Jagirs were not heritable and on the death of the Jagirdar, it was always a case of resumption and regrant.

JAGANMOHAN REDDY, J.

( 1 ) THE Income-tax Appellate Tribunal has stated a case, in respect of the assessment year 1957-58, for which the relevant valuation date is 31-3-1957, under Section 27 (I) of the Wealth Tax Act, 1957, on the following questions for the opinion of this Court, namely. (1) Whether the assessee has been correctly assessed in the status of an individual: and

( 2 ) WHERE the amount receivable by the assessee from the Jagir Administrator as compensation on the abolition of the Jagir constitute the Wealth of the assessee and is assessable under the Wealth Tax Act. (2) The facts out of which the above two questions arise are that the assessee. Rani Bhagya Lakshmamma was the holder of Samasthan Amarchinta prior to the abolition of the Jagirs. She was the Jagirdar and in respect of the income from the Jagir, she was being assessed as an individual. On the abolition of the Jagirs, the Government determined a certain sum as payable to her for taking over her rights in the Jagir, namely, the commutation amount paid to the assessee in instalment spread over a period of 20 years. It may be stated that the last holder of the Jagir was Raja Sriram Bhupal, the husband of the assessee, who died on 23rd Thir. 1339-F, (May 1930 ). The assessee after the death of her husband applied to the Atiyat Court for the grant of a virasat (succession) to the Samasthan of the late Rajah and succession was granted in her name on the 15th Thir 1342-F, (May 1933 ). Thereafter she applied for permission to adopt a son on 23rd Amardad, 134 4/06/1934) which was granted to her on 17th Jamadi L. 1355-F. (October 1934 ). In May 1939, she adopted a son to her late husband and intimated the same to the Government. The Government approved the adoption, under the Firman of H. E. H. The Nizam on 13th Khurdad, 135 2-F. (April 1942)Before the Wealth Tax Officer, the assessee made a claim that the assessment should be made in the status of a Hindu undivided family as the income was primarily meant to enure for the benefit of the family. The Wealth Tax Officer rejected the claim of the assessee on the ground that Jagirs being Atiyat property, in the personal property of the holder. After the abolition of paid to the assessee only, and as such he made the assessment the assessee in the status of an individual.

( 3 ) ON the valuation date, the assessee bad to receive a sum of Rs. 8,99,650 from the Government for taking over her rights in the Jagir. The assessee objected to the inclusion of the commutation amount in her assessment on the ground that it did not constitute Wealth. The Wealth Tax Officer repelled the contention of the assessee and determined the value of the amounts receivable by the assessee in future at Rs. 7,20,000 and included the same in the assessment of the assessee. The assessee appealed to the Appellant Assistant Commissioner of Wealth Tax, before whom she objected to the assessment being made on her in the status of an individual. She also contended that the Wealth Tax Officer was wrong in including in the assessment the sum of Rs. 7,20,000 being the value of the commutation amounts receivable in future by the assessee on account of the abolition of the Jagirs. It was urged that as on the date of the valuation, the assessee had no right over the amounts of future commutation instalments and as those amounts did not fall due on the valuation date, the inclusion thereof was not proper. The Appellate Assistant Commissioner repelled both these contentions. He however redetermined the value of the future instalments of the commutation amounts, which resulted in a slight relief to the assessee. It was also noticed by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner that the conferment of the Jagir on the assessee being of a personal nature, the assessment made on her in the status of an individual was right, and that even after the adoption of the son she remained in her own right as the holder of the Samasthan Amarchinta and as the Jagir was treated a

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