V. Chitambaresh, J.

1. Is income tax liable to be deducted from the sale consideration at the time of transfer of an immovable property by a resident transferor ? The issue crops up frequently in the wake of parcels of land being purchased in lieu of land acquisition for the prestigious Kochi Metro Rail Project.

2. An extent of 1.61 Ares (3.98 cents) of land comprised in R.S.No.78/2-1 of Aluva West Village in Aluva Municipality belonging to the petitioner is being transferred to the Government for the Kochi Metro Rail Project. A district level purchase committee constituted for the purpose has negotiated with the petitioner as regards the price of the property and a consideration at the rate of ` 17 lakhs per cent is agreed upon. The petitioner has already produced the consent letter as well as the original documents including the title deeds, encumbrance certificate, tax receipt, possession certificate etc. to the Special Tahsildar (Land Acquisition) No.II. The petitioner is apprehensive of deduction of income tax and has filed the writ petition for a direction to disburse the whole of the sale consideration without any deduction what so ever. Reliance is placed on Info