2025 (9) TMI 1501

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....ideration is as under:- Sr. No Date of execution of sale deed Area in sq yard Name of buyer Full value of consideration as per sale deed 1 26.04.2013 55 sq yard Reeta Kandhari Rs.36,00,000/- 2 26.04.2013 55 sq yard Sumit Kandhari Rs.36,00,000/- 3 03.07.2013 140 sq yard Monica Rastogi Rs.98,00,000/- 4 03.07.2013 150 sq yard Rajesh Kumar Rs.92,00,000/-       Total Rs.2,62,00,000/- The aforesaid sale deeds are available at page no. 27 to 98 of the paper book. The assessee along with her husband as co-owner had acquired part of residential property bearing no. 5/21 at Roop Nagar, Delhi in the year 2011 vide two registered sale deeds of even date i.e. 11.02.2011. The said sale deeds are at pages 140 to 157 of the paper book. The property purchased in joint names in the year February 2011 comprised of ground floor plus one half of the first floor, plus one half of second floor. Thereafter, on 22.04.2013 the assessee along with her husband purchased remaining one half share in the first floor and one half share in second floor of the residential property bearing no. 5/21 at Roop Nag....

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....truction. The assessee while filing appeal before the CIT(A) also filed an application u/s. 46A of the Act and furnish additional evidences pertaining to investment of Rs. 1,51,74,950/- towards construction of house no. 5/21, Roop Nagar, Delhi. The CIT(A) has not given any finding on the said issue. 3. Per contra, Shri Om Prakash representing the department vehemently defended the impugned order and prayed for dismissing appeal of the assessee. The ld. DR submitted that the provisions of section 54F of the Act are plain and unambiguous. The benefit of exemption u/s. 54F of the Act is available only where the assessee does not own more than one residential house other than the new asset on the date of transfer of original asset. It is assessee's own admission that the assessee owns residential house comprising of ground floor, first floor and second floor. Each floor is an independent residential unit thus the assessee owned more than one residential house at the time of purchase of remaining one half of share of first and second floor of residential house. 4. Both sides heard, orders of the authorities below examined and the documents referred to by the assessee during the co....

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....a sense that building should be of residential in nature and 'a' should not be understood to indicate a singular number". However, in the facts of the said case, the court noted that two apartments had been joined to make one unit by opening a door between the two apartments and therefore, the same could be construed as one unit. 21. In Pawan Arya v. CIT [2011] 11 taxmann.com 312/200 Taxman 66 (Punjab & Haryana)/2010 SCC OnLine P&H 12590, the court distinguished the decision in D. Ananda Basappa (supra) and stated that the exemption under Section 54F of the Act would not be applicable where the units are located at two different locations. In the aforesaid context, the court observed as under:- "4. As regards claim for exemption against acquisition of two houses under Section 54 of the Act, the same is not admissible in plain language of statute. In the judgment of Karnataka High Court in CIT v. D. Ananda Basappa [2009] 309 ITR 329 (Kar), referred to in the impugned order, exemption against purchase of two flats was allowed having regard to the finding that both the flats could be treated to be one house as both had been combined to make one residential un....

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....constructing a residential house. We are therefore, unable to see how or why the physical structuring of the new residential house, whether it is lateral or vertical, should come in the way of considering the building as a residential house. We do not think that the fact that the residential house consists of several independent units can be permitted to act as an impediment to the allowance of the deduction under section 54/54F. It is neither expressly nor by necessary implication prohibited." 23. This court in Mrs. Kamla Ajmera v. Pr. CIT [2024] 169 taxmann.com 119 (Delhi)/Neutral Citation No.: 2024:DHC:9342-DB, referred to the decision in Geeta Duggal (supra), and held that in certain circumstances, multiple residential units may be considered as a single residential house for the purposes of exemption under Section 54F of the Act. The court observed as follows: - "39. This assumes significance in the backdrop of our opinion that the word 'a' used in Section 54F of the Act denotes one singular residence, along with the caveat that in case the floors or houses are so constructed as to be used as one singular unit or capable of being used as such, they ma....