TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (6) TMI 1359
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....rly. 2. The Ld. CIT(A) erred in law on facts in denying alternative claim of the appellant to grant the exemption u/s 54B & 54F as per the law and thereby passed the order in the breach of principle of natural justice. 3. The Ld. CIT(A) erred in law in denying the permission to appellant to raise additional grounds of appeal with respect to alternative claim of exemption u/s 54 B and 54F of the I. T Act, 1961 without appreciating the fact that even oral request for raising additional ground of appeal is sufficient for the purpose of adjudication thereof and in the present case there was specific averments made in the submission filed that alternative claim of exemption u/s 54 B & 54F may kindly be allowed. The appellant craves leave to add, amend or alter the aforesaid grounds of appeal at the time of hearing, if the need arise." 3. The brief facts of the case are that the Assessing Officer was in possession of information that the assessee along with two other sellers had sold immovable property for which they received Rs.1,00,00,000/- in cash. Further, the ITO, Mehsana had intimated that the jantri value of land sold was determined at Rs.3,73,32,000/....
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....: "Lengthy reply of the assesses is fully considered, but the same is not acceptable, because according to the provision of section 50-C of the Income tax Act 1961 the Sub-Registrar, Deesa had valued the property at Rs, 3,72,32,000/- for stamp duty purposes, against which value of the property shown at Rs, 1,00,00,000/-. According to the provision of section 50-C of the Income tax Act 1961, the value valued by the sub-registrar, Deesa is to be adopted genuine and accordingly the long term capital gain is to be worked out. Accordingly, long term capital gain of Rs. 1,23,97,837/- (1/3 rd share of the assessee ) is worked out and added to the total Income declared, In this case, the assesse vide letter dt 14/12/2018 has requested to refer the issue regarding sale value of the property to the Departmental Valuation Officer, Ahmedabad, Accordingly, vide letter dated 14/12/2018 the issue has been referred to the Departmental Valuation Officer. In view of this fact, the assessment is finalized subject to report of the Departmental Valuation Officer. On receipt of the report of the Departmental Valuation Officer, the order will accordingly be modified and the sale value of the pro....
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....r dated 15.10.2011 of collector, Banaskantha. Nevertheless, the conclusion drawn by the AO in assessment order is reproduced as under: "Lengthy reply of the assessee is fully considered, but the same is not acceptable because according to the provision of section 50-C of the Income tax Act 1961 the Sub-Registrar, Deesa had valued the property at Rs.3,72,32,000/- for stamp duty purposes, against which value of the property shown at Rs. 1,00,00,000/-. According to the provision of section 50-C of the Income tax Act 1961, the value valued, by the sub-registrar, Deesa is to be adopted genuine and accordingly the long term capital gain is to be worked out. Accordingly, long term capital gain of Rs. 1,23,97,837/- (1/3 rd share of the assessee ) is worked out aro added to the total income declared. In this case, the assesse vide letter dt 14/12/2018 has requested to refer the issue regarding sale value of the property to the Departmental Valuation Officer Ahmedabad Accordingly, vide letter dated 14/12/2018 the issue has been referred to the Departmental Valuation Officer. In view of this fact, the assessment m finalized subject to report of the Departmental Valu....
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.... into any benefit u/s.54B/54F. However, as there is no such ground taken in Form No.35, neither I can decide nor legally direct the AO as it is beyond the mandate prescribed as per provisions of the Act. 5. In the result, the appeal is partly allowed." 5. The assessee is an appeal before us against the aforesaid order passed by CIT. The primary contention of the counsel for the assessee before us that firstly, the Department has never disputed the fact that the assessee was continuously carrying out agricultural activities on the said piece of land, right up to the date of sale. Secondly, the counsel for the assessee submitted before us that it is a well established law that once the said land which has been sold is being used for purpose of agricultural activities, right up to date of sale, the mere fact that the user of such land was converted into non-agriculture would not take away the fact that the land continued to be in agricultural land and sale of such land there was exempt from tax under the Income Tax Act. Thirdly, it was contended that the land was situated beyond the municipal limits as prescribed under the Income Tax Act and therefore the land was an agric....
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....e were concerned, the fact that the land was within the municipal limits or the fact that it was included within the proposed town planning scheme would not by themselves dislodge the presumption flowing from the actual user of the land. The fact, on the other hand, that there was no approach road at the relevant time and that agricultural operations were being carried on with the aid of tractor would go to show that the presumption raised from actual user could not be dislodged. This was not a case of a mere purchaser going in for agricultural activity pending the disposal of the land. This was the ancestral land of the assessee-Hindu undivided family and right from 1939 when the land was received by it on partition, this assessee-Hindu undivided family was carrying on agricultural operations on the land till the date of the sale. Nothing had happened till the date of the sale to show that the character of the land had ceased to be that of agricultural land. What had to consider was not what the purchaser did with the land or what the purchaser was supposed to do with the land, but what was the character of the land at the time when the sale took place. It was true that permission....