Penalty under Section 271AAA failed where no specific query was made on the manner of deriving undisclosed income.

Penalty under Section 271AAA was deleted because no specific query was put to the assessee requiring it to explain the manner in which the undisclosed income surrendered during search was derived. The appellate authorities held that the jurisdictional precondition for invoking the provision was not satisfied, and the High Court found that view plausible and not perverse. The deletion of penalty was therefore upheld, and no substantial question of law arose.

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Issues: Whether the penalty imposed under Section 271AAA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was liable to be sustained.

Analysis: The penalty was deleted on the ground that no specific query had been put to the assessee calling upon it to specify the manner in which the undisclosed income, surrendered during the course of search, had been derived. The concurrent findings of the Commissioner (Appeals) and the Tribunal accepted that the jurisdictional requirement for invoking the provision was not met. The Court found that this view was a plausible one and could not be termed perverse.

Conclusion: The deletion of penalty was upheld and no substantial question of law arose.

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