Land ownership is not essential for section 80IB(10) housing project deduction where the assessee acts as developer.

Deduction under section 80IB(10) cannot be denied merely because the assessee is not the owner of the land. The decisive requirement is that the assessee must have undertaken and developed the housing project as a developer and otherwise satisfied the statutory conditions. Development agreements with land-owning societies, by themselves, do not establish that the assessee was only a contractor or land dealer. On that reasoning, ownership of land is not a statutory precondition for the deduction, and a developer carrying out the housing project may remain eligible if the project meets the prescribed requirements.

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Issues: Whether deduction under section 80IB(10) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 could be denied merely because the assessee was not the owner of the land and the housing project was undertaken under development agreements with the land-owning societies.

Analysis: The claim was examined in the light of the jurisdictional High Court's ruling that ownership of land is not a statutory condition precedent for claiming deduction under section 80IB(10). The decisive consideration is whether the assessee has undertaken and developed the housing project as a developer. The existence of development arrangements with the societies, by itself, does not establish that the assessee was merely a contractor or land dealer, when the project otherwise satisfies the statutory requirements for the deduction.

Conclusion: The deduction under section 80IB(10) could not be denied on the ground that the assessee was not the owner of the land. The assessee was held eligible for the deduction, and the Revenue's appeals were dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: For purposes of section 80IB(10), ownership of the land is not an indispensable ; what matters is whether the assessee has developed the housing project as a developer and satisfied the statutory conditions.

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