TMI Blog2017 (12) TMI 1008X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 0 which was issued to the assessee on December 31, 2011. The assessee in such circumstances could not be denied the benefit of section 80-IB(10)(a) of the Act. The Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) and the Tribunal had rightly adjudicated the issue in favour of the assessee-respondent. - I. T. A. Nos. 263, 271 of 2016 and 177 of 2017 (O&M). - - - Dated:- 20-7-2017 - Ajay Kumar Mittal and Amit Rawal JJ. For the appellant : Zora Singh Klar, Senior Standing Counsel For the respondent : Jagmohan Bansal, Advocate JUDGMENT Ajay Kumar Mittal J. 1. This order shall dispose of I. T. A. Nos. 263, 271 of 2016 and 177 of 2017 as according to the learned counsel for the appellant-Revenue, the issue involved in all these appeals is identical. However, the facts are being extracted from I. T. A. No. 263 of 2016. 2. I. T. A. No. 263 of 2016 has been preferred by the Revenue under section 260A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (in short, the Act ) against the order dated March 14, 2016 passed by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Division Bench, Chandigarh (in short, the Tribunal ), in I. T. A. No. 852/Chd/ 2014 for the assessment year 2010-11, claiming the follow ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l before the Tribunal. Vide order dated March 14, 2016, annexure A-3, the Tribunal dismissed the appeal and confirmed the findings recorded by the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals). Reliance was placed on the judgment of the Gujarat High Court in Tarnetar Corporation's case (supra). It was held that approval had not been refused by the local authority to the assessee but had been granted to it on a later date and that too without raising any objection. Hence the instant appeals by the Revenue. 4. Learned counsel for the appellant-Revenue relied upon Explanation (ii) to section 80-IB(10)(a) of the Act to submit that the date of the completion of construction of the housing project shall be taken to be the date on which the completion certificate in respect of such housing project is issued by the local authority. Reliance was also placed on the Full Bench judgment of this court in CIT v. Punjab Financial Corporation [2002] 254 ITR 6 (P H) [FB] to urge that the word shall has to be interpreted as mandatory. 5. We have heard learned counsel for the appellant-Revenue. 6. The primary question that arises for consideration in these appeals is the interpretation of Expla ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lity as approved, after that the developer's file is sent to the Chief Town Planner (CTP) Local Government for the technical clearance from the Government who after carefully considering all the compliances issues the technical clearance certificate. After getting the technical clearance certificate from the Government, the completion certificate was issued to the developers by the Municipal Corporation, Patiala. The process of issuing completion certificate and technical certificate passes through many stages as such it generally takes time as stated above.' 4.7. In the present case, therefore, it is an admitted fact that the appellant applied for the completion certificate along with the architect's certificate in the prescribed form, copy of approved map, etc., on March 29, 2010, i.e., within the stipulated period of five years as enumerated in section 80-IB(10) of the Act. It is also observed during the course of assessment proceedings that the assessee has sold flats and same were occupied by some of the owners NOC was also obtained from various Departments. The Assessing Officer in his report has submitted that the explanation of the assessee is plausible wit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... or which deduction was being made available. The approval in the present case had been granted to the assessee on a later date but without raising any objection. Thus, the Tribunal rightly upheld the view taken by the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) granting deduction claimed under section 80-IB of the Act and deleting the addition made by the Assessing Officer. The relevant findings recorded by the Tribunal read thus : 8. We have heard the learned representatives of both the parties, perused the findings of the authorities below and considered the material available on record. Though there are a number of judgments in favour of the assessee in the said circumstances, we would like to refer to the judgment of the Gujarat High Court in the case of CIT v. Tarnetar Corporation reported in [2014] 362 ITR 174 (Guj) where the hon'ble High Court observes as under (page 176) : 'In the present case, therefore, the fact that the assessee had completed the construction well before March 31, 2008 is not in doubt. It is, of course, true that formally the BU permission was not granted by the Municipal authority by such date. It is equally true that the Explanation to claus ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ose cases where the assessee had completed the construction within the stipulated period and had made an application to the local authority within the prescribed time. The issuance of the requisite certificate was within the domain of the competent authority over which the assessee had no control. From the findings recorded by the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) as affirmed by the Tribunal, it was clear that the construction had been completed before the stipulated date, i.e., March 31, 2010. It was also not disputed that the certificate of completion was applied on March 29, 2010 which was issued to the assessee on December 31, 2011. The assessee in such circumstances could not be denied the benefit of section 80-IB(10)(a) of the Act. The Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) and the Tribunal had rightly adjudicated the issue in favour of the assessee-respondent. Learned counsel for the appellant-Revenue has not been able to show any illegality or perversity in the findings recorded by the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) as well as the Tribunal, warranting interference by this court. 9. In Punjab Financial Corporation's case (supra) the issue before the Full Bench ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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