TMI Blog2002 (5) TMI 37X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ural lands in village Nangal Dewat, Delhi, is chargeable to tax?" The basic fact of the matter is not in dispute. Facts of I.T.R. No. 478 of 1983: The petitioner possessed 154 bighas of agricultural land in village Nangal Dewat, which is located near the Delhi-Najafgarh Road adjoining Palam Airport. The said land was acquired by the Government for extension of the Palam Airport vide notification dated December 3, 1971, purported to be issued under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act. A sum of Rs.8,55,450 by way of compensation was awarded to the petitioner by the Land Acquisition Officer vide his order dated July 20, 1973, whereafter possession of the said land was also taken over by the Government. However, the petitioner did not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... icer estimated the value of the land at Rs.2,31,000 as on January 1, 1954, whereas the assessee claimed that the value of the said land as on January 1, 1954, was liable to be worked out by applying a rate of Rs.3,500 per bigha, but could not support his submission in respect thereof. The Income-tax Officer rejected the assessee's plea on the ground that the value of agricultural land in 1954 in the villages of Delhi was very low and held that the market value of the property as on May 1, 1954, was Rs.1,500 per bigha. It was also contended by the assessee before the Income-tax Officer that he had expended Rs.35,000 on the improvement of land, whereas the Income-tax Officer curtailed the said claim on the ground that only a little evidence w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ny area which is comprised within the jurisdiction of a municipality (whether known as a municipality, municipal corporation, 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 preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published before the first day of the previous year; or (b) in any area within such distance, not being more than eight kilometres, from the local limits of any municipality or cantonment board referred to in item (a), as the Central Government may, having regard to the extent of, and scope for, urbanisation of that area and other relevant considerations, specify in this behalf ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 0, it has been held: "It is a cardinal principle of interpretation of statute that the words of a statute must be understood in their natural, ordinary or popular sense and construed according to their grammatical meaning, unless such construction leads to some absurdity or unless there is something in the context or in the object of the statute to suggest to the contrary. The golden rule is that the words of a statute must prima facie be given their ordinary meaning. It is yet another rule of construction that when the words of the statute are clear, plain and unambiguous, then the courts are bound to give effect to that meaning, irrespective of the consequences. It is said that the words themselves best declare the intention of the law- ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... R 703. 'We cannot aid the Legislature's defective phrasing of an Act, we cannot add and mend, and, by construction, make up deficiencies which are left there': Crawford v. Spooner [1846] 6 Moore PC 1, 8, 9; 4 Moo Ind App 179. 16. Where the language of the statute leads to manifest contradiction of the apparent purpose of the enactment, the court can, of course, adopt a construction which will carry out the obvious intention of the Legislature. In doing so 'a judge must not alter the material of which the Act is woven, but he can and should iron out the creases.': Per Denning LJ. as he then was, Seaford Court Estates Ltd. v. Asher [1949] 2 All ER 155, 164 (CA). See the observation of Sarkar J. in M. Pentiah v. Muddala Veeramallappa [196 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on which leads to anomalies and which will make it invalid. We have to adopt such a construction which will make the section valid and certain." Approving the aforesaid decision of the Madras High Court, the apex court in G.M. Omer Khan v. Addl. CIT [1992] 196 ITR 269 held: "This, in our view, is the correct position and has aptly and pithily been put. Nothing more is needed to be said on the subject. The interpretation put by the High Court on the provisions appears to us to be unexceptionable and rational. We affirm that interpretation." This aspect of the matter has also been considered by a Division Bench of this court in CIT v. Pyare Lal [1998] 231 ITR 785. The question involved herein is also covered by an unreported decision ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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