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TMI Blog1985 (10) TMI 118X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... was only on 7-7-1985 when he came to his father-in-law's place in South Kanara district that he became aware of the order which was served on his father-in-law who was the power of attorney holder of the appellant, and thereafter he came to Bangalore on 10-7-1985, discussed the matter with his advocate and filed the appeal. It is pleaded that the delay of one day should, therefore, be condoned. On the other hand, it was pointed out that on behalf of the revenue that under section 269G(1) proviso, the Tribunal may permit an appeal to be presented within such further period as may be specified, for sufficient cause, on an application made by the appellant before the expiry of the said period of 45 days. It was submitted that since the application for condonation of the delay has been filed after the expiry of 45 days, the delay cannot be condoned and the appeal should not be entertained. It was argued on behalf of the assessee that in spite of that wording of the proviso to section 269G(1), recourse should be had to the provisions of section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 and the delay should be condoned. Reliance was placed on the decision of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in the c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... annual municipal tax was only Rs. 48 and that he will not be able to attend personally to the hearing as he was staying in Bombay. The power of attorney agent of the transferee by his letter dated 14-3-1980 furnished the copies of the document, site plan and particulars of the building and other details. He also stated that he was 68 years of age and he may be exempted from appearing in person. The IAC thereafter referred the matter to the valuation cell. The Assistant Valuation Officer gave a report dated 20-9-1980, estimated the value of the property at Rs. 1,57,000. He found that there were two sales of vacant land one of 28 cents in R. S. No. 507/1B at the rate of Rs. 4,000 per cent and another of 90 cents in R.S. No. 412 also at Rs. 4,000 per cent in February 1979 and December 1978, respectively. He was of the opinion that those two sites being residential properties situated in newly formed layout very near to the city and the property to be valued being far in the interior with an approach by a very narrow lane of only 3 feet width where vehicular traffic was not possible, the land could be estimated at Rs. 3,000 per cent. He also found that the building was a very old stru ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . The next entry is dated 28-9-1984 when draft proposals to the Commissioner were put up. The IAC then forwarded a draft order on 29-9-1984 for the approval of the Commissioner which was granted on 20-5-1985. Thereafter he passed the impugned order on 25-5-1985 acquiring the property. 4. The contentions --- The first objection of the appellant is that the consent given for the acquisition in 1980 cannot authorise acquisition in 1985 since the unreasonable delay vitiated the authority to make the acquisition. The second objection is that the consent of the appellant did not amount to admission of any understatement of the consideration and in the absence of any evidence to show that the consideration was understated the acquisition was untenable. On the other hand, the contention of the revenue was that once the consent was given for the acquisition it amounted to admission of understatement and the IAC was at liberty to acquire the property at any time without any further enquiry. 5. The Law --- Under section 269C where the competent authority has reason to believe that the property of a fair market value exceeding Rs. 1 lakh has been transferred for an apparent consideration w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... duty may also amount to an abuse which the law will remedy but it will be pertinent to enquire whether there was an excessive deferment of the authorities of the legal duty to the detriment of the party concerned. Under section 269F if the competent authority is satisfied that the fair market value of the immovable property exceeds Rs. 1 lakh and the fair market value exceeded the apparent consideration by more than 15 per cent and the consideration for such transfer had not been truly stated in the instrument of transfer he may make an order of acquisition. Upon acquisition the transferee is to be paid compensation under section 269J of the Act equal to the apparent consideration together with 15 per cent solatium. Now if the market value of the property was not more than 15 per cent of the apparent consideration, it would be a natural human conduct to surrender the property to receive as compensation the apparent consideration and the 15 per cent solatium since the transferee would not be put to any loss. But if the transferee were to receive that amount after a lapse of five years, that compensation may not be a just compensation having regard to the effect of inflation and the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g the disabilities of the property. There is nothing to suggest that the value fixed mutually between the parties is not itself the market value of the property as it would normally be. The estimate of the land value at Rs. 3,000 per cent is itself quite arbitrary and may not reflect the correct market value at all. The apparent consideration works out to Rs. 2,000 per cent which does not appear to be unreasonable considering the value of the very well developed plots in residential lay-outs noticed by the valuer. The question of allowing suitable deduction for the disadvantages of the non-agricultural land, viz., its inaccessibility and its distance from developed residential areas and any habitation as such is a matter of opinion and speculation and there is nothing to suggest that the rate adopted by the parties was in any way mala fide or collusive. Moreover, it is not in dispute that the appellant was not given an opportunity by the valuer before determining that figure and if an opportunity had been given, perhaps the appellant would have been in a position to demonstrate that the market value was really much less than what was estimated by him. Secondly, the letter of the ap ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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