COMMISSIONER OF WEALTH TAX, RAJASTHAN vs HER HIGHNESS MAHARANI GAYATRI DEVI OF JAIPUR. Supreme Court, 14-09-1971

Date14 September 1971
Parties COMMISSIONER OF WEALTH TAX, RAJASTHANHER HIGHNESS MAHARANI GAYATRI DEVI OF JAIPUR
CourtSupreme Court (India)
http://JUDIS.NIC.IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Page 1 of 5
PETITIONER:
COMMISSIONER OF WEALTH TAX, RAJASTHAN
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
HER HIGHNESS MAHARANI GAYATRI DEVI OF JAIPUR
DATE OF JUDGMENT14/09/1971
BENCH:
ACT:
Wealth Tax Act (27 of 1957), s. 2(e)(iv)-Assessee entitled
to half share of income of trust fund-Trust fund capable of
being augmented If assessee entitled to annuity or interest
in property assessable to wealth tax.
HEADNOTE:
The trust deed executed by the husband of the respondent-
assessee provided that the trustees should pay to the
assessee during her life time 50 per cent of the income of
the trust fund. The settlement was irrevocable and the
properties mentioned in the schedule to the trust deed stood
transferred to the name of the trustees. Under the clauses
of the deed ,the trust fund was not a fixed sum but was
capable of being augmented.
On the question whether the assessee-was entitled only to an
annuity within the meaning of that expression in s. 2(e)
(iv) of the Wealth Tax Act or had an interest in the corpus
of the trust which could be brought to tax under the Wealth-
tax Act.
HELD: The intention of the husband was that the assessee
should get 15130 share from out of the income of the trust
fund. Since neither the trust fund nor the amount payable
to the assessee was a fixed sum, what the assessee was
entitled to was not an annuity but an allquot share in the
income of the trust fund. The fact that in the particular
assessment year there was no change in the trust fund was
irrelevant because the question whether a particular income
is an annuity or not does not depend upon the amount
received in a particular year. [712 D-H]
Hence the assessee had a life interest in the trust fund
which could be brought to tax under the Wealth-tax Act. [713
A-B]
Ahmed G. H. Ariff & Ors. v. Commissioner of Wealth-tax, 76
I.T.R. 471 and Commissioner of Wealth-tax, Gujarat Arundhati
Balkrishna, 77 I.T.R. 505, followed.
JUDGMENT:
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 2149 of 1968.
Appeal from the judgment and order dated January 3, 1967 of
the Rajasthan High Court in D. B. Wealth Tax Reference No. 6
of 1963.
S. Mitra, O. P. Malhotra, R. N. Sachthey and B. D. Sharma,
for the appellant.
M. C. Setalvad, H. P. Gupta and B. R. Agarwala, for the
respondent.
The Judgment of the Court has delivered by
Hegde, J. This appeal by certificate arises out of the

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