Om Parkash Saini Vs ITO (ITAT Chandigarh)
The Chandigarh SMC Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench allowed the appeal of Om Parkash Saini for AY 2017-18 and deleted the addition of ₹7,26,090 made under section 69A and taxed under section 115BBE on account of cash deposits during the demonetisation period.
During demonetisation, the assessee had deposited ₹11.30 lakh in his bank account. The Assessing Officer accepted agricultural income of ₹4.03 lakh and treated the balance ₹7.26 lakh as unexplained. The CIT(A) confirmed the addition.
Before the Tribunal, the assessee demonstrated that substantial cash had been withdrawn prior to demonetisation from a Punjab National Bank joint account—₹8 lakh on 12.09.2016, ₹32,000 on 19.09.2016 and ₹3.84 lakh on 30.09.2016—establishing that more than ₹11 lakh was available in cash well before 08.11.2016. This explanation was supported by bank statements already on record, but ignored by the lower authorities.
The ITAT held that it was humanly probable that the cash withdrawn prior to demonetisation remained with the assessee and was subsequently redeposited once the currency was discontinued. Since the assessee had sufficient explained cash balance, no addition could be sustained.
Accordingly, the Tribunal deleted the entire addition of ₹7.26 lakh and allowed the appeal in full.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT CHANDIGARH
