Law: Income Tax Ordinance, 1979

Section: 19,21,8

Law: Transfer of Property Act, 1882

Section: 45,7,8,44,47

Law: Income Tax Act, 1922

Section: 9(3)

(a) Income Tax Ordinance (XXXI of 1979)-------Ss. 19 & 21---C.B.R. Circular No. 14 of 1959---Income from house property---Liability of co-owners---Application of provisions of S.21, Income Tax Ordinance, 1979---Conditions---Physical divisibility of the property or partition by metes and bounds cannot be imported in S.21.For the purpose of applying the provisions of section 21 the Legislature has provided two conditions only. First, that in case of property to which section 19 applies it should be owned by two or more persons and secondly, their respective shares should be definite and ascertainable. The condition of physical divisibility of the property or partition by metes and bounds cannot be imported in this section.Benefit of section 21 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 1979 cannot be denied on the ground that there has been no division by metes and bounds. If the shares of the owners of the properties are not definite the provisions of section 21 of the Income Tax Ordinance shall not be attracted.The word "ascertain" has been defined in Cassell's English Dictionary to mean "to find out or learn by investigation examination of experiment, to make sure of; to find out". According to Shorter Oxford English Dictionary the word "ascertain" means, "to make certain, to insure, to make a thing certain or definite, to decide, fix, limit". According to Stroud's Judicial Dictionary the word "ascertain" has two meanings (1) as a certainty to find out by investigation". In the same Book the word "definite" conveys the meaning of "fixed, determine, defined, bounded". In Cassell's English Dictionary the word "definite" has been defined to mean, "limited, determinate fixed precisely, exact, distinct, clear, positive, indicating exactly, limiting". According to Shorter Oxford English Dictionary the word "definite" means, "having fixed, limits, determinate, exact, precise".None of the words used in the section contains any indication of divisibility of property but cannot the sense of exactitude, clearness, certainty and of being fixed.Word "definite" and "ascertainable" have been used in section 21 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 1979 to convey the same meaning of exact, fix…