Privy Council Court October 1935 Judgments

(Maharaj Kumar) Srinivas Prasad Singh Vs. Keshava Prasad Singh and Oth ...

Court: Privy Council

LORD THANKERTON: The appellant, who attained majority in 1923, filed the present suit on 12th June 1926, seeking to set aside a compromise decree passed in 1912 by the High Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal: On 25th January 1932, the appellant's suit was dismissed for want of prosecution by a judgment and order of the High Court passed in its original jurisdiction (Lort Williams, J.) which was affirmed on appeal by a judgment and order of the High Court dated 11th July 1932. Hence the present appeal. The litigation is concerned with the title to the Dumraon Raj, a large and important estate situated in the Shahabad District of the Province of Bihar and Orissa and other places and other properties pertaining to the Raj. In 1894, the then Maharaja of Dumraon, Sir Radha Prasad Singh, died, leaving no male issue, but leaving a widow, Maharani Beni Prasad Kuari, and a daughter. By an authority executed and registered in 1689, which he confirmed by his will, the Maharaja had empo...

Somasekhara Royal and Others Vs. Sugutur Mahadeva Royal and Others

Court: Privy Council

Reported in: AIR1936PC18

LORD THANKERTON: In the present appeal the appellants are members of the family of the Panganur Zamindar. On his death during this suit they have been substituted for him and now represent the impartible estate. They are defendants in a suit brought by respondent 1, who is a member of the same family being the third son of a predecessor in the ownership of the impartible estate. He is seeking to recover certain allowances or sums, in the first place, in the form of maintenance at the rate of Rs. 100 a month and, secondly, at the rate of Rs. 125 a month in lieu of certain lands which were given to him, whether for maintenance or not, under the will of his father. The only ground of defence which is raised by this appeal is to the effect that in the year 1907 the plaintiff, the respondent, was adopted by a lady in the Bombay Presidency, both parties being Lingayats. The Panganur family are resident in the Madras Presidency and the ground of defence is that having been adopted by this lad...

Commissioner of Income-tax, Bombay Presidency and Aden, Vs. Currimbhoy ...

Court: Privy Council

SIR GEORGE RANKIN: This appeal arises out of an assessment order made by the Income-Tax Officer of A Ward, Bombay, on 7th August 1931, against the respondent company, Messrs. Currimbhoy Ebrahim and Sons, Limited, as agents of His Exalted Highness the Nizam of Hyderabad. The order was made in respect of income-tax for the year of assessment 1931-1932, but was based upon the accounting period being the year 1930-31. Two items only were included in the order, first, the sum of Rs. 27,960 being income-tax claimed to be due from the Nizam under the head "property" in respect of house property in Bombay of which he is the owner; secondly, a sum of Rs. 3,15,214 being the amount received in the year of account by the Nizam from the respondent company as interest due upon a loan of Rs. 50,00,000 made by the Nizam to the respondent company upon the terms of a written instrument dated 16th August 1929. The latter claim was laid under the heading "Other Sources" as defined by S.12 of the Act. Thi...

Commissioner of Income-tax, Madras Vs. Buckingham and Carnatia Company ...

Court: Privy Council

SIR LANCELOT SANDERSON: This is an appeal by the Commissioner of Income-tax from a judgment and order of the High Court of Judicature at Madras dated 2nd May 1934, whereby the High Court, upon the hearing of a case referred to it by the appellant under the provisions of the Indian, Income-tax Act 1922 (11 of 1923), answered certain questions of law raised thereby adversely to the contentions of the appellant. The questions of law referred to the High Court arose in the course of the assessment of the profits and gains of the business of the respondent company for the tax year beginning on 1st April 1931. The main question arising for determination in this appeal is whether the allowance to be made to the respondent company in respect; of depreciation of buildings and machinery used by them for the purposes of their business should be calculated by reference to the cost thereof to the respondent company or by reference to the original cost thereof to certain companies from which such bu...

Northwestern Utilities, Ltd. Vs. London Guarantee and Accident Co. Ltd ...

Court: Privy Council

LORD WRIGHT: The action out of which this appeal arises, was brought by the respondents as respectively owners of property in the city of Edmonton in Alberta and their insurers; they claimed that the property had been destroyed or damaged by a fire due to an escape of gas from the gas main of the appellants for which the appellants are liable. The damages claimed amounted to $320,278,64 but all questions of amount were reserved. On the question of liability before Ford, J., the appellants succeeded, but his decision was reversed by a judgment of the Supreme Court of Alberta (Appellate Division) by a majority (Lunney and Mitchell, JJ. A. dissenting) who ordered judgment to be entered for damages to be assessed. From that judgment, the present appeal is brought. The appellants are a public Utility Company incorporated under the Dominion Companies Act: they distribute natural gas under a franchise granted to their predecessors-in-title the Northern Alberta Natural Gas Development Company ...

Richard Thorold Grant Vs. Australian Knitting Mills, Ltd. and Others

Court: Privy Council

LORD WRIGHT: The appellant is a fully qualified medical man practising at Adelaide in South Australia. He brought his action against the respondents, claiming damages on the ground that he had contracted dermatitis by reason of the improper condition of underwear purchased by him from the respondents, John Martin and Co., Ltd., and manufactured by the respondents, the Australian Knitting Mills, Limited; the case was tried by Sir George Murray, Chief Justice of South Australia, who after a trial lasting for 20 days gave judgment against both respondents for the appellant for 2,450 and costs. On appeal the High Court of Australia set aside that judgment by a majority. Evatt, J., dissented, and agreed with the Chief Justice. Of the majority, the reasoning of Dixon, J., with whom McTiernan, J., concurred, was in effect that the evidence was not sufficient to make it safe to find for the appellant. Starke, J., who accepted substantially all the detailed findings of the Chief Justice, differ...

Secy. of State and Another Vs. Srimutty Parijat Debi and Another

Court: Privy Council

Sir Lancelot Sanderson: This is an appeal from an order dated 24th April 1933, and made by the High Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal in its appellate jurisdiction, affirming an order made by a Judge of that Court on 17th March 1931. The facts out of which this appeal arises are shortly as follows: One Pasupati Mukherjee, a resident of Calcutta, died on 9th May 1919, possessed of considerable property, having made a last will and testament whereby he appointed the Administrator-General of Bengal as his executor. By the said will, after making specific bequests and provisions for certain annuities and for the marriage of his daughter, it was provided that: The residual estate shall be divided among the children of my late brother, when all of them shall have attained majority. Till then it shall be in the hands of the executor. Half of my estate shall be divided equally among the sons of my late lamented elder brother and the remaining half shall be divided among my children...

Bhagwan Bakhsh Singh and Another Vs. Mahesh Baksh Singh and Others

Court: Privy Council

Reported in: AIR1935PC199

Sir John Wallis: In this case Bhagwan Baksh Singh, plaintiff 1, hereinafter referred to as the plaintiff, who gives his age as 21, instituted the present suit on 7th March 1929, to recover possession with mesne profits of the share of Chatarpal Singh, his mother's husband, in the suit properties belonging to the joint family of which Chatarpal was a member, impleading defendants 1 and 2, who are surviving members of the joint family, and defendants 3 and 4, who are widows of deceased members. To raise money for this litigation he has alienated a half share of the properties in the suit to Thakhur Mahadeo Singh, plaintiff 2. It is not now in dispute that at the time of the plaintiff's birth, his mother, Mt. Dilwant Kuer, the daughter of Nakched Singh, was the lawfully married wife of Chatarpal Singh, but it is alleged by the defendants in the written statement that, before the gauna or consummation ceremony, it came to light that Chatarpal's wife was pregnant as the result of an illicit...

Li Tse Shi Vs. Pong Tsoi Ching

Court: Privy Council

Lord Russell of Killowen: This is a very peculiar case, depending in large measure on its very peculiar circumstances, which must first be stated. One, Li Woon Nam, died on 19th April, 1925 leaving his widow, Li Tse Shi (the appellant), and an adopted son, Li Kai Loy, him surviving. He was the owner of a Crown lease of certain premises (hereinafter referred to as the premises), 73, Bonham Strand West situate at Victoria in the colony of Hong Kong, which he had acquired from one Ng Yu Hon by an assignment dated 11th October 1924. His name appeared at his death as such owner in the Hong Kong Land Registry, the premises being then in the occupation of the said Ng Yu Hon as sub-lessee. By his will the premises, together with other property, were bequeathed absolutely to the appellant. As will appear, no legal personal representative of the testator was appointed until some years after his death. In the meantime a strange transaction had taken place. On 24th March 1930, an indenture was sig...