Section 50C amendment applies to pending cases, allowing agreement-date stamp valuation where sale and registration dates differ.

The proviso to section 50C(1) allowing adoption of the stamp valuation on the date of agreement, where the agreement and registration dates differ, was treated as curative and clarificatory. It was therefore regarded as applicable to pending proceedings and relevant for computing the full value of consideration in capital gains cases. The Tribunal accepted this principle and directed verification of the facts by the Assessing Officer before recomputation, so the circle rate on the agreement date could be applied if the factual conditions are satisfied.

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Issues: Whether the proviso to section 50C(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 inserted by the Finance Act, 2016 applies retrospectively to pending matters and whether the stamp valuation on the date of agreement to sell could be adopted for computing capital gains where the agreement date and registration date are different.

Analysis: The dispute centred on the application of section 50C where the assessee had entered into an agreement to sell on one date and completed the transfer later. The Tribunal noted that the proviso to section 50C(1), inserted with effect from 01.04.2017, permits adoption of the stamp valuation on the date of agreement when the agreement date and registration date are not the same. Relying on earlier Tribunal decisions, it held that the amendment is curative and clarificatory in nature and therefore applicable to pending matters. The Tribunal accepted the assessee's contention in principle and held that the valuation on the agreement date should be considered for computing the full value of consideration, subject to verification of facts by the Assessing Officer.

Conclusion: The proviso to section 50C(1) was held to apply retrospectively in principle, and the matter was remitted to the Assessing Officer to verify the facts and recompute the capital gain by adopting the circle rate on the date of the agreement to sell.

Ratio Decidendi: A curative or clarificatory amendment to section 50C(1) permitting adoption of the stamp valuation on the agreement date, where the agreement and registration dates differ, applies to pending proceedings and governs computation of the full value of consideration.

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