1975 (1) TMI 42

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....sessee had made a gift of 22 acres of agricultural land containing rubber trees. The date of gift was 29th March, 1971. A return showing a taxable gift of Rs. 22,000 was made by the assessee voluntarily. The GTO fixed the value at Rs. 66,000 and completed the assessment on 17th July, 1971. Subsequently, in connection with the wealth tax assessment of the donor assessee, the very same lands had bee....

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....cumstances, he cancelled the reassessment and held that the proceedings taken were invalid. 3. The Department's contention before us is that the approved valuer's certificate of valuation within the meaning of s. 16(1)(b). The learned Departmental Representative also referred to a number of authorities. He particularly referred to the Supreme Court decision in the case of A.N. Lakshman Shenoy v....

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....e which in the opinion of the GTO it would fetch if sold in the open market on the date on which the gift is made. It will be seen that the valuation of any property is a matter of opinion of the GTO. In arriving at the opinion as to the value, the GTO will consider the evidences he has before him. But after considering the evidence what he gives as the value is his own opinion. Now the assessee f....

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.... the value of the property. Now it is well settled that under s. 16(1)(b) the GTO cannot change the assessment figures on a change of his opinion. We, therefore, agree with the AAC that the re-assessment proceedings are invalid. 5. The learned Departmental Representative relying on the Supreme Court division in A.N. Lakshman Shenoy vs. ITO 34 ITR 275 (SC) submitted that the word 'information' c....