Light Elements
It so happened, the learned faculty having explained the
niceties on the wall, off the wall between the lines and the sidelines as to the
provisions of S. 80IB(10) dealing with 100% deduction of the profits derived
from the housing project, the learned faculty vehemently emphasised that in
order to avail the deduction, the builder must obtain ‘completion certificate’
from the local authority, and to make his point of view bearable, he cited
precedents of honorable courts as usual. The faculty was about to leave the
podium.
“Excuse me Sir, “confused members of audience about
completion certificate stood up one after another.
‘Yes’ the faculty turned back to the podium with a creased
face. He was very shrewd and declared that he was anticipating queries from the
audience on ‘requirement of obtaining completion certificate from the local
authority’.
“My dear friends, feel free to raise your questions, I will
hear all your questions first, then I will reply at the end.”
A cascade of questions burst in the auditorium, some
practical, some theoretical, some hypothetical, I mean depending upon the IQ
level of the member.
“Sir, what if the project is completed 100% and all units are
sold, but the builder could not obtain the completion certificate from the local
authority within the time limit ?”
“Sir, it appears that the legislative intention is not to
promote housing industry, but to encourage compliance under housing development
laws of the local authority. If completion certificate is mandatory, how do you
react to this ?”
“Sir, what if the builder has received the entire sale
price of all units in the project, but could not obtain completion certificate
from the local authority ?”
“Sir, whether deduction u/s.80IB(10) is qua ‘profit’ derived
from the housing project or qua ‘completion certificate’ of the housing project
from the local authority ?”
“Sir, what if the builder obtains ‘provisional’ completion
for the housing project on hand whether he is eligible to claim deduction
u/s.80IB(10) ?”
“Sir, what if the builder succeeds to obtain part completion
from the local authority within the time limit, whether he can claim the
proportionate deduction ?”
“Sir, deduction u/s.80IB(10) being benevolent provision, is
there a possibility that the Court will take lenient view relaxing the rigor of
obtaining the completion certificate from local authority ?”
“Sir, what if the builder proves with documentary evidence
that he has complied with all statutory formalities for obtaining “completion
certificate” from the local authority, but he fails to obtain completion
certificate within time limit but obtains it within a few days after a deadline,
whether he is eligible to claim deduction u/s.80IB(10) ?”
Having heard all these questions one by one, the learned
faculty began to reply :
“Friends, I hope all of us are aware of a story told by our
grandmother or grandfather in our childhood. I am going to refresh your memory
about that story. It is about a cruel magician who captures a beautiful princess
who was in love with a prince. The prince fights with the magician to free the
princess. But he could not kill the magician, for simple reason that the
magician had stored his ‘soul’ in a parrot beyond seven seas. If the prince
could kill that parrot, the magician would die instantaneously. And the prince
kills the parrot beyond the seven seas and the magician dies. Thus he liberates
his princess from the custody of the magician. So my dear friends, if you wish
to have ‘princess’ I mean 100% deduction u/s.80IB(10), you must capture the
‘parrot’, I mean completion certificate from the local authority.”
