1978 (2) TMI 44

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....w in holding that the assessee is entitled to exemption of Rs. 70,000 invested by her in National Defence Certificates and in Defence Deposit Certificates in addition to the overall exemption of Rs. 1,50,000 granted to her by the WTO under s. 5(1) of the Act ?" and in I.T.R. No. 37 of 1976, the question of law referred is : "Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, and on the interpretation of s. 5(1A) of the W.T. Act, 1957, the Appellate Tribunal is right in law in holding that the assessee is entitled to exemption of Rs. 70,000 invested by her in National Defence Certificates and in Defence Deposit Certificates in addition to the overall exemption of Rs. 1,50,000 granted to her by the WTO under s. 5(1) of the Act ....

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....or our opinion. The facts are identical in I.T.R. No. 28 of 1976, with the only difference that H. H. Sethu Parvathi Bayi, Trivandrum, is the assessee in that case. s. 5(1) of the Act, in so far as the same is material, reads as follows : " 5. Exemption in respect of certain assets.--(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1A) wealth-tax shall not be payable by an assessee in respect of the following assets, and such assets shall not be included in the net wealth of the assessee ....... (xv) deposits under any scheme framed by the Central Government and notified by it in this behalf in the Official Gazette, to the extent to which the amounts of such deposits do not exceed the maximum amount permitted to be deposited therei....

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....stion of law to be answered in this case lies in a small compass. What exactly is the scope and limit of exemption enjoyed by an assessee under the combined operation of s. 5(1)(xv) and (xvi) read with s. 5(1A) ? We may mention that the maximum amount of investment in the securities and deposits mentioned in clauses (xv) and (xvi) have been specified by the Government in appropriate notifications. It may perhaps be enough to notice that the maximum amount which can be invested in National Defence Certificates is Rs. 35,000. While s. 5(1) by cls. (i) et seq. lists the items of wealth in respect of which wealth-tax shall not be payable, s. 5(1A) put a maximum limit of Rs. 1,50,000, in respect of the exemption to be earned from the net wealth ....