Reopening under section 147 failed because the Assessing Officer...

Reopening under section 147 failed because the Assessing Officer merely reproduced Investigation Wing material and third-party statements without independent enquiry or a live nexus to the assessee's alleged escaped income; the notice under section 148 and the reassessment were therefore bad in law. On the addition under section 68, the assessee produced ledger accounts, bank statements, confirmations, returns, financial statements and related memoranda showing advances for land procurement and project development, with the funds routed through banking channels and later repaid. The Tribunal held that these primary documents established identity, creditworthiness and genuineness, and that untested third-party statements could not displace them without specific enquiry. The addition was deleted.

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