JUDGMENT
V.V. Kamat, J.
1. We are required to consider the following two questions with regard to the application of the provisions of Section 9(2)(iv) of the Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950 :
“1. Whether, on the facts and circumstances of the case, the Tribunal is justified in finding that the purchase of the property called Kavitha Estate for and on behalf of his minor child is hit by the provisions of Section 9(2)(iv) of the Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950, and the income is, therefore, includible in his income ?
2. Whether, on the facts and circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in relying on the registered sale deed in preference to the certificate issued by M.K. Kuriakose evidencing payment of loan by Rs. 80,000 to the applicant’s minor daughter for the purchase of the estate ?”
2. The position is more than simplified by reason of consistent findings of the authorities below which are more than difficult for learned counsel to contest in this proceeding under Section 60 of the Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950. A brief resume of the facts would not be out of place. The assessee is a rubber estate owner called Kasthuri Estate at Peringamala village in Nedumangad laluk. He is blind.
3. The assessing authority received information that an estate of ten acres known as Kavitha Estate was purchased by the assessee in the name of his minor daughter, Anitha, and even then the income from there, was not conceded. This led to the issuance of the notice by the Department under Section 30 of the Act in pursuance of which a return was filed. The assessing authority by order (annexure-1) proceeded to club the income of the minor child from Kavitha estate with that of the assessee and assessed it to tax. In view of the consistent finding it would be unnecessary to refer to the pleadings of the parties.
4. The assessing authority on verification of the documents recorded a conclusion that the consideration flowed from the assessee himself. It is also recorded that the minor daughter, Miss Anitha, or even her mother had no independent income to effect the purchase. It is further recorded that even the mother, Mrs. Chachiyamma Sunny had no independent income to repay the loan arranged from external source as contended. The assessing authority had no difficulty in applying the provisions of Section 9(2) of the Act. Before the appellate authority (Appellate Assistant Commissioner) the factual position gets strengthened. The appellate authority also has recorded that the minor child has no source of income even the sum which was borrowed, it is recorded that the assessee is also a partner of the firm that advanced the amount, It is further reaffirmed that the other partners of the firm advancing the amount include the assessee’s mother and his own brother. It is necessary to place on record that the brother by name, M.K. Thomas, issued certificate of advancement of loan, to contend in furtherance thereof that the property was purchased by the mother in the name of the minor child. We have seen the documents in question as the English translation was placed before us. The document is explicit that the sale deed is executed by the father of the minor child and it is the father who is the assessee before us. The record also shows that M.K. Thomas is none other than the brother of the assessee. The said partnership also consists of family members specified hereinabove.
5. This factual position gets reaffirmed in the conclusions of the Tribunal. It is to the effect that the purchase of the property was effected by the applicant himself for his minor child, Anitha, and that the consideration in regard thereto proceeded from the assessee only and from none else. The Tribunal has also clarified that the certificate would not have any weight in preference to the contents of the registered sale deed.
6. With this consistent factual position, in fact application of Section 9(2)(iv) of the Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950, would present no difficulty of any character, in view of the position that a direct connection gets established on the basis of the consistent findings.
7. The statutory provision of Section 9(2) is crystal clear in computing the total agricultural income of any individual for the purpose of assessment and it is seen that in the process assets transferred directly or indirectly to the minor child by such an individual otherwise than for adequate consideration would have to be included in the plain statutory language of Section 9(2) of the Act. The question is further concluded by the judgment of the co-ordinate jurisdiction of this court in P.M. Paily Pillai v. State of Kerala [1981] 129 ITR 197 applicable to a situation where series of transactions of sale showing consistency in its origin with regard to the use of the funds have been regarded by this court as clearly covering the situation with the help of Section 9(2)(a)(iv) of the Act. The conclusion in the above case (P.M. Paily Pillai v. State of Kerala [1981] 129 ITR 197 (Ker)) gets reinforced by the decision of the Supreme Court in CIT v. Prem Bhai Parekh [1970] 77 ITR 27 with reference to a pari materia situation available in Section 16(3)(a)(iv) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922. We have seen the above provisions showing the character of the situation described above.
8. Learned counsel was more than strenuous in seeking advantage of the phrase “directly or indirectly” in the concerned statutory provision. It is not possible to consider the situation in view of the position that the consistent findings stare in the face of the record to make available a direct situation for the application and governance of the provisions of Section 9(2) of the Act.
9. For the above reasons, the questions referred will have to be answered
as follows :
Question No. 1 is answered in the affirmative, in favour of the Revenue and against the assessee. Question No. 2 is answered in the affirmative, in favour of the Revenue and against the assessee.
10. A copy of the judgment to be caused to be sent to the Agricultural Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Trivandrum, with the seal of this court and under the signature of the Registrar. Order accordingly.