(The judgment of the Court was delivered by the Honble the Chief Justice).

The petitioner is the managing member of an undivided Hindu family and as such he has been assessed to Income Tax for the year 1937-38. The family belongs to the Nattukottai Chettiar community and carries on a money-lending business. In the year 1913 the petitioners father advanced Rs. 2,15,000 to Bangaru Ammal, the Zamindarini of Thevaram, on the security of the Zamindari. The loan was not repaid and in 1925 the petitioner was compelled to file a suit in the Court of the Subordinate Judge of Dindigul to enforce payment of the amount then due. Accumulations of interest, it was said, had brought the figure up to Rs. 5,49,683 but this was denied. A compromise was eventually agreed upon and a decree was passed by the Subordinate Judge embodying the terms of settlement. Under this decree the debtor was to pay to the petitioner a sum of Rs. 3,75,000 in full settlement of all claims on or before July 31, 1931. In the meantime this sum was not to carry interest. In the event of the amount not being paid by the due date the Zamindari was to become the absolute property of the petitioners family. By this decre