2007 (4) TMI 722

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....)'] which were added by the Assessing Officer by rejecting the genuineness of the gift, was absolutely incorrect. On the basis of the order passed by the Tribunal in ITA No. 158/Chandi/1997 in respect of assessment year 1993-94 the assessee has claimed that following substantive questions of law would arise for determination of this Court : " 1. Whether the action of respondent Nos. 1 and 3 is arbitrary in assessing the income of the appellant's wife as income in the hands of the appellant; 2. Whether the action of respondent Nos. 1 and 3 in not accepting the gift of ₹ 18,00,000 given by S. Gurmit Singh to the appellant and his wife is discriminatory after having accepted the same for the assessment year 1990-91 for the gift of....

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....ddition of ₹ 60,300 made on account of household expenses. With regard to deletion of ₹ 6,00,000 received as gift by the appellant from one Gurmit Singh, the CIT(A) adopted the following reasoning : "In the normal course, probably, receipt of such substantial gifts from foreigner could be viewed with great suspicion in the absence of blood relations in between the donor and the donee but in the present case, facts suggest that even though there is no blood relationship between the family of the assessee and that of Shri Gurmit Singh, but still two families are very close to each other and may be for the reasons as stated by the assessee that late Shri Balwant Singh, father of Gurmit Singh was the "DHARAM BHAI" of....

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....i Gurmit Singh and not by the assessee. Therefore, the genuineness of transaction can also not be doubted." 4. Accordingly, the CIT(A) deleted the addition of ₹ 6,00,000 as income in the hands of the appellant and ₹ 12,00,000 as income in the hands of his wife because she was an independent assessee. 5. The revenue approached the Tribunal and the Tribunal has held that the burden to establish the genuineness of the gift was upon the assessee. It was for the assessee to prove the identity of the donor, his creditworthiness and genuineness of the gift. Referring to the enquiries made from Indian Overseas Bank, Janpath, New Delhi by the Assessing Officer, the Tribunal found that certain drafts have been purchased in Singapor....