Income tax addition based only on survey statement u/s133A, without corroborating evidence, rejected; deletion upheld.

The dominant issue was whether an addition could be sustained solely on the basis of the assessee's statement recorded during a survey under s. 133A, without corroborative material. The Tribunal held that evidentiary use of an assessee's statement against himself is specifically contemplated under s. 132(4) in search proceedings, and a survey statement under s. 133A, absent supporting evidence, cannot by itself justify an addition, especially where the survey was conducted on a different taxpayer and no material linked income to the assessee. The CIT(A)'s deletion was affirmed and the Revenue's appeal was dismissed.

---

---

Issues involved: Appeal against CIT(A)'s order deleting addition of Rs. 4 lakhs in the hands of the assessee based on the assessee's own statement during a survey under section 133A of the IT Act, 1961 for the assessment year 1994-95.

Summary:
The appeal was filed by the Revenue against the CIT(A)'s order deleting the addition of Rs. 4 lakhs in the assessee's income, which was based on the assessee's own statement during a survey under section 133A of the IT Act. The AO made the addition solely based on the assessee's admission without any corroborative evidence. However, the CIT(A) observed that the AO did not possess any tangible material suggesting undisclosed income by the assessee. The statement was recorded during a survey and not a search u/s 132(4), and the investigation wing did not pursue further action on the disclosure. The CIT(A) emphasized that an assessment cannot be solely based on a statement without material evidence and that an assessee can retract such a statement. The ITAT upheld the CIT(A)'s decision, stating that an assessee's statement can only be used against himself u/s 132(4) during search operations, and in this case, there was no evidence linking the Rs. 4 lakhs to the assessee. Therefore, the appeal was dismissed.

In conclusion, the ITAT upheld the CIT(A)'s decision to delete the addition of Rs. 4 lakhs in the assessee's income, emphasizing the importance of corroborative evidence and legal provisions regarding the use of an assessee's statement against himself.

---