In the matter of the Estate of Saradambal Ammal and Others

This matter has been posted before a Division Bench, because Panchapakesa Ayyar, J., before whom it came in the first instance, thought it was

not free from doubt. The question we have to decide arises out of a circular issued by the Controller, of Estate Duty, Madras, inter alia to the

Registrar of this Court inviting the attention of concerned officers to the provisions of Section 57, Estate Duty Act, and suggesting that a necessary

note be placed before the learned Judge before whom an application for grant of probate, letters of administration or succession certificate to a

person dying after the commencement of the Act may be posted, so that the provisions of the section may be strictly complied with. u/s 57:

''In all cases in which a grant of representation is applied within six months of the death of the deceased--

(a) the executor of the deceased shall, to the best of his knowledge and belief, Specify in an appropriate account annexed to the affidavit of

valuation filed in Court u/s 19-1, Court-fees Act, 1870 (7 of 1870), all the property in respect of which estate duty is payable upon the death of

the deceased and shall deliver a copy of the affidavit with the account to the Controller, and--

(b) no order entitling the applicant to the grant of representation shall be made upon his application until he has delivered the account prescribed in

Clause (a) and has produced a certificate from the Controller u/s 60 or Section 67 that the estate duty (if any) is payable in respect of the property

included in the account has been or will be paid, or that none is due, as the case may be.

The question is whether this section will apply to the grant of succession certificate. The answer appears to be clear in view of the definition of

the term ""representation"" in Section 2(18), Estate Duty Act. The definition is as follows:

''representation'' means probate of a will or letters of administration.

''Executor'' is defined as ""the executor or administrator of a deceased person."" It is obvious that it is only when a probate of a will and letters of

administration are granted that the provisions of Section 57 would apply.

The learned Government Pleader, who appears on behalf of the Controller of Estate Duty refer red us to Section 50, which mentions a

succession certificate along with probate and letters of administration for the purpose of reduction of, the amount of the estate duty by the amount

of court-fees paid before obtaining them. The marginal note of this provision runs as follows-

Relief from estate duty where court-fees have been paid for obtaining representation to estate of deceased.

It is suggested ""representation"" in this marginal note has evidently been used to include also a succession certificate. We do not think that it is safe

to base any decision on the strength of a marginal note. When there is a definition of the term ""representation"" in the body of the Act itself; we

cannot resort to a marginal note to another section to enlarge the scope of the definition for the purpose of construing Section 57. The circular in so

far it purported to include the grant of a succession certificate within its scope is misconceived.