Virendra Singh Ratnawat Vs ACIT (ITAT Jaipur)
Summary: The Jaipur Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal allowed the assessee’s three appeals for assessment years 2016-17 to 2018-19 and deleted the addition of Rs. 24,20,366/- made under section 69A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 on the basis of WhatsApp messages retrieved from the assessee’s mobile phone during search proceedings.
The assessee, a member of the Kiran Fine Jewellers Group, was subjected to search proceedings on 02.08.2017. During the search, WhatsApp messages from Mobile No. 99502 00007 were retrieved and printouts were inventorised as Annexure AS, Exhibit-3, pages 1 to 31. The Assessing Officer treated a WhatsApp message referring to “Total dollar 21051 cash Rs. 10.31” as evidence of unexplained cash transactions and calculated the alleged amount at Rs. 24,20,366/-, comprising Rs. 13,89,366/- towards US $ 21,051 converted at Rs. 66 per dollar and Rs. 10,31,000/- separately.
The assessee contended that the WhatsApp messages did not establish that the alleged transactions belonged to him and that the same material could not establish ownership of any money for purposes of section 69A. It was also argued that the Assessing Officer had effectively made a double addition in respect of one transaction.
