TMI Blog2012 (10) TMI 603X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t the issue back to the file of the A.O. - I.T.A. Nos. 1160 & 1161/Mds/2012 and C.O. Nos. 112 & 113/Mds/2012 - - - Dated:- 30-7-2012 - SHRI ABRAHAM P. GEORGE AND SHRI S.S. GODARA, JJ. Revenue by : Shri S. Dasgupta, JCIT Assessee by : Shri Sanjiv Kumar Shah, CA ORDER PER ABRAHAM P. GEORGE, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER : These are appeals and cross-objections of the Revenue and assessees respectively, directed against orders dated 15.2.2012 of Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-XII, for the impugned assessment year. Issue raised by the Revenue in its appeals is regarding an addition made by the A.O. on long term capital gains for sale of land which was deleted by CIT(Appeals) on assessees appeals. Cross-objections of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... could not be accepted since it was not issued by the jurisdictional VAO. Assessees were issued show cause notice in this regard. Reply of the assessees was that the land was agricultural in nature as per the certificate issued by VAO, Kovalam. However, the Assessing Officer did not accept this contention. According to him, assessees concerned had not returned any agricultural income in their returns for preceding assessment years and descriptions in the sale deed regarding nature of land alone would not be sufficient to substantiate their claim. According to him, nothing was produced for payment of land revenue for the land and assessees could not discharge the burden to show that the land was put to any agricultural use. He refused to acc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y or cantonment, it would be agricultural land as defined under Section 2(14) of Income-tax Act, 1961 (in short 'the Act'). He thus held that the proceeds on such sale were totally outside the scope of any capital gains tax. Thus he deleted the additions made by the A.O. 5. Now before us, learned D.R., strongly assailing the orders of CIT(Appeals), submitted that Inspector of the Income-tax Department, who had visited the land, had clearly mentioned that there were no agricultural activities carried on in such land. According to him, VAO of Kanathur Reddykuppam Village and not VAO of Kovalam Village, had jurisdiction over the area and the former had mentioned that the land was assessed to urban land tax. Asst. Commissioner, Urban Land T ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tal gains tax. 7. Ad libitum, reply of the learned D.R. was that in Chitta, Patta, Adangal copies filed by the assessee, name mentioned was one Mrs. Parameswari Ammal and at one place one Shri Balasubramaniam. According to him, unless and until some agricultural operations were carried out by the assessee, the land concerned could not be presumed as agricultural land. 8. We have perused the orders and heard the rival submissions. There is no dispute that the pieces of land sold by the assessees fell beyond 8 KMs of any municipality or cantonment. As per the assessees, in the land revenue records, the land was classified as agricultural and this would be sufficient to prove that it was not a capital asset falling within the definition of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed use that was to be seen. Mere possibility of use of the land was not sufficient. Though the learned A.R. strongly relied on a decision of the coordinate Bench of this Tribunal in the case of DCIT v. Shri Sayarchand Nahar dated 16th February, 2012, there, in the wealth tax returns filed, the concerned assessees had shown the land as agricultural. Asst. Commissioner of Urban Land Tax had also come to a conclusion that the land concerned was agricultural and agricultural activities were carried on in it. Here, on the other hand, assessees concerned had never produced anything to show that agricultural activities were carried on. Nevertheless, as mentioned by us, the records produced by the assessees in the form of Adangal, Chitta and Patta, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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