M.m.p.l. Palaniappa Chettiar Estate Represented By First Executor, Chokkalingam Chettiar v. V.n.s. Ramaswami Naidu And Others

(Prayer: Appeal (disposed of on 10-8-1945) against the decree of the Court of the Subordinate Judge, Mayavaram in O.S. No. 29 of 1943.)

It seems to us that the question of the assessment of the estate is a matter of no relevance for determining the right to relief under Madras Act IV of 1938. The estate is not a person and if it is not a person, it cannot be an agriculturist by the terms of the definition in S. 3 of the Act. We are not here concerned with the question of a claim by beneficiaries under a trust to relief under the Act in respect liabilities imposed on them through the trustee. Nor are we concerned with a decree against the executors personally. The decree is only against the estate in the hands of the executors and there is no provision of the Act under which such an impersonal entity as an estate can claim relief. In fact the estate is a charitable estate and would seem to be expressly excluded by the terms of S. 3(1) of the Act. The appeal is dismissed with costs of respondents 1 to 3.