Section 153A additions fail when based on third-party electronic material without cross-examination or valid evidence certificate.

Completed and unabated assessments under section 153A cannot be disturbed on the basis of material not found in the assessee's own search. Here, the addition rested on an excel sheet seized from a third party's laptop, not from the assessee, so it could not sustain the assessment. The Tribunal also held that the assessee was denied the seized material, the third-party statement, and cross-examination, violating natural justice. In addition, the excel sheet was an electronic record and no valid certificate under section 65B(4) of the Evidence Act was shown, making it inadmissible for supporting the addition. The addition was deleted.

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Issues: Whether the addition made under section 153A could be sustained for the relevant assessment years on the basis of an excel sheet seized from a third party's laptop, without confronting the material to the assessee or allowing cross-examination, and whether such electronic material was admissible in the absence of compliance with section 65B of the Evidence Act.

Analysis: The assessment years in question were completed and unabated on the date of search. The material relied upon by the Assessing Officer was not seized from the assessee in the search conducted in its case, but from the laptop of a third party in a separate search. In such a situation, completed assessments under section 153A cannot be disturbed unless incriminating material is found in the assessee's own search. The Tribunal also noted that the assessee was not supplied the seized material or the third party statement and was denied cross-examination, which offended natural justice. Further, the seized excel sheet was an electronic record and no valid certificate under section 65B(4) of the Evidence Act was shown to have been produced, rendering the document inadmissible for the purpose of sustaining the addition.

Conclusion: The addition based on the seized third-party excel sheet was unsustainable and was deleted.

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