 bid no 160 of 1985 the estate duty (amendment) bill, 1985 a billfurther to rczmend the estate duty a~, 1953 bill it enacted by parliament in the tbirty-sixth year of the republic of india as follows: -' 1 (1) this act may be called the estate duty (amendment) act, short 1985 j , ~ t ; i title and commence--5 (2) jt shall be deemed'to have come into force on the 16th "day of ment march, 1985 t:ifjt z in the estate duty ac~, 1953, after section 5b, the following section shall be inserted, namely:-insertion of new rection 5c in act 34 of 1963 10 u5c notwithstanding anything contained in section 5, this act shall cease to apply to the levy of estate duty in respect of any property (other than agricultural land) which passes on the death of any person on or after ~ 16t1) day of march, 1985" discontinuance of levy of estate duty  statement of objects and reasonsin the budget spe~ch, an announcement was made of the decision of government to abolish the levy or estate duty in respect of estates passing on deaths occurring on or after the lath day of march, 1985 this bill is in pursuance o~ that assurance 2 the new section proposed in clause 2 of the bi~ seeks to provide that the estate duty act, 1953 shall cease to apply to the levy of estate duty in respect of any property (other than agricultural land) which passes on the death of any person on or after the ~6th day of march, 1985 3 as regards levy of estate duty on agricultural ~and, it may be mentioned that the estate duty act does not apply to the levy of estate duty in respect of agricultural lands situate in all the union territories, and all the states except the states of andhra pradesh, karnataka, manijpur, nagaland, punjab and tripura it is proposed in due course to introduce another bill to provide for the abolition with effect from the 16th march, 1985, of the levy of estate duty in respect of agricultural lands situate in these states after the passing by the legislatures of at least two of these stafes, of resolutions in that behalf under article 252 of the constitution new djam; vishwanath pratap'singh the 14th august, 1985  - president's recommendation under article 117 and 274 of the constitution of india[copy of letter no 134/w85-tpl, dated the 16th august, 1985 from shri vishwanath pr&tap singh, minister of finance to the secretary-general, lok sabha] -the president, having been informed of the subject matter of the proposed bill further to amend the estate duty act, 1953, has recommended under article 117(1) and article 274(1) of the constitution of india', introduction ',of the estate duty (amendment) bill, 1985 in lok sablia  a billfurther to amend the estate duty act, 1953 '-" (shri vibhwanath prqtgp singh, minist~ ot finance> 