DCIT Vs Bright Buildtech Pvt. Ltd. (ITAT Mumbai)
No Bogus Loan: ITAT Confirms Creditworthiness of lenders & Rejects Revenue’s Doubts- Shell-Company Allegation Fails: SFIO Clean Report Helps Assessee Win Before ITAT Delhi
A search was conducted in the ACE & Rudra Group on 04.01.2022. Assessee filed ROI declaring loss of ₹15.43 crore. AO noted unsecured loans received from M/s Hallow Securities Pvt Ltd & M/s Dhankalash Distributors Pvt Ltd. AO treated ₹9.60 crore from Hallow Securities & ₹25 lakh from Dhankalash as unexplained, invoking s.68 r.w.s.115BBE, & also disallowed interest of ₹28,07,855/-.
Assessee produced confirmations, ITRs, audited financials & bank statements of lenders. CIT(A) made independent enquiries u/s 250(4), including a direct query to SFIO. SFIO in its written reply clarified that no investigation was pending against Hallow Securities, thereby negating the “shell company” allegation. CIT(A) also examined complete fund-flow, established availability of sufficient funds, & noted that loans were routed through regular banking channels & had been fully repaid in subsequent years.
Tribunal observed that the very same issue—loan from Hallow Securities—was already adjudicated in Allure Developers Pvt Ltd (ITA 3559/Del/2025) where identical facts existed. Tribunal held that the loan was genuine & additions u/s 68 were unsustainable. Applying those findings mutatis mutandis, Tribunal deleted the ₹9.60 crore addition. On the ₹25 lakh loan from Dhankalash Distributors, Tribunal upheld CIT(A)’s finding that the lender had strong creditworthiness, including share capital & reserves above ₹66 crores & significant financial capacity. Revenue could not rebut any factual finding. Once the loan was held genuine, the interest expenditure was also allowed. The appeal of Revenue was dismissed in full.
