Section 50C relief for earlier sale agreement and banking receipt; registration date value could not sustain the addition.

Where consideration was fixed under an earlier agreement to sell and received through banking channels before registration, section 50C required reference to the agreement date rather than the registration date. The provisos to section 50C were treated as curative and beneficial, so their benefit could not be denied merely because the agreement to sell was unregistered or predated the provisos. On that basis, the stamp duty value as on the registration date could not sustain the addition, and the assessee was entitled to deletion of the section 50C addition.

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Issues: Whether the addition made under section 50C of the Income-tax Act, 1961 could be sustained by adopting the stamp duty value on the date of registration, despite an earlier agreement to sell fixing the consideration and receipt of the sale consideration through banking channels before execution of the registered sale deed; and whether the benefit of the provisos to section 50C could be denied because the agreement to sell was unregistered and the provisos were inserted after the agreement date.

Analysis: The agreement to sell fixed the consideration on an earlier date, substantial and full consideration was received through RTGS before registration, and the registered sale deed itself recorded the receipt of consideration through banking channels. The provisos to section 50C contemplate adoption of the agreement date where the agreement date and registration date differ and the consideration is received through prescribed banking modes. Registration of the agreement to sell is not a statutory prerequisite for invoking the provisos, and the true nature of the transaction has to be gathered from the contemporaneous documentary evidence. The provisos to section 50C were treated as curative and beneficial in nature and, therefore, applicable retrospectively.

Conclusion: The addition under section 50C could not be sustained, and the assessee was entitled to the benefit of the provisos notwithstanding that the agreement to sell was unregistered and preceded the insertion of the provisos.

Final Conclusion: The assessment addition based on stamp duty value as on the date of registration was deleted, and the assessee succeeded on the core tax issue.

Ratio Decidendi: Where consideration is fixed under an earlier agreement to sell and received through prescribed banking channels before registration, the stamp duty value on the agreement date applies under section 50C, and the provisos operate as curative and beneficial provisions even for prior agreements.

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