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4. In further exercise of the said power contained in Clause 15 of the said deed of trust, the settlor doth hereby declare and direct that the hereinbefore recited Clause 15 of the said deed of trust stands revoked and the said trust is irrevocable.

5. Save as altered and varied by these presents all other trusts, powers, provisions, covenant and conditions, contained in the said deed of trust dated 11-4-1961 shall remain in full force and effect.

3. The GTO regarded the execution of the second deed as a gift of the corpus of the properties and levied gift-tax thereon. According to him, by executing a second deed on 31-12-1970 the settlor had revoked the first trust and had resettled the property and the income arising therefrom on the beneficiaries according to the new terms mentioned in the second deed.

(iv) Clause 15 provided that the trust would remain irrevocable for a period of six years and one day from the date of execution thereof, after the expiration of which period, it would be lawful for the settlor to alter, vary or absolutely to revoke the trusts powers and provisions therein contained and to declare and appoint by the same or any other deed or will or codicil such other trusts, powers and provisions concerning the trust fund as the settlor shall think fit.

(v) By three identical separate deeds of alterations executed on 31-12-1970 (the December 1970 deed), the settlor declared that the trusts were irrevocable. The settlor also increased the number of beneficiaries entitled to the income and specified their shares. Further, the persons entitled to the corpus and their shares were also specified. Stamp duty of Rs-15 was paid on each document.

(ii) The purpose of the trust,

(iii) The beneficiaries,

(iv) The trust property, and

(v) The settlor must transfer the trust property to the trustees.

According to the learned counsel for the assessees, if all the aforesaid ingredients are not to be found in the December 1970 deed, no new/fresh trust came into being in the instant case. In this connection, he invited my attention to the December 1970 deed, which is reproduced in the order of the learned Judicial Member and highlighted the fact that the ingredients (ii), (iv) and (v) are missing. In the December 1970 deed neither the purpose of the trust nor the trust property is mentioned. Further, the settlor has not transferred the trust property to the trustees. In other words, the learned counsel for the assessees wanted to impress upon me that since under the December 1970 deed, no trust came into being, the gift-tax authorities were not justified in holding that the trust under the April 1961 deed had come to an end and a new/fresh trust came into being under the December 1970 deed. In this connection, he invited my attention to Clause 15 of the April 1961 deed and pointed out that under the said deed the terms and conditions were irrevocable for a period of six years and one day. However, after the expiry of the said period, the trust continued to exist with the same terms and conditions contained in the April 1961 deed till a declaration dated 31-12-1970 was made by the settlor for varying certain provisions of clauses 2(b), 3 and 15 of the April 1961 deed. Inviting my attention to Clause 15 of the April 1961 deed, the learned counsel for the assessee highlighted the fact that the settlor had reserved right and power 'to alter, vary or absolutely to revoke all or any of the uses trusts powers provisions and limitations herein declared and contained of and concerning the trust fund as provided and appointed herein and if he so desires in lieu of the uses trusts and limitations so revoked to limit declare and appoint by the same or any other deed or deeds or will or codicil such new or other uses trusts powers provisions and limitations of and concerning the trust fund or the income thereof of the management thereof as he, the settlor, shall think proper anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary notwithstanding, as upon such revocation the said trust fund or any part thereof or the income thereof or any part thereof in respect of which such power of revocation shall be exercised shall belong absolutely to the settlor subject to any such new limitations, declaration or appointment'. According to the learned counsel for the assessees, the legal effect of the two documents is that the trust created under the April 1961 deed continued with certain modification/alteration as contained in the December 1970 deed. He, therefore, urged that since by the December 1970 deed, the assessee had only varied certain clauses of the April 1961 deed, the gift-tax authorities were not justified in coming to the conelusion that under the December 1970 deed a new/fresh trust came into being.

331. Modification of trust by settlor.--The same principles are applicable to the modification of trust as are applicable to the revocation of a trust. If the settlor does not by the terms of the trust reserve a power to alter or amend or modify it, he has no power to do so. But if he reserves such a power, he can modify the trust to the extent to which he has reserved a power to do so. The settlor may reserve a power to alter the trust in any way he sees fit; or he may reserve a power to modify it only in some particular, such as altering the powers or the duties of the trustee, or changing the beneficiaries, or cutting down or increasing the extent of the interests of the beneficiaries.