Chapter XX-C limits the authority to purchase or no objection certificate; it cannot declare a transfer void.

Under Chapter XX-C of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the appropriate authority's function on receipt of Form No. 37-I is confined to the statutory choices of pre-emptive purchase by the Union of India or issuance of a no objection certificate. It cannot pronounce on the legality of the transfer, reject the statement as void, or treat it as ineffective merely because it considers the transfer to have already taken place before filing. The settled position is that the scheme confers no broader power of invalidation on the authority, so an order rejecting Form No. 37-I on that basis cannot stand.

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Issues: Whether the appropriate authority under Chapter XX-C of the Income-tax Act, 1961 could reject the statement in Form No. 37-I and declare it void on the ground that the transfer had already taken place before filing, instead of confining itself to the statutory options of pre-emptive purchase or issuance of a no objection certificate.

Analysis: Section 269UC requires an agreement for transfer to be furnished in the prescribed form within the statutory time, but the authority's role under Chapter XX-C is limited to deciding whether the Union of India should purchase the property or whether a no objection certificate should be issued. The authority has no jurisdiction to pronounce upon the legality of the transfer or to treat the statement as void merely because it considered the transfer to have been completed before filing. The settled judicial position, consistently followed, is that the statutory scheme does not confer any broader power of invalidation on the appropriate authority.

Conclusion: The impugned order rejecting the Form No. 37-I statement and treating it as void could not be sustained and was liable to be set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Under Chapter XX-C of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the appropriate authority cannot declare a transfer void or go beyond the statutory choice of pre-emptive purchase or issuance of a no objection certificate.

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