S. Mohan, C.J.

1. The short facts leading to the appeal are as under :

The appellant entered into an agreement with the third respondent for the purchase of an immovable property herein described as Mohan Buildings situated at Nos. 775 to 809, Old Kacheri Road, Chickpet, Bangalore. The agreement is dated November 28, 1990. The appellant, the transferee, and the third respondent, the transferor, jointly filed a statement in Form No. 37-I prescribed by the rules framed under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act"), with the appropriate authority on November 30, 1990.

2. The appropriate authority passed an order on January 24, 1991, under section 269UD(1) of the Act. We will now extract the relevant portions of the order :

"Thus, a significant point in the agreement is that the transferee agrees to purchase the property with the 46 existing tenants and that taking vacant possession is restricted only to the portion occupied by the transferor itself. On payment of the second instalment of Rs. 50 lakhs, the transferor has to permit development of the property and grant necessary power of attorney in favour of Shri K. V. Shivakumar, trustee of the transfere