In Brief
A company operating a hospital building constructed by a partnership firm claimed depreciation on the building under income tax law. Although the company paid the entire construction cost and took possession, legal ownership remained with the firm because the transfer was not documented on stamped paper and registered. The Supreme Court held the company was not the owner and could not claim depreciation. Even as a lessee with a right to occupy, the company could not claim depreciation because the construction was physically carried out by the firm, not by the company itself, making it merely a reimbursement arrangement rather than capital expenditure incurred by the company.
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