Unexplained investments were explained by bank and transactional documents, resulting in deletion of the additions under tax assessment.

Assessment additions as unexplained investments were contested by the assessee; ITAT treated the legal issue as whether documentary records connected payments to explained sources. For the cash deposit, bank statements and evidence of prior NRE withdrawals established the source and led to deletion of that addition. For stamp duty and registration charges, a bank challan, sub-registrar receipt, notarized affidavit and registered documents were accepted as contemporaneous proof and those additions were deleted. The Tribunal allowed the appeal and directed deletion of the impugned additions.

---

---

Issues: Whether the additions of Rs. 5,32,280 made under Section 69 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (comprising Rs. 1,00,000 cash deposit and Rs. 4,32,280 towards stamp duty and registration charges) are sustainable for Assessment Year 2016-17.

Analysis: The assessment was reopened under Section 148 and draft additions were confirmed by the DRP under Section 144C(13) by treating certain payments as unexplained investments under Section 69. For the cash deposit of Rs. 1,00,000 the assessee produced bank statements and evidence of prior withdrawals from his NRE account which established the availability and source of cash; these records were accepted to connect the cash deposit to explained funds. For the stamp duty of Rs. 4,00,000 and registration charges of Rs. 32,280 the assessee produced a bank challan for stamp duty, a sub-registrar receipt for registration charges, and a notarized affidavit from the developer corroborated by registered documents of May 2015; these contemporaneous documents were accepted as adequately explaining that such amounts formed part of the payments made to the developer. The Tribunal directed deletion of the impugned additions on the basis of the documentary proof and corroboration placed on record.

Conclusion: The addition of Rs. 1,00,000 (cash deposit) is deleted. The addition of Rs. 4,32,280 (stamp duty and registration charges) is deleted. The appeal is allowed in favour of the assessee.

---