Documented contribution ratio governs unexplained investment allocation in jointly owned property, displacing arbitrary equal apportionment among co-owners.

For alleged unexplained investment in jointly owned property, allocation should follow each co-owner's documented contribution rather than equal ownership shares. The registered sale deed, bank statements and payment records showed that the assessee contributed 17% of the recorded purchase consideration. Without evidence of equal cash payments or a contribution exceeding the documented share, attributing one-third of the alleged investment solely because of joint registration was arbitrary. Any sustainable addition should therefore be apportioned according to the actual contribution ratio, restricting the assessee's attributable amount to 17%.

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Issues: Whether the alleged unexplained investment attributable to the assessee in jointly owned property was required to be apportioned according to his documented contribution rather than equally among the co-owners.

Analysis: The registered sale deed, bank statements and payment details established the actual contributions of the three co-owners towards the recorded purchase consideration. The assessee's documented contribution represented 17% of that consideration. In the absence of evidence that the alleged cash payment was made equally by all co-owners or that the assessee contributed beyond his recorded share, allocation of one-third merely on the basis of joint registration was arbitrary. Any otherwise sustainable addition relating to the property investment was therefore required to follow the actual contribution ratio.

Conclusion: The addition attributable to the assessee was restricted to 17% of Rs.26,57,000/-, namely Rs.4,51,690/-, instead of Rs.8,85,667/-.

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