Search admissions under section 132(4) carry evidentiary weight and can sustain block assessment additions unless convincingly rebutted.

A statement recorded on oath during search under section 132(4) of the Income-tax Act is admissible and carries evidentiary weight in block assessment proceedings, though it is not conclusive. An assessee may rebut such an admission by showing coercion, undue influence, or by producing cogent material proving it incorrect. Where the assessees failed to allege coercion and did not produce evidence to displace the admission regarding total investment in construction, the addition based on the section 132(4) statements was restored and upheld in favour of the Revenue.

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Issues: Whether additions in block assessment could be sustained on the basis of statements recorded on oath under section 132(4) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and whether the assessees had discharged the burden of showing that such admissions were incorrect.

Analysis: A statement recorded during search under section 132(4) is admissible evidence and has evidentiary value in proceedings under the Income-tax Act, 1961. An admission is an important piece of evidence, though not conclusive, and the person making it can show that it is wrong or obtained by coercion or undue influence. Once the statements were recorded on oath, the burden shifted to the assessees to rebut the admission with cogent material. The assessees did not plead coercion or undue influence and did not produce material to displace the admission regarding the total investment in construction.

Conclusion: The addition based on the statements under section 132(4) was rightly restored, and the issue was decided against the assessees and in favour of the Revenue.

Final Conclusion: The appeals did not succeed, and the Revenue's stand on the disputed addition was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: A voluntary admission recorded on oath during search proceedings is admissible and carries evidentiary weight, and it can be displaced only by the assessee by producing convincing material showing it to be incorrect.

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