Part-performance transfer under Chapter XXC bars clearance once possession passes before Form No. 37-I filing.

Chapter XXC of the Income-tax Act treats a transaction as a "transfer" where possession has been delivered in part performance under section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, as reflected in section 269UA(f). On the admitted facts, the mill's possession had already passed to the transferee before Form No. 37-I was filed, so the matter was not one of intended transfer but an actual transfer for Chapter XXC purposes. The Appropriate Authority was therefore acting within jurisdiction, and no objection clearance was not available on that basis.

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Issues: Whether the writ petitioner was entitled to a no objection certificate under Chapter XXC of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and whether the Appropriate Authority lacked jurisdiction to treat the transaction as already transferred when possession had been handed over before filing Form No. 37-I.

Analysis: The decisive question was whether the transaction amounted to a "transfer" within the meaning of section 269UA(f) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, which incorporates the concept of part performance under section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882. On the admitted facts, possession of the mill had already been delivered to the transferee before submission of Form No. 37-I. In that situation, the transaction was not merely an intended transfer but an actual transfer for the purposes of Chapter XXC. The Court accepted the view that the statutory scheme permits action only at the stage of intended transfer and that once possession has been handed over in part performance, the statement filed under Form No. 37-I does not present a valid case for clearance under the chapter.

Conclusion: The impugned order was within jurisdiction, the writ petitioner was not entitled to the relief sought, and the challenge failed.

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