Re: Building includes land underneath

 the term 'building' includes the ground on which it stands as has been held by the Supreme Court in the case of D.G. Gose and Co. Vs. State of Kerala reported in (1980) 2 SCC 410, wherein the term 'lands and buildings' was under consideration in the context of Entry 49 of List II Schedule- VII of the Constitution. Paragraphs 21, 22 and 23 of which read as under:-

"21. The word "building" has been defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as follows:

That which is built; a structure, edifice: now a structure of the nature of a house built where it is to stand.

On 08-11-2022 13:50:05, Talha Abdul Rahman <talha@talha.in> wrote:

State of U.P. v. VII ADJ, (1992) 4 SCC 429 at page 432

7. After giving our anxious consideration to the facts and circumstances of the case, it appears to us that in the definition of building under Section 3(i) of the Act, there is no express exclusion of the value of the land on which the building stands. In the absence of such express exclusion, the land being intrinsically inseparable from the building standing thereon, the value of the land and the value of the structure or building should be taken into consideration and in our view the land on which the building stands together with the building or structure constitute one composite unit. It may be indicated that the value of two similar buildings or structure standing on similar parcel of land may differ substantially on account of locational advantage of the site in question. The difference of valuation of land because of such locational advantage creeps into the ultimate valuation of the building or structure making one building more valuable than the other although from the structural point of view, both the buildings are identical. In the aforesaid circumstances, the determination of valuation of the building by taking into consideration the value of the land in addition to the value of the structure, does not appear to be illegal and improper. In any case, the definition of 'building' under the Act clearly shows that the building thereunder means roofed structure including the land underneath the said structure. Inclusive part of the definition only relates to the land appurtenant to such building and not to the land underneath the roofed structure.