Shreyans Chopra Vs ACIT (ITAT Kolkata)
The Kolkata ITAT considered the assessee’s appeal against the order of the CIT(A)-10, Kolkata, dated 15/02/2018 for AY 2014-15. The assessee had disclosed Long Term Capital Gain of Rs.5,50,158 from sale of shares of SRK Industries Ltd. for Rs.5,57,658, against a purchase price of Rs.7,500, and claimed exemption under Section 10(38) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The Assessing Officer, after examining the transaction following scrutiny selection based on an Investigation Wing input concerning alleged penny-stock transactions, treated Rs.5,57,658 as unexplained cash credit under Section 68 and made a further addition of Rs.27,508 under Section 69C. The CIT(A) confirmed the additions by classifying the transactions as suspicious.
Before the Tribunal, the issue concerned the treatment of the share-sale proceeds and the exemption claimed under Section 10(38). The Tribunal relied on its earlier decision in Navneet Agarwal,-vs-ITO, Ward-35(3), Kolkata; I.T.A. No. 2281/Kol/2017; Assessment Year: 2014-15, which dealt with an identical issue. That decision held that general observations concerning modus operandi, probabilities and alleged bogus LTCG could not replace specific evidence against an assessee. It also considered the requirement that evidence relied upon by the Revenue be confronted to the assessee and, where applicable, that an opportunity of cross-examination be provided.
