Valuation Officer reference required where unappealed stamp valuation exceeds consideration; obtain DVO report before adjudication.

Where stamp valuation exceeded consideration and that valuation was not under appeal, the conditions of section 50C(2) and the third proviso to section 56(2)(x)(b) are met, requiring the Assessing Officer to refer the matter to a Valuation Officer and to apply the valuation-reference provisions as far as practicable; failure to make that statutory reference and rejection of the assessee's valuation evidence as self-procured was contrary to this requirement. The order is set aside and the matter is restored to the Assessing Officer for de novo adjudication after obtaining a Valuation Officer report as mandated by the statute.

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Issues: Whether the valuation of the immovable property should have been referred to a Valuation Officer (DVO) under the third proviso to section 56(2)(x)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 read with section 50C(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The stamp valuation authority's value exceeded the consideration and that valuation was not the subject of any appeal, revision or reference before any authority, court or High Court. The conditions specified in section 50C(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 are therefore satisfied. The third proviso to section 56(2)(x)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 permits the Assessing Officer to refer such disputed stamp duty valuation to a Valuation Officer and requires application, as far as may be, of the provisions specified for valuation references. The Assessing Officer and the appellate authority did not make such a reference despite the statutory conditions being met, and the assessee's valuation evidence was rejected as self-procured without independent contemporaneous support.

Conclusion: The matter is restored to the file of the Assessing Officer for de novo adjudication after obtaining a valuation report from a Valuation Officer as provided under the statute; the impugned order is set aside and the grounds are allowed for statistical purposes, which is in favour of the assessee.

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