions of this Act shall apply accordingly. (2) Nothing contained in sub-section (1) shall prevent either the direct assessment of the person on whose behalf or for whose benefit the assets above referred to are held, or the recovery from such person of the tax payable in respect of such assets (3) x x x (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, where the shares of the persons on whose behalf or for whose benefit any such assets are held are indeterminate or unknown, the wealth-tax may be levied upon and recovered from the court of wards, administrator-general, official trustee, receiver, manager or other person aforesaid as if the persons on whose behalf or for whose benefit the assets are held were an individual who is a citizen of India and resident in India for the purposes of this Act." 6. The contention of Dr. V. Gauri Shankar, on behalf of the Revenue, is that the settlor had specifically made these three trusts for the benefit of his son, Arvind, the assessee, and has declared unequivocally that the settlement is for the benefit of the assessee,....
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....d claim as his property. So also, on the distribution of the accumulated balance as capital at the end of the stipulated period, there was no right in him to receive any part thereof. It was open to the trustees to ignore him altogether and they could pay it to such other members of the family as they chose. 7. In support of the proposition that the expression "property" is term of the widest amplitude and that every possible interest is includible therein, we are referred to Ahmed G. H. Ariff v. CWT [1970] 76 ITR 471 (SC). I have no doubt that the expression "property" must bear a comprehensive import. The question remains whether what is conveyed under the three deeds of settlement to the assessee is a right to anything more than the prescribed minimum under each deed. I may reiterate that the interest extends to no more than that minimum. 8. It is contended on behalf of the Revenue that the fact that a beneficiary may change on the happening of certain contingencies will not make the share of the beneficiary undetermined or unknown, and reliance has been placed on Padmavati Jaykrishna Trust v. CWT [1966] 61 ITR 66 (Guj), CWT v. Trustees of Mills. Hansabai Tribhuwandas Trus....