Agreement to sell without possession creates no transferee interest, barring objection to Central Government pre-emptive purchase.

An agreement to sell, without delivery of possession, does not create any interest in property in favour of the proposed transferee under the Chapter XX-C pre-emptive purchase scheme. On that basis, the proposed transferee has no legal right to object to the Central Government's purchase of the property under section 269UD(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and cannot maintain a writ challenge under article 226. The operative effect is that only a transferee with a recognised legal interest can resist such purchase proceedings.

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Issues: Whether an agreement to sell, unaccompanied by delivery of possession, creates any interest in the property in favour of the proposed transferee so as to entitle him to object to purchase by the Central Government under section 269UD(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and maintain a writ petition under article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Analysis: The petition was founded on an agreement to sell without delivery of possession. The governing scheme of Chapter XX-C and section 269UD(1) contemplates pre-emptive purchase by the Central Government, and the Court accepted the view that such an agreement does not create an interest in the property in favour of the proposed transferee. On that basis, the proposed transferee had no legal right to object to the purchase by the Central Government and consequently could not sustain the writ challenge.

Conclusion: The petitioner had no right to object to the purchase of the property by the Central Government under section 269UD(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and the writ petition was not maintainable.

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