H.N. Seth, J.

1. IN connection with the estate duty assessment concerning the estate of late Shahu Jagdish Prasad, Sri Govind Prasad, the accountable person, claimed that as the amount of estate duty payable in respect of the estate left by the deceased was a charge on the said estate, it had to be taken into account while determining the market value of the estate. He further claimed that in any case the estate duty leviable on the estate of the deceased being a charge on the estate left by the deceased was an incumberance which had to be allowed as a deduction under Section 44 of the E.D. Act (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), while determining the taxable value of the estate for the purposes of estate duty. The claim made by the accountable person was rejected by the Asst. Controller and the order passed by him was in this regard eventually upheld by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Allahabad. However, the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal has, at the instance of the accountable person, stated the case and has referred the following question for the opinion of this court:

"Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was correct in holding