Curable defects under section 269UC(4) cannot be used to test the validity or enforceability of the underlying agreement.

Section 269UC(4) is confined to defects in the statement filed in Form No. 37-I and allows rectification of curable defects in the particulars furnished under section 269UC(2) and (3). It does not confer power on the Appropriate Authority to examine the legality, validity, voidness, or enforceability of the underlying agreement, or to reject the statement on that basis. A defect going to the agreement itself is outside the statutory cure mechanism. The text states that rejection founded on such an enquiry was unsustainable, the appeal succeeded, the High Court's decision was set aside, and the writ court's direction for reconsideration was restored.

---

---

Issues: Whether section 269UC(4) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 empowers the Appropriate Authority to examine the legality or validity of the underlying agreement and, on that basis, reject the statement filed in Form No. 37-I.

Analysis: Section 269UC(4) contemplates a defect in the statement furnished under section 269UC(2), read with the prescribed particulars under section 269UC(3), and permits notice to be given so that the defect may be rectified within the stipulated time. The provision is directed to defects capable of being cured in the statement itself. A defect going to the legality or enforceability of the agreement is not a curable defect within that scheme. The provision does not confer jurisdiction on the Appropriate Authority to adjudicate whether the agreement is void or unenforceable, nor to refuse to act on that basis.

Conclusion: Section 269UC(4) does not authorise the Appropriate Authority to determine the legality or validity of the agreement, and the impugned rejection on that basis was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded, the High Court's decision was set aside, and the writ court's direction for reconsideration was restored.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 269UC(4) is confined to rectification of curable defects in the statutory statement and does not empower the Appropriate Authority to decide the legality or enforceability of the underlying transfer agreement.

---