DCIT Vs Miraj Digvijay Shah (ITAT Kolkata)
Ancestral Jewellery Cannot Be Taxed Merely Because Found During Search: Old Valuation Reports and Family Affidavit Rebut Statutory Presumption—Kolkata ITAT
Summary: The Kolkata Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has upheld the deletion of additions relating to ancestral jewellery worth ₹1.57 crore and explained cash of ₹40 lakh found during a search.
The Tribunal held that jewellery found in family lockers could not automatically be treated as the assessee’s unexplained asset when it was not found in his personal possession or in a locker held exclusively in his name. Contemporaneous valuation reports of deceased family members, correlation between the old valuation reports and jewellery found during search, and an uncontroverted affidavit of the assessee’s mother were sufficient to establish the lineage and ownership of the jewellery.
The ruling was delivered in DCIT, Central Circle-1(1), Kolkata v. Miraj Digvijay Shah, ITA No. 1078/Kol/2026, Assessment Year 2023-24, order dated 11 September 2026.
Search and seizure of jewellery and bullion
A search under Section 132 was conducted on 21 June 2022 at the residential and business premises of the assessee and in various bank lockers held by the assessee and his family members.
Jewellery and bullion valued at ₹14,68,97,402 were found. Out of this, assets worth ₹14,00,31,943 were seized because the search authorities were not satisfied with the explanation regarding their source.
