High Court upholds ITAT decision allowing 20% deduction for construction costs. Factual nature emphasized, appeal dismissed.

The High Court upheld the ITAT decision, allowing a 20% deduction from the cost of construction estimated by the Department Valuation Officer for the relevant assessment year. The Court emphasized the factual nature of determining construction costs and dismissed the appeal by Revenue, stating no substantial question of law arose. Additionally, the Court criticized the Assessing Officer for making a joint assessment order for multiple assessment years, highlighting that each year's assessment should be separate and not overlap.

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Issues involved: Appeal by Revenue against ITAT judgment on additions as income from undisclosed sources for assessment year 1995-96 based on cost differences determined by DVO on CPWD rates.

The High Court upheld the ITAT decision, which allowed a deduction of 20% from the cost of construction estimated by the Department Valuation Officer to arrive at a reasonable estimate of construction cost for the relevant assessment year. The Court noted that the determination of the cost of construction is a question of fact, not law, and is governed by a Division Bench decision. No substantial question of law arose for consideration in the appeal, leading to its dismissal.

The Court also criticized the Assessing Officer for adopting a strange procedure of making a joint assessment order for three assessment years, emphasizing that each assessment year is a separate unit and assessments cannot overlap. While appeals with identical questions can be decided together, passing a common order for multiple assessment years is not permissible.

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