Sanjay Jain Vs DCIT (ITAT Delhi)
ITAT Delhi Quashes Rs. 27 Cr Addition – Diary Without Panchnama Has No Value-Mere Surrender Cannot Sustain Assessment- Diary Found Fabricated, No Corroboration
ITAT Delhi allowed the appeal of the assessee by quashing the addition of Rs.27 crores made solely on the basis of a surrender letter & a disputed diary. Tribunal held that the diary was never seized through a valid panchnama, there was no corroborative evidence of commodity transactions, & the retraction filed by the assessee was consistent & credible. Consequently, the addition sustained by CIT(A) was deleted in full.
Assessee, a director in Surya Vinayak group, was subjected to search u/s 132 on 03.03.2011. Despite the two-day operation, no valuables or incriminating material were found. However, a few days later on 10.03.2011, Assessee, allegedly under pressure, issued a letter surrendering Rs.45 crores to be split between himself & his brother. This surrender was purportedly based on a diary titled “Embracing Asia’s Past, Shaping Asia’s Future 2011” which supposedly contained notings of profits from speculative commodity transactions. Assessee later retracted from the surrender, explaining that it was coerced, that such profits were impossible in cash mode through commodity exchanges, & that no corroborative evidence of such business ever existed.
