Retrospective transfer rules cannot displace completed property rights where possession and enjoyment had already passed under earlier law.

Agreements for sale that created rights enabling vendees to enjoy immovable property, including buildings to be constructed, were treated as transfers under Chapter XX-A because the statutory definition covered rights in respect of such property and arrangements amounting to part performance under section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882. On the facts, possession and beneficial enjoyment had already passed before Chapter XX-C came into force, so the later and more stringent regime could not be applied retrospectively to those completed transfers. The acquisition orders made under Chapter XX-C were therefore unsustainable and were quashed.

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Issues: Whether the agreements for sale of the properties, by creating rights enabling the vendees to enjoy the properties or the buildings to be constructed, constituted a "transfer" under Chapter XX-A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 before Chapter XX-C came into force, so that Chapter XX-C could not be applied to the transactions.

Analysis: Chapter XX-A and Chapter XX-C define "immovable property" and "transfer" in a wide manner. Under Chapter XX-A, rights acquired in or with respect to a building to be constructed fall within the statutory definition, and a transaction allowing possession or enjoyment in part performance of a contract of the nature referred to in section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 is treated as a transfer. The agreements in question conferred rights on the vendees to enjoy the properties and, on the facts, possession and beneficial enjoyment had already passed under the contractual arrangements before Chapter XX-C was brought into force. The later and more stringent Chapter XX-C could not be applied retrospectively to transactions that had already ripened into statutory transfers under Chapter XX-A.

Conclusion: The agreements constituted transfers under Chapter XX-A before the commencement of Chapter XX-C, and Chapter XX-C was not applicable to those transactions.

Final Conclusion: The acquisition orders passed under Chapter XX-C were unsustainable and were quashed, leaving the petitioners entitled to relief.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an agreement has already created a right in respect of immovable property that enables possession or enjoyment and thus amounts to a statutory transfer under the earlier chapter, a subsequently introduced more restrictive chapter cannot be applied retrospectively to that completed transfer absent clear legislative intent.

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