1978 (7) TMI 222
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....of the assessment proceedings, the question relating to the liability of certain amount which had been awarded as compensation by the State Government under the provisions of the Karnataka (Personal and Miscellaneous) Inams Abolition Act, 1954 (hereinafter referred to as " the Inams Abolition Act "), in respect of Yelandur jahgir, arose for consideration. The facts relating to the above question are as follows: The deceased was a descendant of Dewan Purnaiya who was the original grantee of the jahgir of Yelandur consisting of several villages in the District of Mysore. The grant was made in the year 1807 by His Highness, Krishnaraja Wadeyar, the then Maharaja of Mysore for the services rendered by Dewan Purnaiya. The original grant is bo....
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....the Maharaja of Mysore promulgated a law for the aforesaid purpose called " The Yelandur Jahgir Act " (Mysore Act I of 1885) (hereinafter referred to as " the Act "). The preamble of the Act reads as follows : " WHEREAS, by a Sannad granted by His Highness the Maharaja of Mysore under the date the 27th December, 1807, the Taluk of Yelandur was granted as jahgir to the late Dewan Purnaiya, and in order his heirs and successors, in perpetuity, as a reward for the meritorious services rendered by the said Dewan Purnaiya, and in order that, his descendants may live in perpetual ease and comfort: AND WHEREAS, with the object of carrying out the purposes of such grant the Government of Mysore did, at various times, pass orders with the view....
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....rwise provided in the Act be regulated by ordinary rules governing the Hindu law of inheritance and adoption of Mysore. The succession to the office of the jahgirdar of Yelandur was, however, to be governed by the rule of primogeniture. Section 3(1) of the Act directed the jahgirdar to distribute certain amounts by way of annuities amounting to Rs. 23,200 amongst the different branches mentioned in Schedule ' B '. The jahgirdar was allowed to enjoy the remainder of the revenues from the jahgir. The Act contained some other ancillary and subsidiary provisions. The jahgir was being enjoyed by the members of the family of Dewan Purnaiya in accordance with the terms of the grant and till the year 1956 during which year, a notification dated ....
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....ed assessment treating the entire amount of compensation which was awarded to the branch of the deceased as passing on the death of the deceased on the ground that the jahgir was an impartible estate and no other member of the family of the deceased could claim any interest therein before the death of the deceased. The appeal filed by the accountable persons before the Appellate Controller was dismissed. On further appeal, the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Bangalore Bench, held that the amount of compensation was a joint family asset and s. 7(1) of the E.D. Act was applicable to it. The appeal was accordingly allowed. At the instance of the department, the Tribunal has referred the following question of law to this court, under s. 64(1)....
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.... hands of the deceased was his absolute property and the incidents of that property were similar to the incidents attached to the estate which was the subject-matter of the case, P.V.G. Raju v. CWT [1970] 78 ITR 601 (AP). Sri T. V. Viswanatha Iyer, learned counsel appearing for the respondent, says that the above case is also distinguishable on facts from the present case. It is not necessary to go into the details of that case, since we are of the view that the incidents of ownership of the jahgir in question are different from those of the estate involved in that case. This case has to be decided in accordance with the terms of the grant and the Act. We are of the view that the decisions dealing with impartible estates governed by customa....
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