Incriminating material is required to sustain Section 153A additions in an unabated assessment; additions based on another search fail.

Additions in an unabated assessment under Section 153A of the Income-tax Act could not be sustained where the assessment year had already concluded on the date of search and no incriminating material was found in the assessee's own search. The additions were based on material from another person's search proceedings, which did not provide the factual foundation required for invoking Section 153A in a concluded assessment. On that basis, the impugned additions were held unsustainable and the issue was decided in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether additions made in an unabated assessment under Section 153A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 could be sustained in the absence of incriminating material found during the search in the assessee's case.

Analysis: The assessment year in question was a concluded assessment on the date of search. The additions were not linked to any incriminating material found in the search conducted in the assessee's premises, and the assessment order itself referred to material gathered in another person's search proceedings. In these circumstances, the invocation of Section 153A to make the impugned additions was not supported by the factual foundation required for an unabated assessment.

Conclusion: The additions were held to be unsustainable under Section 153A in the absence of incriminating material found in the assessee's search, and the issue was decided in favour of the assessee.

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