Uncertified photocopy evidence and denied cross-examination cannot sustain an unexplained-money addition against a registered sale deed.

An addition for unexplained money was found unsustainable where it rested mainly on an uncertified photocopy of an alleged agreement to sell, without the original document or reliable secondary evidence. The assessee was not given effective cross-examination of witnesses whose statements were recorded behind the assessee's back, so those statements lacked evidentiary value. The registered sale deed's declared consideration could not be displaced by oral or circumstantial assertions, and bank deposits in the husband's accounts did not establish that alleged on-money belonged to the assessee. Section 69 was therefore not attracted on these facts, and the addition was deleted.

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Issues: Whether an uncertified photocopy of an agreement to sell, unsupported by the original and coupled with statements recorded behind the assessee's back without effective cross-examination, could be relied upon to sustain an addition as unexplained money and to dislodge the consideration declared in the registered sale deed.

Analysis: The assessment was founded substantially on a photocopy of the alleged agreement to sell. The original document was not produced, the assessee was not supplied a certified copy, and the document was not found in the assessee's possession so as to attract any presumption of correctness. The statements of witnesses to the alleged agreement were recorded behind the assessee's back, and the material witness whose cross-examination was sought was not made available. In such circumstances, the photocopy could not be treated as reliable secondary evidence, the statements lost evidentiary value, and the consideration recorded in the registered sale deed could not be displaced on the basis of oral or circumstantial assertions. The reliance placed on bank deposits in the husband's accounts was also not sufficient to establish that the alleged on-money belonged to the assessee. Section 69 was not attracted to a receipt of alleged sale consideration on these facts.

Conclusion: The addition based on the photocopy of the agreement to sell was unsustainable and was deleted, with the result that the assessee succeeded on merits.

Ratio Decidendi: An addition cannot be sustained on the basis of an uncertified photocopy of a private document, especially where the original is unavailable, cross-examination of relied-upon witnesses is denied, and the registered conveyance remains unshaken by admissible evidence.

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