TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1985 (2) TMI 33
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... land of the deceased in 1953 is not includible in the principal value of the deceased under the provisions of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 ? " The facts of this case are briefly stated hereafter: " The deceased, Sri Sushil Kumar Roychowdhury, died intestate on November 1, 1963. The agricultural land of the deceased in excess of 25 acres was acquired by the Government of West Bengal in 1955. The Assistant Controller of Estate Duty observed that the compensation from the Government of West Bengal had not been settled and that compensation roll had not been prepared and the matter was still pending in the High Court. He estimated the compensation at Rs. 25,000 payable by the Government of West Bengal on acquisition of the agricultural land....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... lakhs. On appeal, the AAC reduced the value of the assessee's right to receive compensation to rupees three and a quarter lakhs rejecting the assessee's contention that on the relevant dates of valuation, the assessee had no right to receive any compensation from the Government and holding that the assessee had an actionable claim assessable to wealth-tax. On further appeal, the Appellate Tribunal held that under the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1953, the compensation was payable only to the intermediary whose right was acquired by the Government, after the compensation roll was prepared and finally published under s. 21 of the Act, and as the compensation roll had not been prepared and published, the assessee had no right on the v....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....being an asset, the mechanism of valuation provided in s. 7 of the W.T. Act will not apply. In the case of Pandit Lakshmi Kant Jha v. CWT [1973] 90 ITR 97 (SC), one of the questions before the Supreme Court was whether any part of the amount fixed as compensation payable to the assessee under the Bihar Land Reforms Act was liable for inclusion in the total wealth of the assessee. There, the Supreme Court held that under the Bihar Land Reforms Act, 1950, as soon as the estate or tenure of a proprietor or tenureholder vests in the State, he becomes entitled to receive compensation. The right to receive compensation from the State is a valuable right. The fact that the compensation is not payable immediately and its payment might be spread ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....mount decreed subsequently by the final court as property having come into existence retrospectively on the relevant date (being the date of death under the E.D. Act and valuation date under the W.T. Act) though, in fact, it did not exist on that date, and in this behalf reliance was placed, inter alia, on the decision of the Calcutta High Court in the case of CWT v. Mahatab [1970] 78 ITR 214. The Supreme Court, however, followed the decision in the case of Pandit Lakshmi Kant Jha [1973] 90 ITR 97 (SC), and did not express any opinion on the decision of this court in the case of Mahatab. The contention of the Revenue is that, in view of the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Pandit Lakshmi Kant Jha v. CWT [1973] 90 ITR 97 (SC) ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
...., on that ground that the learned judges of the Calcutta High Court distinguished the case of Maharaj Kumar Kamal Singh v. Commissioner of Wealth-tax [1967] 65 ITR 460 (Pat) as well as the decision of the Patna High Court which is now the subject-matter of the present appeal. " The Supreme Court has not expressed the view that the provisions of the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1953, are not materially different from those of the Bihar Land Reforms Act. It is true that on principle there cannot be any difference in the character and quality of the right to receive compensation from the State upon the estates being vested in the State under the Land Reforms Act of Bihar and the Estates Acquisition Act of West Bengal. But having reg....