# CONTROLLER OF ESTATE DUTY, MADRAS v. C. R. RAMACHANDRA GOUNDER

- **Citation:** [1973] 3 S.C.R. 554
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1973-02-27
- **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 1391 of 1970
- **Bench:** K. S. Hegde, P. Jaganmohan Reddy, H. R. Khanna
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/controller-of-estate-duty-madras-v-c-r-ramachandra-gounder-5901
- **Pages:** 8

## Headnote

Estate Dut,v Act (34 of 1953), s. IQ-Scope of.
The father· of the r.espondept was a partner in a firm.
He owned
property which the firm was occupying as a tenant at will.
Jn 1953
he executed a deed. of settlement under which he
transferred
that
prop.erty to two of his sons absolutely and
irrevocably.
After
the
transfer the firm continued as tenant paying rent to tihe two donees by
credittng each of t~ir accounts in the account books of the
firm
in
rqu~tl shares. The father also wrote to the firm to transfier from his
account five sums of Rs. 20,000 each with effect from April, 1953, to
the credit of his five sons in the firm's books.
The sons did llOt withdra\v any amount from their accounts in the firm and
the
amounts
continued to be invested in the firm for which interest at
7 l %
per
annum \\'as paid to them. The father continued to be a partner of
the firm even after the transf~r rill 1957, when the firm was dissolved.
On his death thereafter the property leased out to the firm .which was
transferred to two of his sons as well as Rupees o~ lakh gifted to the
five sons, were sought to be included in the estate of the deceased on
the ground that the donees had not been in possessiOJl and enjoyment
of the subject matter of the gifts to the entire exclusion of the donor
within the meaning of s. 10 of the Estate Duty Act,
1953.
The High
Court. on reference, held against the Revenue.
Dismissing the a.ppeal to this Coud.
HELD : Neither the property gifted to the dQJ1Ces nor the amount
of Rs. 1 lakh, gifted to ·the five sons could be included in the estate
of the deceased. f81A-B]
Section 10 cons·ists of two conditions, namely, (1) the donee must
bona fide have assumed possession and enjoyment of
the
property
which is the subject matter of the gift to the exclusion of 1lhe donor
immediately upa,l the gift and (2) the donee must have retained such
possession and enjoyment of the property to the entire exclusion of
lhe donor or of any _benefit to him by contract or
oth,erw'ise;
and
unless both are satisfied the property would be liable to Estate duty.
1-;,e second part of the section has two limbs, namely, the
decea~d
must be entirely excluded, (a) from the propefty, and (b) ffom any
benefit by contra.ct or otherwise. The word
"otherwise"
must
be
cvnstrued ejusdem generis and it must be interpreted to
mean · sOme
kind of 1egal obligation or some transaction enforceaWie at law Or in
equity, which, . though iiot in the form of a contract, may confer a benefit
on the donor. [557F-H; 558A-Cl
In the present case, the first two conditions are satisfied because of
the unequivocal transfer of the properties and the last limb
of
the
condition relating to any benefit to the do:nor by contract or otherwise
is .inapplicable. The donor. on the date when he gifted the property
~h1ch was leased out. to the firm~ had two rights. namely, o.wnership
in t~e property and nght to terminate the tenancy aJld obtain posses-
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CONTROLLER ESTATE DUTY v. RAMACHANDRA
555
(Jaganmohan Reddy, J.)
sion thereof.
He has transferred the ownership and has given such
POSBession as the circumstances and the nature of the· propefty admit.
It could not be said that since the d<n>r was a partner in the :firm
which had taken the property on lease, he derived benefit therefrom and
was therefore not entirely excluded from the possession and enjoyment
thereof. The benefit the donor had as a member of the partnership
was not a benefit referable in any way to the gift but is unconnected
therewith. [558C·AJ
George Da <;osta v. Controller of Estate Duty, Mysore, 63 I. T. R.
497, followed.
Munro &nd Others v. CommisJioner of Stamp Duties, [1934] A.C.
61, Clifford John Chick and Another v. Comfnissioneir of Stamp Duties,
37 I.T.R. (E.D.) 89 and Commissioner of Stamp
Duties of New
South Wales v. Perpetual Trustee Company Limited, [1943] A.C. 425,
referred to.
Controller of Estate Durv, Mysore
v.
S.
Aswath.anurayana
Setty
and Another, 72 I.T.R. 29, approved.

## Text

554
CONTROLLER OF ESTATE DUTY, MADRAS
v.
C. R. RAMACHANDRA GOUNDER
February 27, 1973
[K. S. HEGDE, P. JAGANMOHAN REDDY AND H. R. KHANNA, JJ.]
Estate Dut,v Act (34 of 1953), s. IQ-Scope of.
The father· of the r.espondept was a partner in a firm.
He owned
property which the firm was occupying as a tenant at will.
Jn 1953
he executed a deed. of settlement under which he
transferred
that
prop.erty to two of his sons absolutely and
irrevocably.
After
the
transfer the firm continued as tenant paying rent to tihe two donees by
credittng each of t~ir accounts in the account books of the
firm
in
rqu~tl shares. The father also wrote to the firm to transfier from his
account five sums of Rs. 20,000 each with effect from April, 1953, to
the credit of his five sons in the firm's books.
The sons did llOt withdra\v any amount from their accounts in the firm and
the
amounts
continued to be invested in the firm for which interest at
7 l %
per
annum \\'as paid to them. The father continued to be a partner of
the firm even after the transf~r rill 1957, when the firm was dissolved.
On his death thereafter the property leased out to the firm .which was
transferred to two of his sons as well as Rupees o~ lakh gifted to the
five sons, were sought to be included in the estate of the deceased on
the ground that the donees had not been in possessiOJl and enjoyment
of the subject matter of the gifts to the entire exclusion of the donor
within the meaning of s. 10 of the Estate Duty Act,
1953.
The High
Court. on reference, held against the Revenue.
Dismissing the a.ppeal to this Coud.
HELD : Neither the property gifted to the dQJ1Ces nor the amount
of Rs. 1 lakh, gifted to ·the five sons could be included in the estate
of the deceased. f81A-B]
Section 10 cons·ists of two conditions, namely, (1) the donee must
bona fide have assumed possession and enjoyment of
the
property
which is the subject matter of the gift to the exclusion of 1lhe donor
immediately upa,l the gift and (2) the donee must have retained such
possession and enjoyment of the property to the entire exclusion of
lhe donor or of any _benefit to him by contract or
oth,erw'ise;
and
unless both are satisfied the property would be liable to Estate duty.
1-;,e second part of the section has two limbs, namely, the
decea~d
must be entirely excluded, (a) from the propefty, and (b) ffom any
benefit by contra.ct or otherwise. The word
"otherwise"
must
be
cvnstrued ejusdem generis and it must be interpreted to
mean · sOme
kind of 1egal obligation or some transaction enforceaWie at law Or in
equity, which, . though iiot in the form of a contract, may confer a benefit
on the donor. [557F-H; 558A-Cl
In the present case, the first two conditions are satisfied because of
the unequivocal transfer of the properties and the last limb
of
the
condition relating to any benefit to the do:nor by contract or otherwise
is .inapplicable. The donor. on the date when he gifted the property
~h1ch was leased out. to the firm~ had two rights. namely, o.wnership
in t~e property and nght to terminate the tenancy aJld obtain posses-
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CONTROLLER ESTATE DUTY v. RAMACHANDRA
555
(Jaganmohan Reddy, J.)
sion thereof.
He has transferred the ownership and has given such
POSBession as the circumstances and the nature of the· propefty admit.
It could not be said that since the d<n>r was a partner in the :firm
which had taken the property on lease, he derived benefit therefrom and
was therefore not entirely excluded from the possession and enjoyment
thereof. The benefit the donor had as a member of the partnership
was not a benefit referable in any way to the gift but is unconnected
therewith. [558C·AJ
George Da <;osta v. Controller of Estate Duty, Mysore, 63 I. T. R.
497, followed.
Munro &nd Others v. CommisJioner of Stamp Duties, [1934] A.C.
61, Clifford John Chick and Another v. Comfnissioneir of Stamp Duties,
37 I.T.R. (E.D.) 89 and Commissioner of Stamp
Duties of New
South Wales v. Perpetual Trustee Company Limited, [1943] A.C. 425,
referred to.
Controller of Estate Durv, Mysore
v.
S.
Aswath.anurayana
Setty
and Another, 72 I.T.R. 29, approved.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 1391 of
1970.
Appeal by certificate from the judgment and order dated
November 25, 1968 of the Madras High Court in Tax Case No.
103 of 1965.
B. B. Ahuja, S. P. Nayar and R. N. Sachthey, for the Appellant.
T. A. Ramachandran, for the respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
JAGANMOHAN REDDY, J.-This appeal is by certificate against
the judgment of the Tamil Nadu High Court. which has answered
the following two questions referred to ii, in favour of the assessee
and against the Revenue :
(1 ) Whether on the facts and in the circumstances
ol 1he case the Tribunal was right in law in
kolding that the house property in Avanashi
Road. Coimbatore, is not liable to estate duty as
property deemed lo pass on the death of the deceased under section 10 of the Estate Duty Act,
1953 ?
(2) Whether on the facts and in the circumstances
of the case, the Tribunal was right in law in holding that the sum of Rs. 1 la~ gifted by the
H
deceased to his sons in 1953 is not liable to
estate duty as property deemed 10 pass on the
death of the deceased under section 1 O of the
Estate Duty Act, 1953 ?
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5Se
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1973] 3 s.c.1;
These questions arose on the facts set out in the statement of tl\o
cas.e which are : one Ramaiah Gounder was a partner in the fum
called N. Desai Gounder & Co., Coimbatore. He owned property
which the firm was occupying as tenant-at-will. In August 1953,
he executed a deed of settlement under which he transferred t4e
property leased out to the firm to his two sons
Lingish and
Krishnan, absolutely and irrevocably. After this transfer, the
firm continued to be in occupation of the premises paying rent
thereof at Rs. 300/- p.m. to the two donees by crediting each of
their accounts in the account books of the firm in equal shares.
It may be mentioned that Ramaiah the father continued to be ll
partner of the firm even after the transfer till April 13, 1957,
when the firm was dissolved.
He had also an account with the
firm Desai Gounder & Co., and on March 30, 1953, he requested
the firm by a letter to transfer from his account five sums of
Rs. 20,000/- each with effect from Aprill, 1953 to the credit of
his five sons in the firm's books. He also wrote to the five sons
informing them of the transfer.. Though the sons did not withdrl!VI'.
any amount from their accounts in the firm, the amounts continued
to be invested in the firm for.which interest at 7t% per annum was
paid to them.
On the death of. Ramaiah Gounder on May 5, l957, the Assis·
tant Controller of Estate Duty, included in the estate of the de·
ceased, the property leased out to the firm which was transfelT!'ll
to his two sons. According to him, possession and enjoyment of
the subject-matter of the gift had not been assumed by the donees
mor had they retained possession thereof to the entire exclusion of
the donor, inasmuch as the partnership in which the donor was a
partner with other parties, continued to be in possession and enjoyment of the gifted property as tenants at will of the donees.
With respect to the gift of Rs. 1 lakh to the five sons of the d.,_
ceased, the Assistant Controller held that the qonees had not be!;n
in possession and enjoyment of the subject-matter of the gift to
the entire exclusion of the donor within tb_e meanil)g of s. 10 of the
Estate Duty Act. He, therefore, included tl)is sum of. Rs. 1 lakh
in the principal value of the est«. of the c;!eceased.
The accountable persons aeJ?ealed to the Appellate Controller
who confirmed the said inclusion.
The Tribunal on a
further
appeal, however, disagreed with the findings of."tne· Assistant Controller and the Appellate Controller.
It hel<i that the firm, of
which. the d.eceased was a: partnec, occupied the property but thirt
such interest was not as owner of the property, and therefore, the
gift ha.d b~ made without the ~nor retaining a,ny interest, as
much it could 1not be inchided in the estate ot the deceased under
s. 1 O of the Estate Duty Act. · It f.ur:lber hp!\{ t®t the sum of
Rs. 1 lakh gifted to the sons was givc;a by t\le sons to the firm
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C'.ONTROLLER ESTATE DUTY v. RAMACHANDRA
5 57
(Jaganmohan Reddy, J.)
which had benefit of the money and that the fa1her could not be
said to have enjoyed the benefit of the money as partner of the firm.
In this view, the Tribunal excluded the sum of Rs. 3 lakh from
the esfate of the deceased.
The High Court agreed with these
findings.
It is contended before us by the learned Advocate for the Revenue that both the Tribunal and the High Court were in error
in holding that the property as well as the sum of Rs. 1 lakh were
enjoyed by the donees to the exclusion of the donor or that the .
deceased did not derive blenefit therefrom within the meaning of
s. 10 of the Estate Duty Act, because, firstly, the donor was
a
partner in the firm which had occupied the property as tenants-atwill even after the gift, and secondly, the amount of Rs. 1 lakh,
though entered in each of the accounts of the donor's five sons
in the books of the firm, w!ls not utilised or enjoyed by them in
any manner. Section 10 of the Estate Duty Act, as in .force on
the date of the death of the deceased, was as follows :
"IO. Property taken under any gift, whenever made,
shall be deemed to pass on the donor's dea'th to the extent
that bona fide possession and enjoyment of it was not
immediately assumed by the donee and thenceforward
retained to the entire exclusion of rthe donor of any benefit to him by contract or otherwise;
"Provided that the property shall not be deemed to
pass by reason only that it was not, as from the date of
the gift, exclusively retained as aforesaid, if, by means
of the surrender of the reserved benefit or otherwise, it is
subsequently enjoyed to the entire exclusion of the donor
or of any !Jkonefit to him for at least two years before the
death : .......... "
The crux of the above section as pointed out by this Court in
George Da Costa v. Controller of Estate Duly, Mysore,(') lies in
two parts : ( 1) the donee must bona fide have assumed possession·
and. enjoyment of the property which is rthe subject-matter of the·
gift to the exclusion of the donor, immediljtely upon the gift; and
(2) the donee must have reta.ined such possession ·and enjoywenl
of the property to the entire exclusion of the donor or of any benefit to him by contract or otherwise.
Boll) these COl)ditions are
cumulative. Unle.ss each of these conditions is satisfied, the property would be liable to estate du.ty unqer s. 10 of the Act. The
second part of the section has two llmbs: ti)e deceased must be
eriti~ly. excluded (i) f;om th~ property, and (ii) from ~ny ~!
by contract or ot!Jerw1se. The words "by contra~! or otherwise'
ii)' th~ second limb! of the section will not control the, words ''tv
·(!.) 63 I.T.R,. 497, at p. SOI.
558
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1973] 3 s.c.R.
the entire exclusion of the donor" in the firs't limb. The first limb
may be infringed if the doillor occupies or enjoys the property or
its income, .even though he has no right to do so which he could
legally enforce against 'the donee. In other words, in. order to
attract the section, it is not necessary that the possess10n of the
donor of the gift mus't be referable to some contractual or other
arra'!lgement enforceable in law or in equity. In the conte.xt of
the section, the word "otherwise" should be construed
ejusdem
generis and it must be ill'terpreted to mean some kind of legal
obligation or some transaction enforceable at law or in equity,
which, though not in the forni of a contract, may confer a benefit
on the donor.
There is no doubt on the facts of this case, the first two conditions are satisfied because there is an unequivocal transfer of the
property and also of the money, in the Oille case 1jy a settlement
deed, and in the other by crediting the amount of Rs. 20,000/- in
each of the sons' account with the firm which thenceforward
became liable to the sons for the payment of the said amount and
·the interest at 7t% per annum thereon. In these circumstances,
the Revenue has failed to establish that the donees had not retained
possession and enjoyment of the property or the amount and that
the deceased was not entirely excluded from the possession and
enjoyment thereof. The last limb of the condition relating to any
benefit to the donor by contract or otherwise is inapplicable in this
case. The donor on the date when he gifted the property to his
sons which was leased out to the firm, had two rights, namely, of
ownership in the property and the right to terminate the tenancy
and obtain the possession thereof. There is no dispute that the
ownership has been transferred subject to the tenancy at will granted to the firm, to the donor's two sons because 1he firm from thenceforward had attorned to the donees as their tenant by crediting
the rent of Rs. 300/. to the respective accounts in equal moity. The
donor could, therefore, only transfer possession of the property
which the nature of that property was capable of, which in this
case is subject to the tenancy. He could do nothing else to transfer the pc-ssession in any other manner unless he was required to
effectuate 'the gift for the purpose of s. 10 of the Act by getting
the firm to vacate the premises and lianding-0ver possession of the
same to the donees· leaving the donees thereafter to lease it out to
the firm.
Even then the objection of the learned Advocate· that
since the donor was a partner in the firm which had taken the property on lease, he derived benefit therefrom and was, therefore,
not entirely excluded from the possession and enjoyment thereof,
will neverthel.ess remaiin unsatisfied. To get over such an objection,
t~e donees will have to lease out the property after getting possession from the firm to some other person totally unconnected with
the donor.
Such an unreasonable requirement the law does not
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CONTROLLER ESTATE DUTY v. RAMACHANDRA
559
(Jaganmohan Reddy, J.)
postulate. The possession which the donor can give is the legal
possession which the circumstances and 1the nature of the property
would admit. 1his he has given. The benefit the donor had as a
member of the partnership, was not a benefit referable in any way
to the gift but is uncon.ne()!ed therewith.
The Privy Council in
Munro and others v.
Commissioner of Stamp Duties(')
was
dealing .with a case oi a similar nature. The donor in that case by
six registered transfers in the form prescribed, transferred by way
of gift all his right, title and interest in portions of the land . to
each of his four sons and .to trustees for each ol' his two daughters
and their children.
The four sons and the two daughters were,
prier to this transfer, on a verbal agreement with the donor, treitted
as partners of the busi.ness carried on by him as grazier of the land
owned by him. The evidence showed that 1the transfers were taken
subject to the partnership agreement and on the understanding that
any partner could withd~aw and work his land separately. On an
analogous provision of the law, the Privy Council thought it unnecessary to determine the precise nature oi the right of the partnership at the time of the transfers because it was either a tenancy
during the term of the partnership or a licence coupled with an
interest. Lord Tomlin, giving his opinion, observed at p. 67, that
"the benefit which the donor had as a member of the partnership
in the right to which the gift was subject was not in their Lordships'
opinion a benefit referable bn any way to the gift". This decision
was
referred to and distinguished in O/ifford John Chick ant!
another v. Commissioner of Stamp Duties('), and though it was.
considered to have no application to the case at point, Viscount
Simonds ot~erved at p. 97 : "It must often be a matter of fine
distinction "'hat is the subject-matter of gift. If, as in Munro's
case, the gift is of a property shorn of certain of the rights which
appertain to complete ownership, the donor cannot, merely because
'le remains in possession and enjoyment of those rights, be said
within the meaning of the section not to be excluded from possession and enjoyment of that which he has given."
In the Commissioner of Stamp Duties of New Sov/h Wales v.
Perpetual
Trustee Company Limited(') .. the Privy Council further elaborated
the concept of the nature of possession required to be given to the
donee as not to attract the analogous provisions of the Commonwealth Act. Lord Russel of Kill ow en observed at p. 440 :
"The linking of possession with enjoyment as a com -
posite object which has to be assumed by tile donee indicate·. •hat the possession and enjoyment contemplated is
ben~,.dal possession and enjoyment by the object of the
donor's bounty ................ because the son was
(through the medium of the trustees) immediately put
(I) [1934] A.C. 61.
(2) 37 l.T.R. [E.D.] 89
(3)
560
S'JPREME COURT REPORTS
[1973] 3 S.C.R.
in such bona fide beneficial possession and enjoyment of
the property comprised in the gift as the nature of the
gift and the circumstances permitted. Did he assume it,
and thenceforth retain it to the· entire exclusion of the
donor ? The answer, itheir Lordships think, must be in
the affirmative, and for two reasons : ( 1) the settlor had
no enjoyment and possession and enjoyment as he had
from the .fact that the legal ownership of the shares
ve~ted in him and his co-trustees as joint tenants, was had
by him solely on behalf of the dooee. In his capacity
as don6r he was entirely excluded from possession and
enjoyment of whai he had given to his son.
Did the
donee retain possession and enjoyment to the entire exclusion of anv benefit to the settlor of whatever kind or
in any way whatsoever ? Clearly yes."
.
The views expressed by the Privy Council are in complete accord
with our views already expressed.
This was also the view held
in Controller of Estate Duty, Mysore v. S. Aswathanarayana &tty
and another('), where a Bench of the Mysore High Court considered both the case of Olifjord John Chick and of . Munro
above referred to. In that case, on June 30, 1954, the deceased
transferred to his two sons Rs. 57,594 l:\feing half of the share
standing to his credit as on that date in the books of a firm in which
he was a partner and from July 1, 1954, the sons were also taken
as partners in the firm. On the death of the deceased on November
16, 1957, the Assistant Controller held that the amount transferred
to the sons must be deemed to pass as per the provisions of s. 10
of the Estate Ducy Act, which decision was confirmed by the Appellate Controller. The Tribunal, however, held that the sum which
subsequently was rectified to be Rs. 73,695 was not so· includible.
One of us (Hegde, J., as he then was), speaking for the Bench, ·
<>bserved at p. 32 :
"On the .facts of the case, it cannot be said that, after
the gifts, the donees did not retain the property ~ifted
to the entire exclusion of the donor or that the donor
had any benefit either by contract or otherwise in the· property gifted. That in order· that the property could
deem fo pass and estate duty could be leviaWe in such
cases, the benefit of the donor must be a benefit referable
to his own property. The view, that if it is once found
ithat the deceased had some benefit in the property, that
in itself was sufficient to bring the case wit!Jjn the ambiJ
of section 10 imspective of the question whe>ther that
benefit was referable or not referable to the gift, in our
opinion, is erroneous."
(1) 72 l.T.R. 29
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CONTROLLER ESTATE DUTY v. RAMACHANDRA
561
(Jaganmohan Reddy, J.)
In our view, neither the property gifted to the donees, nor the
amount of Rs. 1 lakh gifted to the five sons, could be included in
the estate of the deceased. The appeal is accordingly dismissed
with costs.
V.P.S.
Appeal dismissed.
•