Fresh adjudication required for deduction claim; appeal restored for merits reconsideration of documentary evidence.

Fresh adjudication directed: where an assessee produced ownership, development approvals and completion certificates relevant to a claim for deduction under the income tax law, the appellate forum must reconsider the claim on merits rather than dispose by applying a prior precedent. Identical factual and legal questions across earlier assessment years remain pending, and in the interest of justice the appeal is set aside and restored to the file of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) for fresh adjudication after considering all evidence.

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Issues: Whether the appeal should be restored to the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) for fresh adjudication in view of identical issues pending in preceding assessment years and the existence of evidences (ownership documents, approvals and completion certificate) relevant to the assessee's claim for deduction under section 80IB(10) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The Tribunal noted that the assessee produced documents showing purchase/registration of land, approvals for development/colony, and completion certificates in the assessee's name which were available before the Assessing Officer and the CIT(A). The lower authorities had followed a prior decision (Sky Builders & Developers) and repeatedly disallowed deduction under section 80IB(10) by treating the assessee as a contractor who first sold plots and then executed construction. Considering that identical factual and legal questions for preceding assessment years remain pending before the CIT(A), and that relevant documentary evidence was on record, the Tribunal found it appropriate in the interest of justice to direct fresh consideration by the CIT(A) so that all evidences and relevant facts are analyzed on merits rather than disposing by precedent without fresh adjudication.

Conclusion: The appeal is set aside and restored to the file of the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) for fresh adjudication on merits after considering all evidences filed by the assessee; the appeal is allowed for statistical purposes.

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