Tribunal directs removal of income addition based on uncorroborated evidence.

The tribunal allowed the appeal, directing the assessing officer to delete the addition of Rs. 10,00,000 to the total income. The tribunal found that the addition was solely based on uncorroborated evidence from the statement of the assessee's son recorded during a search operation under section 132(4) of the Income Tax Act. As no adverse material was presented to counter the factual submissions, the tribunal ruled in favor of the assessee. The decision did not extensively address the challenge to the maintenance of interest under sections 234A and 234B.

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Issues:
1. Addition of Rs. 10,00,000 to the total income based on a statement recorded under section 132(4) of the IT Act.
2. Maintenance of interest charged under sections 234A and 234B of the Act.

Analysis:

Issue 1: Addition of Rs. 10,00,000 to the total income
The appeal contested the addition of Rs. 10,00,000 to the total income of the assessee based on the statement of the assessee's son recorded under section 132(4) of the Income Tax Act during a search operation. The assessee argued that the addition was made solely on this basis without proper evidence corroborating the increase in income. The assessing officer did not establish that the documents found and seized were not already recorded in the regular books of accounts of the relevant persons. The tribunal referred to various judicial pronouncements, including M/s Ultimate Builders vs. ACIT and ACIT vs. Sudeep Maheshwari, to support the contention that such uncorroborated evidence cannot be used against the assessee in search assessment proceedings. As no adverse material was presented by the revenue to counter the factual submissions, the tribunal directed the assessing officer to delete the addition of Rs. 10,00,000.

Issue 2: Maintenance of interest under sections 234A and 234B
The appeal also challenged the maintenance of interest as charged by the assessing officer under sections 234A and 234B of the Act. However, the judgment does not provide detailed analysis or discussion related to this issue, and the decision primarily focused on the addition of income based on the statement recorded during the search operation.

In conclusion, the tribunal allowed the appeal filed by the assessee, directing the assessing officer to delete the addition of Rs. 10,00,000 to the total income. The order was pronounced on 22.10.2020.

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