S. Arumugham and Others vs Commissioner of Income Tax

R. Jayasimha Babu, J.—The assessee won the lottery, but, wanted to avoid payment of tax on his winning''s. He has been unsuccessful in that endeavour. He claimed that there was an oral agreement among" himself, his wife and his two children to share the winnings. That plea was taken almost a month after the date of purchase of the lottery ticket, and after the results of the lottery had been announced. The Tribunal held that oral agreement so set up was not credible. We see no reason to discard the finding of the Tribunal. It was not the case of the assessee that anyone else had contributed for the purchase of the ticket. The ticket was admittedly purchased out of the assessee''s own funds. The assessee was the person who received the benefit of that purchase having been lucky enough to be the winner. The tax has been rightly levied on him.

The question decided by the Tribunal is essentially one of fact. The reference made to us at the instance of the assessee as to whether the prize amount is liable to be taxed in entirety in his hands as an individual, is answered in favour of the Revenue and against the assessee. No costs.