Avinash Arora Vs ITO (ITAT Agra)
Alleged Flat “On-Money”: Show-Cause Notices Cannot Replace Cross-Examination, Rules Agra ITAT
₹11 Lakh Addition Sent Back for Fresh Assessment
The Agra ITAT has restored an alleged ₹11 lakh on-money addition to the Assessing Officer for fresh assessment after holding that the assessee should have been permitted to cross-examine the persons whose statements were relied upon.
The dispute arose from Excel data seized during a search on a builder. The Revenue treated the difference between the consideration recorded in that data and the registered consideration as cash paid outside the books.
The Tribunal rejected the CIT(A)’s reasoning that confronting the material through notices and permitting a written rebuttal sufficiently addressed the cross-examination objection. On the particular facts, the assessee was entitled to question the persons whose statements supported the alleged cash payment.
Separately, the Tribunal held that the absence of a Section 65B certificate was an irregularity that did not, by itself, render the proceedings a nullity. It nevertheless directed the Assessing Officer to inform the assessee about the procedure followed for seizing the electronic material if that material was to be relied upon.
Builder’s Excel Sheet Showed Higher Consideration
The assessee purchased Flat No. 601 at Orchid Tower, Gwalior, developed by Narayanan Builders and Developers Private Limited, along with his father and mother.
