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TMI Blog1991 (4) TMI 165X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... amount was paid and at the end for the tenth year the assessee was entitled to obtain a deed of conveyance from the allotting authority. 3. BDA executed a deed of sale on 29th March, 1982 and it was registered on 13th May, 1982. The assessee sold the site to a third person on 27th Nov., 1982 for a consideration of Rs. 69,200. 4. In the assessment proceedings, the ITO was of the view that the assessee held the property only from 29th March, 1982 onwards and that he having sold the property on 27th Nov., 1982, it was a case of short-term capital gain. It is needless to say that the assessee had claimed that it was a long-term capital gain on the premise that he had held the property since the day of allotment, namely, 25th May, 1972, u ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n fact said to own certain rights vis-a-vis that property. A definition of the word "property", is very difficult, for what is property in one sense may not be so in another situation. What is stated by the Supreme Court in Guru Datta Sharma vs. State of Bihar and Anr. AIR 1961 SC 1684 is relevant for our present purpose. Their Lordships pointed out at page 1097: "....Property as a legal concept is the sum of a bundle of rights and in the case of tangible property would include the right of profession, the right to enjoy the right to destroy, the right to retain, the right to alienate and so on." What is, therefore, necessary to see is, whether the nature of property held by the assessee on 25th May, 1972 was the same as the nature of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ce in addition to right to forfeit a portion of the amount paid by the assessee. In the event of the lessee/purchaser performing all the conditions and there being no breach on his part, he can obtain a conveyance form the BDA bearing the cost of stamp duty, registration charges, etc. At the time of sale, the total rent paid by the lessee/purchaser during the period of tenancy would be adjusted towards the balance of the price of the property. 9. If one should attend to the terms and conditions incorporated in the lease-cum-sale deed, it is clear that the allotted of the site would acquire only a limited interest in the site allotted to him when he takes possession under lease-cum-sale agreement and it blooms into absolute ownership only ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... asehold right". A lessee has interest in property. As it is said, a leasehold is carved out of the estate of the owner, which is the reversion. When the lease hold and the reversion held by the lessor merge, then there is extinguishment of the lease and lightening of the full estate in the lessee. Such situation come to pass only when the BDA gave a conveyance to the assessee on 29th March, 1982. 12. The assessee held the leasehold right from 25th May, 1972. A full ownership came to be acquired only on 29th March, 1982. That is because of the acquisition of the reversion from the landlord (BDA). The amalgamated interest was held by him on 27th Nov., 1982. If this can be said in another way, the leasehold interest and the delete reversion ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s. In cases of urban land apportionment is less cumbrous. 14. Interest held by the assessee was leased hold while the BDA had the right of reversion. As per the lease-cum-sale agreement, BDA could have forfeited the lease in case of breach by the tenant (assessee) of any of the conditions. There was a breach as the assessee had not put up construction on the plot as covenanted. Only in case the allotted had fulfilled all the conditions, the lessor was bound to convey the property absolutely to the allottee. All the incidence of property rights and ownership were not held by the assessee till 29th March, 1982. There was an expectation of deriving absolute ownership by reason of the relation in which he shood towards the site allotted. But ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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