Arif Munir Vs ITO (ITAT Lucknow)
ITAT Lucknow deletes Section 69A addition: Cash deposit in Bank from wife’s cash withdrawals held explained
Lucknow Bench of the ITAT allowed the assessee’s appeal & deleted the Sec 69A addition of ₹2.44 lakhs made on account of cash deposits. Tribunal found Assessee’s explanation regarding the funds originating from his wife’s earlier bank withdrawals, to be credible & uncontroverted by the Revenue.
Assessee, a retired government servant, had deposited ₹2.44 lakhs in a joint HDFC bank account with his wife. He explained that the funds came from his pension savings & ₹2.60 lakhs withdrawn by his wife from her SBI account nearly five months earlier, which remained unutilized at home.
AO treated the deposit as unexplained u/s 69A, citing lack of immediate bank withdrawals during the year & invoked Section 115BBE & initiated penalty u/s 271AAC.
Tribunal found that Assessee had disclosed both bank accounts & provided a reasonable explanation backed by bank statements. AO did not produce any evidence to contradict the explanation or suggest undisclosed expenditure. Tribunal emphasized that mere disbelief or suspicion is not a valid ground for additions u/s 69A.Tribunal referred to the principle that once Assessee provides a plausible source, onus shifts to the AO to disprove it. Tribunal cited the Delhi HC ruling in CIT v. Hersh Washesher Chadha that unexplained cash cannot be assumed without disproving the source explanation.
