1999 (2) TMI 9

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....was justified in holding that the assessment for the years 1973-74 and 1974-75 on the trustees had to be made in accordance with the provisions of s. 161 of the IT Act, 1961?" The question aforementioned relates to the asst. yrs. 1973-74 and 1974-75. (Similar questions for subsequent years were answered similarly and are the subject-matter of the connected appeals). 2. The facts, briefly stated, are that a trust deed was executed on 17th Aug., 1971. It records this: ".......And whereas the beneficiaries, viz., Mary Varghese on behalf of her minor daughters Laizamma Varghese and Rasalin Varghese.... has transferred and assigned to the trustees upon trust the sums referred to in cl. 17 against their respective names..... Whereas T.J.....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....isamma Varghese                   33,000 3. Rosalin Varghese   33,000 4. Thankamma Baby                        6,000 5. Daisy Scaria                        54,000 6. Laly Scaria                         54,000 7. Davis alias T.S. Varghese      &n....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....ior sanction of a civil Court was not a trust in the eye of law. The trust was created by minors and did not comply with the requirement of s. 7. It was, therefore, invalid. 5. The assessee is in appeal by special leave. It was contended on behalf of the assessee that the final fact-finding authority was the Tribunal. The Tribunal, having gathered all available evidence, had reached the conclusion that the trust was valid. This was a finding of fact which the High Court was not entitled in a reference application to ignore. It was submitted that if we were to accept the correctness of the impugned judgment, the functioning of the Tribunals would be destroyed. It wasalso submitted that the High Court had picked out the one word "nominee" ....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....ot see how these observations of the Gujarat High Court have any bearing upon the case before us. Nobody here is disputing the letters or documents that the Tribunal relied upon. The question is whether they can be relied upon for the purposes of determining the validity of the trust so as to reach a conclusion contrary to the terms of the trust deed. 9. Reliance was also placed on a judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Shri Digambar Jain & Ors. vs. Sub-Registrar, Stamps, Indore AIR 1970 MP 23. It was stated there that it was the duty of the Court to give to the expression of a document its true meaning. It was competent for a Court to disregard the literal meaning of the words used in a document and to give to them their real me....