Suresh Chand Goel Vs ITO (ITAT Delhi)
ITAT Delhi Deletes Additions Based on Asaram Search Ledger Following Earlier Tribunal Rulings
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Delhi, decided four appeals filed by the assessee against orders of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) for Assessment Years 2010-11 to 2013-14. The Assessing Officer had made additions under Section 69 of the Income-tax Act in all four years on the ground that investments outside the books represented undisclosed income. Since the issues involved in all the appeals were identical, they were heard together.
The reassessment proceedings arose from material seized during proceedings under Section 132A in the cases of Narayan Sai and Asaram Bapu. According to the Revenue, documents recovered from the seized material revealed an unaccounted money-lending business. During post-search proceedings, statements were recorded, including that of Devidas Tikamdas Chattani alias Dev Kumar, who identified ledger accounts allegedly relating to funds managed through Sant Lal Agarwal and stated that loans had been advanced to several parties. Subsequently, a survey was conducted at the premises of Sant Lal Agarwal, who admitted having business transactions with the assessee, and information was forwarded to the jurisdictional Assessing Officer. Based on ledger entries allegedly showing cash loans and interest payments, the Assessing Officer reopened the assessment under Section 147 and made additions of ₹1,30,09,600 for Assessment Year 2010-11. Similar additions of ₹99,96,800, ₹53,78,400 and ₹1,44,30,000 were made for Assessment Years 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 respectively. The Commissioner (Appeals) upheld the additions.
