Unregistered agreement treated as a sale of estate trees, fixing transfer on the agreement date for capital gains.

An unregistered written agreement dated 26 January 1973 was treated as a sale of the trees in the estate, and the transfer of the specific trees was held to have taken place on that date for capital gains purposes. The Tribunal's view was upheld on this issue, following the reasoning applied in the connected co-owner matter on the same transaction. The remaining limb of the reference was left unanswered, and the issue was decided against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

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Issues: Whether the unregistered written agreement dated 26 January 1973 constituted a sale of the trees in the estate and, on that basis, whether the capital asset stood transferred on that date for the purpose of capital gains assessment.

Analysis: The reference was decided by following the reasoning adopted in the connected co-owner matter on the same transaction. The unregistered written agreement was treated as a sale itself, and the transfer of the specific trees was held to have taken place on 26 January 1973. The remaining limb of the question was not answered.

Conclusion: The Tribunal was right in holding that the unregistered written agreement dated 26 January 1973 was a sale itself. This issue was answered against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

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