Commissioner of Wealth-tax vs N. Lakshmikutty Amma

K.S. Paripoornan, J.—At the instance of the Revenue, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has referred the following question of law for the decision of this court:

"Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the assessee having only a life interest in the building is entitled to the exemption u/s 5(1)(iv) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 ?"

The respondent is an assessee to wealth-tax. We are concerned with the assessment years 1974-75 to 1978-79. One Gopala Pillai, the assessee''s husband, executed a will. The assessee obtained a life interest over a two-storeyed building situated in Quilon. The ownership of the property vested with the three sons after the death of the testator, Gopala Pillai. The Wealth-tax Officer brought to tax the life interest of the assessee over this property. The assessee claimed exemption u/s 5(1)(iv) of the Wealth-tax Act in respect of this property, The claim was rejected by the assessing authority. In appeal, the said decision was confirmed. In second appeal, the Appellate Tribunal held that, u/s 2(e) of the Wealth-tax Act, "asset" includes property of every description movable and immovable and the life interest of the assessee in the two-storeyed building related to an interest in an immovable property and so taken in by the definition of "asset". Since the life interest was included in the net wealth of the assessee, the assessee was entitled to claim exemption u/s 5(1)(iv) of the Wealth-tax Act, as the property "belongs to the assessee" within the meaning of Section 5(1)(iv) of the Act. The Appellate Tribunal relied on the decision of the Calcutta High Court in Controller of Estate Duty Vs. Jyotirmoy Raha, and the decision of the Madras High Court i Commissioner of Wealth-tax, Tamil Nadu-V Vs. K. Ramachandra Chettiar, . Thereafter, at the instance of the Revenue, the question of law, formulated hereinabove, has been referred for the decision of this court.

We heard counsel. In Commissioner of Wealth-tax, Tamil Nadu-V Vs. K. Ramachandra Chettiar, , the Madras High Court held that life interest in property is an "asset" within the meaning of the Wealth-tax Act and the assessee having a life interest in house property has interest in the house itself and so is entitled to exemption u/s 5(1)(iv) of the Wealth-tax Act. We fully concur with the said decision, The above decision was followed by the Madras High Court in R. Janardhanan and Another Vs. Commissioner of Wealth-tax, . We also find that the decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Controller of Estate Duty Vs. Estate of Late Sanka Simhachalam (by accountable person), , and also the decision of the Calcutta High Court in Controller of Estate Duty Vs. Jyotirmoy Raha, are relevant and useful in considering the scope of Section 5(1)(iv) of the Wealth-tax Act, especially the term "belonging to" occurring in Section 5(1)(iv) of the Act.

In the light of the decision of the Madras High Court in K. Rama-chandra Chettiar''s case [1982] 141 ITR 771, with which we fully concur, we are of the view that the decision of the Appellate Tribunal holding that the respondent-assessee having only life interest in the building is entitled to exemption u/s 5(1)(iv) of the Wealth-tax Act, is valid and justified in law.

We answer the question referred to us in the affirmative, in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue.

A copy of this judgment under the seal of this court and the signature of the Registrar shall be forwarded to the Income-tux Appellate Tribunal, Cochin Bench.