Judgment

H. R. KHANNA, J:- This appeal on certificate is by the Controller of Estate Duty against the judgement of the Kerala High Court whereby the High Court answered the following questions referred to it under Section 64 (1) of the Estate Duty Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) in favour of the accountable persons and against the revenue:

"Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Appellate Tribunal was right in holding that the sum of Rs. 2,70,000 is not includible in the estate of the deceased under Section 10 of the Estate Duty Act?"

2. The matter relates to the estate of R. V. Veeramani Iyer who died on November 18, 1960. The accountable persons are the six sons of the deceased. The deceased was the proprietor of two business concerns, one dealing in yarn and carrying on money-lending business under the name and style of P. R. N. Ramanathan Iyer & Co. and the other dealing in piece-goods under the name and style of R. V. Veeramani Iyer. With a view to convert the business of the aforesaid two concerns into partnership business with his four major sons, the deceased transferred a sum of Rupees 45,000 from his personal account to the credit of each of