ITAT Deletes Addition as WhatsApp Chats Lacked Section 65B Certification

Vikas Vilas Rasal Vs ACIT (ITAT Mumbai) Summary: Mumbai Bench of the ITAT deleted an addition of ₹66.82 lakh made as undisclosed income solely on the basis of WhatsApp chats recovered during search proceedings, holding that electronic evidence without a valid certificate under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act has no evidentiary value. The Tribunal observed that the Revenue failed to produce any corroborative evidence such as cash seizure, bank trail, books of account, third-party confirmation, or independent enquiry linking the assessee with the alleged unaccounted cash transactions in...