ITAT allowed the assessee's appeal and deleted penalty under...

ITAT allowed the assessee's appeal and deleted penalty under section 271AAA. The AO imposed penalty alleging the assessee failed to substantiate the manner of deriving undisclosed income surrendered during search proceedings. The assessee contended that the Authorized Officer never specifically asked to specify the derivation manner during search. ITAT found that no specific question was put to the assessee regarding the mode and manner of earning undisclosed income during the recorded statement. Following precedent from a group case with similar facts where ITAT Chandigarh Bench confirmed CIT(A)'s deletion of section 271AAA penalty for identical reasons, the tribunal deleted the penalty. The decision established that without specific questioning during search about income derivation methods, penalty under section 271AAA cannot be sustained.