The assessee earned a long-term capital gain from the sale of investments. The assessee invested in a property and claimed an exemption u/s. 54F, based on the reinvestment made in that property. The AO denied the exemption, stating that the assessee owned more than one house property on the date of the transfer of the original capital asset.

Held that the lack of absolute ownership in the property does not disqualify the assessee from claiming the exemption. Even though the assessee only had 50% ownership in the property, the important factor was that, on the date of transfer of the  original capital asset, the assessee did not own more than one residential property. The Assessee was not the absolute owner of the property was not a sufficient reason to deny the exemption.(AY. 2020-21)