Air Con Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd. Vs DCIT (ITAT Delhi)
The assessee appealed against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) arising from an assessment framed under Section 144 read with Section 153A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for Assessment Year 2020-21. The dispute related to an addition of Rs. 62,00,000 made under Section 69A as unexplained and undisclosed receipts based on a seized loose paper.
A search and seizure operation was conducted in the case of another group, followed by consequential searches. The assessee was also covered under the search, and a notice under Section 153A was issued. During the assessment, the Assessing Officer relied on page 46 of Annexure A-7 from FCB-1, seized from the residence of Sh. Surender Gupta, and concluded that the assessee had received Rs. 62,00,000 in cash. On this basis, the amount was treated as unexplained money under Section 69A. The Commissioner (Appeals) confirmed the addition.
Before the Tribunal, the assessee contended that the seized paper was recovered from a third person and not from the assessee. It was submitted that no statement of the person from whom the paper was seized was supplied, no addition had been made in that person’s hands, and the loose paper contained no date. The assessee argued that the Assessing Officer had merely presumed that certain abbreviations referred to particular individuals and had failed to establish that the entries related to the assessee or that any cash had actually been received by it. It was further submitted that the entries regarding running bills related to projects undertaken in a subsequent period and that there was no corroborative material linking the entries to the assessee.
