Chapter XX-C excludes mortgage deeds, so registration cannot be refused for want of a no-objection certificate.

Chapter XX-C of the Income-tax Act applies only to transfers specifically covered by section 269UA(f), namely sale, exchange, long-term lease, or similar transactions conferring rights of enjoyment. A mortgage creates only a security interest for repayment of a loan and does not transfer ownership or the right of enjoyment contemplated by the Chapter. Accordingly, mortgage deeds are outside the pre-emptive purchase and no-objection certificate regime, and the registering officer cannot refuse registration on the ground that such a certificate has not been obtained.

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Issues: Whether Chapter XX-C of the Income-tax Act, 1961 applies to a mortgage of immovable property and whether the registering officer can refuse registration of such mortgage deeds without a no objection certificate from the appropriate authority.

Analysis: Chapter XX-C is a special pre-emptive purchase regime aimed at checking tax evasion through significant undervaluation of immovable property. Its operation is confined by the statutory definitions in section 269UA. The definition of "transfer" in clause (f) covers only transfer by way of sale, exchange, lease for not less than twelve years, and transactions that enable enjoyment of rights falling within clause (d)(ii). A mortgage, by contrast, creates a security interest for repayment of a loan and does not transfer ownership or the right of enjoyment contemplated by the Chapter. The scheme of sections 269UC, 269UD and 269UL, read with the definition clauses, shows that the statutory mandate to insist on no objection certificates applies only to documents which on their face purport to effect a transfer within section 269UA(f), and not to mortgage deeds. The appropriate authority cannot enlarge the scope of the Chapter by treating every mortgage as a transfer for the purposes of compulsory purchase and registration control.

Conclusion: Chapter XX-C does not apply to mortgage deeds merely securing repayment of loans, and the registering officer cannot insist on a no objection certificate or refuse registration on that basis.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purposes of Chapter XX-C of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the expression "transfer" is limited to the categories specifically defined by section 269UA(f), and a mortgage creating only a security interest does not fall within that definition.

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