Sec. 54 relief allowed as two houses were acquired instead of one big house to avoid disharmony among children

Expression 'a residential house' used in section 54 doesn't refer to a single residential house; it permits use of plural - The assessee was not attempting to evade tax when instead of one big house, assessee chose to purchase two small residential houses (out of the sales consideration) for his two sons to avoid litigation or disharmony amongst brothers - Therefore, the assessee was entitled to exemption under sec. 54 in respect of acquisition of two residential houses - Held, yes

Refer:[2014] 43 taxmann.com 143 (Karnataka)
HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA
Commissioner of Income-tax
v.
Khoobchand M. Makhija