Broad construction of ownership for trade tax exemption: possession under a registered agreement to sell triggered eligibility.

For exemption under Section 4-A of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, the expression "owned" in Explanation (1)(c) was construed broadly to include a person who had acquired possession and dominion over the property under a registered agreement to sell, even before formal conveyance of title. On the stated facts, the assessee had paid part of the consideration, obtained vacant possession, and commenced the unit from that date. The exemption therefore applied from entry into possession under the agreement to sell, not from the later registration of the sale deed.

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Issues: Whether, for the purpose of exemption under Section 4-A of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948, the date of ownership could be taken from the date on which the assessee entered into possession under a registered agreement to sell, rather than from the date of registration of the sale deed.

Analysis: The relevant scheme under Section 4-A and Explanation (1)(c) required the new unit to be set up on land or building owned or taken on lease for the prescribed period. The expression "owned" was construed in a wider sense, consistent with the principle that ownership may rest with a person who has acquired possession and dominion over the property in his own right, even if legal title has not yet been formally conveyed. On the facts, the assessee had paid part of the consideration, obtained vacant possession under a registered agreement to sell, and had commenced the unit from that possession date. The precedent relied upon by the Tribunal concerned a lease situation and did not govern a case where possession had already been delivered under an agreement to sell.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to exemption from the date of entry into possession under the registered agreement to sell, and not from the later date of registration of the sale deed.

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