B.N.Banerjee, J. - (1.) Is Sections 6 of the Gift Tax Act, 1958 herein-after referred to as the Act) dealing with determination of the value of taxable gifts and that part of Section 29 of the Act, which authorises recovery of Gift from the donee, where, in the opinion of the Gift Tax Officer, the tax cannot be recovered from the donor, ultra vires the Constitution? That is the main question which calls for determination in this Rule.
(2.) "Gift" is defined in Section 2 (xii) of the Act in the following language : -- "Gift means the transfer by one person to another of any existing movable or immovable property made voluntarily and without consideration in money or moneys worth, and includes the transfer of any property deemed to be a gift under Section 4." Section 4 of the Act includes certain transfers within the definition of "Gift" under the Act and reads as follows : Section 4. For the purposes of this Act,-- (a) "Where property is transferred otherwise that for adequate consideration, the amount by which the market value of the property at the date of the transfer exceeds the value of the consideration shall be deemed to be a gift made by the transferor; (b) Where property is transferred for a consideration which, having regard to the circumstances of the case, has not passed or is not intended to pass either in full or in part from the transferee, to the transferor, the amount of the consideration which has not passed or is not intended to pass shall be deemed to be a gift made by the transferor; (c) Where there is a release, discharge, surrender, forfeiture or abandonment of any debt, contract or other actionable claim or of any interest in property by any person, the value of the release, discharge, surrender, forfeiture or abandonment, to the extent to which it has not been found to the satisfaction of the Gift-tax Officer to have been bona fide, shall be deemed to be a gift made by the person responsible for the release, discharge, surrender, forfeiture or abandonment; (d) Where a person absolutely entitled to property causes or has caused the same to be vested in whatever manner in himself and any other person jointly without adequate consideration and such other person makes an appropriation from or out of the said property, the amount of the appropriation used for the benefit of the person making the appropriation or for the benefit of any other person shall be deemed to be a gift made in his favour by the person who causes or has caused the property to be so vested". An assessee under the Act is defined in Section 2 (iii) and reads as follows : " 'assessee' means a person by whom gift-tax or any other sum of money is payable under this Act, and includes every person in respect of whom any proceeding tinder this Act has been taken for the determination of the gift-tax payable by him". Section 13 of the Act relates to the return of gifts and is set out below : "1. Every person who during a previous year has made any taxable gifts shall, before the thirtieth day of June of the corresponding assessment year, furnish to the Gift-tax Officer a return in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner. 2. If the Gift-tax Officer is of opinion that in respect of the gifts made by a person during any previous year he is liable to gift-tax under this Act, then notwithstanding anything contained in Sub-section (1) he may serve a notice upon such person requiring him to furnish within such period, not being less than thirty days, as may be specified in the notice, a return in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner.
(3.) The Gift-tax Officer may in his discretion extend the date for the delivery of the return under this section". 3. Section 6 of the Act provides for determination of value of taxable gifts and reads as follows : "1. The value of any property other than cash transferred by way of gift shall, subject to the provisions of Sub-sections (2) and (3), be estimated to be the price which in the opinion of the Gift-tax Officer it would fetch if sold in the open market on the date on which the gift was made. 2. Where a person makes a gift which is not revocable for a specified period, the value of the property gifted shall be the capitalised value of the income from the property gifted during the period for which the gift is not revocable. 3. Where the value of any property cannot be estimated under Sub-section (1) because it is not saleable in the open market, the value shall be determined in the prescribed manner." ;