Protective assessment is permissible only where there is...

Protective assessment is permissible only where there is uncertainty as to the person chargeable to tax, and a corresponding substantive assessment must exist in the hands of the real owner of the income. The Tribunal held that the conversion of a protective addition into a substantive addition was unsustainable without a clear finding, supported by material, that the income was assessable in the assessee's hands rather than his wife's. The claim for exemption under section 54F also required fresh factual examination for compliance with statutory conditions, and TDS credit could not be denied merely for PAN mismatch if the related income had been offered to tax, subject to verification. The matter was restored to the AO for fresh adjudication.

---