9911796707
TMI Blog1989 (7) TMI 173X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nt works out to Rs. 133 per acre which was considered by the GTO as abnormally low. The property is situated near Tadi Railway station and several residential houses and industrial units have come up nearby due to quick development on account of Visakhapatnam Steel Project. One of the other considerations weighing with the GTO in discarding the value of the property as returned is that the donees vide agreement dt. 23rd March, 1983 sold the impugned land at Rs. 6,000 per acre to 10 persons. Further the value determined by the registration authorities was found to be Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 8,000 per acre. Considering all these facts cumulatively, the GTO determined the gross value of the gift at Rs. 3,59,460 adopting a value of Rs. 6,000 per acre. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... shares of which the possession was also delivered to them on that very day, and that the gift deeds were being registered later, i.e., 13th May, 1981. It is also stated in the gift deed that since 1978, the donees were paying land revenue, etc. 6. On the legal aspect of this transaction, the learned counsel submitted that dohors the requirement of a compulsory registration of a gift deed in respect of an immovable property over Rs. 100 as envisaged by the Transfer of Property Act, if we take into account the provisions of s. 2(xii), defining "gift" and s. 2(xxiv) defining the term "transfer of property" by the GT Act, 1958, it will transpire that the terms have been accorded a different meaning than what they mean under the general law. I ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t in the Transfer of Property Act cannot be imported while construing the provisions of GT Act. This view is also incidentally supported by the High Court of Rajasthan in Sirehmal Nawalkha vs. CIT. Further if we go through the definitions of the term gift and transfer of property as appearing in sub-ss. (xii) and (xxiv) of s. 2 of the GT Act, reproduced below, we are unable to agree with the learned Departmental Representative that a gift for the purpose of GT Act operates only from the date the instrument conveying gift of an immovable property is registered: "2(xii) "gift" means the transfer by one person to another of any existing movable or immovable property made voluntarily and without consideration in money or money s worth, an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... assignment, settlement, delivery, payment or other alienation of property. Thus none of the two definitions enjoin upon the parties, to go in for a compulsory registration. However, the fact remains that there should be a transfer of property voluntarily and without consideration from one person to another to form a gift. The onus is on the parties claiming to prove that the transaction was completed on a particular date. In Sirehmal s case where the gift was made by the assessee to his wife, the possession of the property was delivered to her and she was exercising rights as owner, letting out the property and paying water and electricity bills etc., in her name on the basis of which it was held that the transaction amounted to a gift even ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... though capable of being substantiated has not at all been made substantial in any manner whatsoever. The fact that the two transactions took place on 7th Dec., 1978 has not been shown to be acceptable by any evert act of the parties, it just remains an assertion legally difficult to be given credence. 8. We, therefore, refuse to accept that the gift ceases completed on 7th Dec., 1978. However, we are equally unable to agree with the valuation adopted by the authorities below. As already stated, there is no dispute that the property was purchased by the donor on 5th Sept., 1978 for a meagre sum of Rs. 4,100 in a public auction. There is also no refutation, to the submission of the assessee that the matter went into dispute as the original ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
