Political donation deduction upheld where payment to a registered party was proved; recipient's omission in return was not decisive.

Deduction under section 80GGC was held allowable where the assessee proved payment of political donation by banking channels and produced reliable supporting evidence, including the receipt, PAN of the registered political party, its registration details, return for the year, email confirmation, and bank entries matching the payment. The recipient party's omission to reflect the donation in its own return did not, by itself, justify denial of the donor's deduction. The decisive point was proof of actual donation to a registered political party, not the recipient's later accounting treatment.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to deduction under section 80GGC of the Income-tax Act, 1961 in respect of donation claimed to have been made to a registered political party, despite the Revenue disputing the claim on the ground that the recipient party did not reflect the donation in its return.

Analysis: The assessee produced the donation receipt, the party's PAN, recognition of the recipient as a political party registered under section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, its return for the relevant year, email confirmation from the party, and bank statement entries showing payment through banking channels corresponding with the receipt. These materials established the factum of donation and receipt by the political party. Once the donor's payment and supporting acknowledgment were proved, the recipient's failure to account for the amount in its return could not, by itself, justify denial of the deduction to the donor.

Conclusion: The disallowance of deduction under section 80GGC was not sustainable and the assessee succeeded on the issue.

Ratio Decidendi: A donor is entitled to deduction for political donations once payment to a registered political party is proved by reliable evidence, and the deduction cannot be denied solely because the recipient party omits the donation from its own return of income.

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