Judicial consistency in accommodation-entry commission cases led to restriction of the addition to 0.5%.

Where an addition for alleged commission embedded in accommodation entries was made in reassessment, the Tribunal applied judicial consistency and followed a coordinate bench decision in an identical factual setting. It accepted that, in the absence of any effective rebuttal by the Revenue, the proper estimate of the commission component was 0.5% of the accommodation entries. The addition was therefore restricted to that rate, giving partial relief to the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the addition sustained on account of alleged commission from accommodation entries under section 68 required reduction to 0.5% in view of the coordinate bench decision.

Analysis: The assessment arose from reopening proceedings under section 147 read with section 143(3) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and the substantive dispute concerned the rate applied to commission allegedly embedded in accommodation entries. The Tribunal noted that the impugned addition was based on information from search-related materials in a connected group case, and that a coordinate bench in an identical matter had directed estimation of such commission at 0.5%. In the absence of any rebuttal from the Revenue, the Tribunal applied the principle of judicial consistency.

Conclusion: The addition was required to be restricted to 0.5% of the accommodation entries, and the assessee succeeded to that extent.

Final Conclusion: The appeal was allowed in part by reducing the commission component embedded in the accommodation entries to 0.5%.

Ratio Decidendi: In an identical factual setting, where a coordinate bench has already determined the proper estimate and the Revenue does not effectively distinguish that view, judicial consistency justifies adopting the same rate of addition.

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