TMI Blog2007 (3) TMI 334X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... under the definition of an asset under section 2(ea) of the Wealth Tax Act, 1957 and therefore no wealth tax was levied by the department. Held that- The court cannot extend the exemption without any legal compulsion in terms of the Act Since in our view, the wording that the urban land would mean a land on which complete building stands, such lands alone would qualify for exemption. That conclusion is inevitable thus accept the appeal of the Revenue. Thus, this appeal is accepted. The questions of law are answered in favour of the Revenue. - 25 of 2006 - - - Dated:- 21-3-2007 - GURURAJAN R., ANAND BYRAREDDY JJ. M.V. Seshachala for the appellants. S. Parthasarathy for the respondent. JUDGMENT The judgment of the court w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... years till the sale of flats. Notice under section 17 of the Act was issued to the assessee and he filed return of wealth of Rs. 8,48,000 on August 20, 2003. After considering the contention of the assessee, the Assessing Officer proceeded to treat the property as urban land and brought it to tax under an order dated March 31, 2005. An appeal was filed before the Assistant Commissioner of Wealth-tax (Appeals), Bangalore. The appeal stood allowed in the light of an earlier order of the Tribunal. The Revenue thereafter filed an appeal to the Tribunal. The Tribunal following its decision in W. T. A. Nos. 4-5/Bang/2003, dated March 22, 2004 dismissed the appeal filed by the Revenue. It is in these circum-stances, the Revenue is before us raisi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... therefore no wealth-tax can be claimed or leviable by the Department. 7. We have to see as to whether the vacant land owned by the land owner is exempt for the purpose of wealth-tax proceedings. 8. Section 2(ea) would define the term "asset" and "urban land" has been defined in section 2(ea), Explanation 1(b). The said definition reads as under : "'Urban land' means land situate- (i) in any area which is comprised within the jurisdiction of a municipality (whether known as a municipality, municipal corpora-tion, notified area committee, town area committee, town committee, or by any other name) or a cantonment board and which has a population of not less than ten thousand according to the last pre-ceding census of which relevant fi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... efinition would show that what is excluded is the land occupied by any building which has been constructed (underlining is ours). Admittedly, in the case on hand, the building is not fully constructed. It is in the process of construction. Building in the process of construction cannot be understood as a building which has been constructed as sought to be argued before us. The courts have to interpret any definition in a reasonable manner for the purpose of fulfilling the object of the Act. The courts cannot interpret a term in such an unreasonable manner making thereby unworkable of the Act as sought to be argued before us. Constructed has its own meaning. Constructed would mean "fully constructed" as understood in the common parlance. The ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the land on which building is constructed in terms of the defence. 11. Sri Parthasarathy, learned counsel, would place before us the Law Lexicon in the matter of meaning of the word "building". We have noticed the various definitions in terms of the case law as referred to us. The interpretation of any word would depend upon the wording in a particular statute and the object of the Act as understood in law. Therefore, we are not prepared to blindly accept the contention of the assessee on the basis of the meaning given to building in terms of the Law Lexicon. However, the wording in the case on hand would support the Department and those words "building constructed" would make all the difference for the purpose of interpretation. At this ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the Orissa High Court and the judgment of the Supreme Court as referred to by Sri Parthasarathi, learned counsel. CWT v. K. B. Pradhan [1981] 130 ITR 393 (Orissa) is a case in which the court was considering the word "house" for the purpose of the Wealth-tax Act. The said case is of no assistance to the assessee since in the said case, the court was considering only the word "house" and not building construction as in the present case. Even otherwise, it is seen from the said case, the court was considering as to the house being habitable or not, as we see from the order itself. That judgment is of no assistance to the assessee. 13. State of Bombay v. Sardar Venkat Rao Krishna Rao Gujar, AIR 1966 SC 991 is a case dealing with Madhya Pr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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