Applications dismissed; voluntary survey admission of extra income upheld as valid despite retraction; assessee failed to prove duress or falsity

The HC dismissed the applications, upholding the Tribunal's factual finding that no duress was proved and that the assessee's voluntary survey statement admitting additional income could form the basis for assessment. Retraction of the statement did not automatically vitiate it; the onus remained on the assessee to prove the admission false, which was not discharged. The court held the matter involved findings of fact and raised no question of law.

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Issues involved: Application u/s 256(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 seeking direction for the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal to state a case and refer a legal question regarding addition of income based on a survey statement.

Summary:
The case involved three applications u/s 256(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, requesting the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal to refer a legal question arising from an order related to addition of income based on a survey statement. The assessee, a medical practitioner, had filed returns for certain years which were accepted under section 143(1) of the Act. Subsequently, during a survey, the assessee surrendered additional income, which was then assessed by the Assessing Officer. The assessee contested this additional income during assessment proceedings, claiming it was under duress. The Deputy Commissioner (Appeals) later deleted the additional amounts, but the Tribunal upheld the assessment, finding the survey statement to be valid. The Tribunal held that no duress was involved in obtaining the statement. The High Court rejected the contention that the statement was invalid due to duress, citing legal precedents that an admission by the assessee is significant evidence for assessment, and the burden lies on the assessee to prove the admission wrong. As the burden was not discharged, the High Court concluded that no legal question arose, and thus rejected the applications.

In conclusion, the High Court dismissed the applications, upholding the Tribunal's decision that the additional income based on the survey statement was valid for assessment, as the burden of proof to show the statement was incorrect was not met by the assessee.

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