Nitin Johari Vs ACIT (ITAT Delhi)
No Incriminating Material, No Bogus LTCG: Delhi ITAT Deletes ₹1.25 Cr Penny-Stock Addition in 153A Assessment
Delhi ITAT ‘E’ Bench in Nitin Johari Vs. ACIT, Central Circle-3, New Delhi [ITA No. 1530/Del/2022, AY 2013-14, order dated 31.12.2025] allowed Assessee’s appeal and deleted additions of ₹1,25,47,408 on account of alleged bogus LTCG and ₹7,52,844 towards estimated commission @6%, made in assessment framed u/s 153A r.w.s. 143(3). Search u/s 132 was conducted in Bhushan Steel Group on 13.06.2014 and Assessee was also covered. AO treated exempt LTCG u/s 10(38) on sale of shares of Anukaran Commercial Enterprises Ltd. as accommodation entry solely on basis of third-party statements recorded during search, particularly of Shri R.K. Kedia, and general investigation material relating to penny-stock manipulation.
Tribunal noted that for the year under consideration, no incriminating material was found from Assessee’s premises and assessment was not pending on date of search. The impugned documents relied upon by AO were found from third-party premises and did not pertain to Assessee. Tribunal further observed that Assessee had purchased shares through preferential allotment, held them in demat for more than one year, sold them through recognised stock exchange, paid STT and routed transactions entirely through banking channels. Request for cross-examination of Shri R.K. Kedia was not granted, and crucially, the said statement nowhere named Assessee as beneficiary.
Relying heavily on coordinate bench decision in Brij Bhushan Singal (involving same scrip and identical allegations), Tribunal held that LTCG could not be treated as bogus in absence of incriminating material and denied cross-examination. Consequently, addition of LTCG as unexplained and consequential commission addition were deleted. Appeal was allowed in full
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT DELHI
