Registered sale deed and unexplained investment in property defeat a bare gift plea without supporting evidence.

Unexplained investment in property was sustained because the assessee failed to prove the source of funds despite repeated s and gave inconsistent explanations. The registered sale deed named the assessee as purchaser and recorded cash consideration, and that document could not be displaced by a bare oral plea that the transaction was a gift. In the absence of any gift deed or supporting evidence, and in view of the remand report and registration details, the explanation was rejected. The GPA-holder was authorised to execute the sale deed, and no material showed that the document represented a gift transaction. The addition was therefore confirmed.

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Issues: Whether the addition made towards investment in purchase of property as unexplained could be deleted on the basis that the transaction was really a gift and not a sale.

Analysis: The assessee failed to establish the source of investment despite repeated opportunities and gave inconsistent explanations at different stages. The registered sale deed recorded the assessee as purchaser and the seller as having received consideration in cash, and such registered document could not be displaced by oral assertion. The claim of a gift was unsupported by any gift deed or other evidence, and the explanation was further weakened by the remand report and the registration details. The GPA-holder was found authorised to execute a sale deed, and there was no material showing that the document was in fact a gift transaction.

Conclusion: The addition for unexplained investment was rightly sustained and the assessee's challenge failed.

Final Conclusion: The assessment addition relating to investment in the property stood confirmed, and the appeal was dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: A registered sale deed recording cash consideration cannot be dislodged by an unsubstantiated plea of gift, and the assessee must satisfactorily explain the source of investment in the property.

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