Registered conveyance governs wealth-tax ownership, and beneficial ownership could not be imported under the special statutory regime.

For wealth-tax purposes, legal ownership of the Queen's Park property did not pass to the assessee-company because no registered sale deed had been executed, so the property could not be assessed in its hands for the earlier years. For the later year, the applicable special regime for a closely held company under section 40 of the Finance Act, 1983 was treated as the governing code, and beneficial ownership or part-performance concepts under section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act were not imported into that computation. On that basis, the property was excluded from the assessee's net wealth for all years in dispute.

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Issues: (i) Whether the assessee-company could be assessed to wealth-tax in respect of the Queen's Park property for the assessment years 1984-85 to 1987-88 on the footing that it had become the owner despite no executed and registered sale deed. (ii) Whether, for the assessment year 1988-89, the property could be included in the assessee's wealth on the basis of beneficial ownership or part performance under section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, in the context of section 40 of the Finance Act, 1983.

Issue (i): Whether the assessee-company could be assessed to wealth-tax in respect of the Queen's Park property for the assessment years 1984-85 to 1987-88 on the footing that it had become the owner despite no executed and registered sale deed.

Analysis: The property continued to stand in the name of the lessor, and the sale deed had neither been executed nor registered in favour of the assessee. On those facts, legal ownership had not passed to the assessee. The right recognised in the cited authority on facts materially differed, because the assessee there had acquired an additional right to let out and earn income from the property. Here, the assessee remained in possession under the existing arrangements, and the absence of conveyance was decisive.

Conclusion: The assessee was not assessable to wealth-tax for the assessment years 1984-85 to 1987-88 in respect of the property, and the departmental appeals failed.

Issue (ii): Whether, for the assessment year 1988-89, the property could be included in the assessee's wealth on the basis of beneficial ownership or part performance under section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, in the context of section 40 of the Finance Act, 1983.

Analysis: For a closely-held company, section 40 of the Finance Act, 1983 constituted the governing code for the relevant wealth-tax computation. The wider concept of deemed or beneficial ownership drawn from later amendments to the Wealth-tax Act could not be imported into that framework. Since the assessee had not become owner by conveyance and the statutory scheme applicable to it did not embrace beneficial ownership or part-performance notions for inclusion of the property in net wealth, the basis adopted by the appellate authority could not stand.

Conclusion: The property could not be brought to wealth-tax in the assessee's hands for the assessment year 1988-89, and the assessee succeeded on this issue.

Final Conclusion: The property was held not assessable in the assessee's wealth for all the years in dispute, resulting in dismissal of the departmental appeals and allowance of the assessee's appeal.

Ratio Decidendi: In the absence of a registered conveyance, legal ownership does not pass for wealth-tax purposes, and where a special statutory regime governs a closely-held company, beneficial ownership or part-performance principles cannot be imported unless the governing provision expressly so provides.

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