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Section 176: Where gift of annuity and residuary gift, whole annuity to be first satisfied

Indian Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1925
Section 175 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 177

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 176

Section 176 prescribes when an annuity given with directions as to the time of payment becomes payable.

  • Adherence to Testator's Schedule: Where an annuity is given with a direction that it shall be paid at specified intervals (e.g. monthly, quarterly, or bi-annually), it becomes payable accordingly.
  • Immediate Accrual: The intervals are calculated from the day of the testator's death unless the will directs payment from a different future date.
  • Apportionment on Death: The annuity is apportionable day-to-day under the Apportionment Act; upon the annuitant's death, his personal representatives take the accrued fraction up to the date of death.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • F.S. Gandhi v. Commissioner of Wealth Tax (1990) 3 SCC 624: The Supreme Court recognized that directions regarding payment intervals under Section 176 govern the cash-flow rights of annuitants and bound executors strictly.
  • Commissioner of Wealth Tax v. Estate of Late Vikramsinhji (2014) 14 SCC 278: Affirmed that specific timing directions under Section 176 displace the default annual rule under Section 174.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

If a will specifies 'Rs. 25,000 to be paid on the 1st of every month to my mother', the executor must pay the first installment on the 1st day of the calendar month immediately following the date of death under Section 176.

Section 175 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 177