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TMI Blog2014 (3) TMI 765X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion u/s 54F of the Act. 3. Smt. Latha V Kumar, the ld.DR submitted that the assessee has not deposited the net sale consideration which was not appropriated / used in the capital gain account scheme within the due date for filing the return of income u/s 139(1) of the Act. Therefore, according to the ld.DR, the assessee is not eligible for exemption u/s 54F of the Act, as claimed. The CIT(A), however, found that the assessee has constructed the house within the period of three years. According to the ld.DR, for claim of exemption only the utilized portion of the sale consideration has to be considered for the year under consideration. The unutilized portion of the sale consideration is not eligible for exemption in case it was not deposit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 54F of the Act. 5. We have considered the rival submissions on either side and also perused the material available on record. A bare reading of section 54F clearly shows that the assessee is entitled for exemption in case he / she constructs a residential house within a period of three years after the sale of the capital asset. However, sub clause (4) of section 54F clearly says that the unutilized portion of the net sale consideration which is otherwise liable for capital gain tax shall be deposited in the capital gain account scheme within the period of due date for filing return of income u/s 139. The question arises for consideration is whether the due date mentioned in section 54F(4) is the due date for filing the return u/s 139(1) o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e legislation must be found in the words used by the Legislature itself. The question is not what may be supposed and has been intended but what has been said. "Statutes should be construed, not as theorems of Euclid". Judge Learned Hand said, "but words must be construed with some imagination of the purposes which lie behind them". (see Lenigh Valley Coal Co. v. Yensavage (218 FR 547). The view was reiterated in Union of India v. Filip Tiago De Gama of Vedem Vasco De Gama, AIR 1990 SC 981 and Padma Sundara Rao v. State of Tamil Nadu [2002] 3 SCC 533; [2002] 255 ITR 147 (SC)). In D.R. Venkatachalam v. Deputy Transport Commissioner [1977] 2 SCC 273 it was observed that courts must avoid the danger of a priori determination of the meaning of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ) Act, 1987, with effect from April 1, 1989, the expression used was "sub-section (2) of section 139". At the relevant point of time the Assessing Officer was empowered to issue a notice requiring furnishing of a return within the time indicated therein. That means the infractions which are covered by section 276CC relate to non-furnishing of return within the time in terms of sub-section (1) or indicated in the notice given under sub-section (2) of section 139. There is no condonation of the said infraction, even if a return is filed in terms of sub-section (4). Accepting such a plea would mean that a person who has not filed a return within the due time as prescribed under sub-section (1) or (2) of section 139 would get benefit by filing ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... fore, this Tribunal apparently followed the judgment of the Punjab & Haryana High Court in the case of Ms. Jagriti Aggarwal (supra). The judgment of the Kerala High Court in the case of V.R. Desai (supra) also was not considered by this Tribunal in the case of Muthuletchumi Janardanan (supra). Therefore, this Tribunal is of the considered opinion that the matter needs to be reconsidered by the assessing officer in the light of the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Prakash Nath Khanna And Another (supra) and the judgment of the Kerala High Court in the case of V.R. Desai (supra). Accordingly, the orders of the lower authorities are set aside and the issue of exemption u/s 54(F) is restored to the file of the assessing officer. The as ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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