Subh Karan Yadav Vs ITO (Punjab and Haryana High Court)
Summary: The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed the appeal filed by Subh Karan Yadav under Section 260A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, challenging the ITAT order concerning exemption claimed on reinvestment of capital gains. The appellant, a retired Government employee, had sold a residential house at Rewari during assessment year 2011-12 for Rs.22 lakhs. On 09.02.2011, a residential plot at Bawal was purchased in the name of his wife and a residential house was constructed thereon. The transactions were disclosed in the return and exemption was claimed under Section 54-F. Following reassessment proceedings initiated through notice under Section 148, the exemption was denied and Rs.22 lakhs was added to the declared income. The CIT(A) and ITAT also rejected the appellant’s claim.
Before the High Court, the appellant contended that the entire sale consideration had been reinvested from his own funds within the prescribed period, that his wife had contributed nothing towards the purchase and had no independent source of income, and that the purchase in her name should not defeat the exemption. Reliance was placed on Commissioner of Income Tax-1, Chandigarh Vs. Jangpal Singh Tanwar, Commissioner of Income Tax Vs. Gurnam Singh and Commissioner of Income Tax Vs. Kamal Wahal. The Revenue relied upon the Punjab and Haryana High Court decisions in Jai Narayan Vs. Income Tax Officer, Commissioner of Income Tax, Faridabad Vs. Shri Dinesh Verma, Kamal Kant Kamboj Vs. Income Tax Officer and Bahadur Singh Vs. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals).
