Valid service of reassessment notice and no capital gains exemption on unregistered sale agreement claims.

Service of notice under section 148 was treated as valid where it was issued to the correct address and the record showed delivery through the process server, notice to family members, and the assessee's actual knowledge of the proceedings; the reassessment was therefore not invalid on that ground. Exemption under sections 54B and 54F was denied because an unregistered agreement to sell, without a sale deed or other title document, did not establish transfer of title or acquisition of a new asset, and investments shown in the wife's name did not satisfy the statutory conditions; the relief claims were rejected.

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Issues: (i) Whether the reassessment was invalid for want of proper service of notice under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. (ii) Whether the assessee was entitled to exemption under sections 54B and 54F of the Income-tax Act, 1961 on the basis of an unregistered agreement to sell and claimed investments in property standing in the name of the wife.

Issue (i): Whether the reassessment was invalid for want of proper service of notice under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The notice under section 148 was issued to the correct address and the record showed service through process server and subsequent notices reaching family members and the assessee himself. The attempt to verify the disputed signature remained inconclusive, but the surrounding material showed that the assessee had knowledge of the proceedings and chose not to participate. Service on an adult family member residing at the address was treated as proper service in the facts of the case.

Conclusion: The notice under section 148 was held to have been properly served, and the reassessment was not invalid on this ground.

Issue (ii): Whether the assessee was entitled to exemption under sections 54B and 54F of the Income-tax Act, 1961 on the basis of an unregistered agreement to sell and claimed investments in property standing in the name of the wife.

Analysis: The assessee relied on an unregistered agreement to sell and claimed cash payments and investments in the name of the wife, but no sale deed or other title document was produced to show acquisition of ownership in the new asset. An unregistered agreement to sell was held insufficient to establish transfer of title or satisfaction of the statutory conditions for exemption. On those facts, the claim for relief under sections 54B and 54F was not able.

Conclusion: The claim for exemption under sections 54B and 54F was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed in substance, as the reassessment was upheld and the exemption claims were denied, leaving no surviving basis for interference with the assessment.

Ratio Decidendi: For reassessment, service of notice under section 148 is valid when the notice is issued to the correct address and the assessee is shown to have received subsequent statutory notices or otherwise had knowledge of the proceedings; for exemption under sections 54B and 54F, an unregistered agreement to sell without transfer of title does not satisfy the statutory requirement of acquisition of a new asset.

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