TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (8) TMI 890
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.... stated former substantive ground. 3. Coming to latter issue of the assessee's bogus loss. The CIT(A)'s detailed discussion under challenge reads as under:- "07. FINDINGS & DECISION 1. I have carefully examined the action of the Ld AO in reopening the case and disallowing the claim of loss, by treating the same as bogus. I have carefully examined the reasons recorded by the Ld AO for reopening the case, wherein he has recorded all the submissions made by the appellant during the impugned reassessment proceedings. I have also perused the submissions of the appellant offered during the course of the appellate proceedings, I find that the AO has duly show-caused the assessee in the matter, and also supplied him with the reasons for reopening, and allowed the appellant to file the necessary objections in the matter. Thereafter, the AO has countered point by point the various objections raised by the appellant, and they have been recorded in the order. During the appeal proceedings also, the appellant has raised several points, inter- alia challenging the reassessment proceedings on grounds that the AO had not acted in the "belief", but on mere "satisfaction", and t....
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....esh Raj Udyog Vs ITO (All) 318 ITR 6. 4. Similarly, it has been decided by Hon'ble Courts that to judge the validity of reassessment on the basis of final outcome of reassessment proceedings on that item will not be "Information" for re-opening. The matter has been elucidated and explained in detail as - Information proper - At the time of reopening, assessing officer is not required to establish escapement of income. Sri Krishna (P) Ltd. Vs CIT (SC) 221 ITR 538 & Central Provinces Manganese Ore Co. Ltd. Vs ITO (SC) 191 ITR 662 5. Hon'ble Courts have also held that what is necessary to re-open an assessment is not the final verdict but a prima facie reason - Once such a reason is recorded by the Assessing Authority, he assumes jurisdiction to issue notice u/s148 - Mere fact that for earlier assessment years issue in dispute has been decided by CIT(A) in assessee's favour cannot be a fetter in exercising his jurisdiction u/s 147. This ratio emerges from the judgments in ACIT Vs Tube Investments of India Ltd. (ITAT, Chennai-TM) 133 ITD 79 & Rajat Export Import India Pvt. Ltd. Vs ITO (Del) 341 ITR 135. 6. I also find that in the case at hand the ....
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.... established the modus operandi of the assessee. Having examined the matter, I find that the appellant has not been able to bring anything on record to prove the rationale, need and justification for client code modifications. While it may be true that such client code modification may not per se be illegal, it has to be brought on record by the appellant, as he is the beneficiary that the modifications were on an acceptable level, and the clients were KYC complaint. In such matter, the relevant extract of SEBI Circular dated February 06, 2003, relating to the Modification of Client Code is being reproduced hereunder for convenience: "The stock exchanges shall not normally permit changes in the Client ID and would keep a strict vigil on cases of client code modification and would implement a monetary penalty structure that would escalate with the number of such incidences. Besides, the exchange may take necessary action against members repeated changes. However, genuine mistakes may be allowed to be rectified." 8. Thus, a careful reading of the above extract suggests that the change in generally not allowed except where there is some genuine mistake. The SEBI also....
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....ansactions of derivatives as bogus loss. 4. Briefly stated facts are that the assessee is a private limited company and engaged in the business of dealing in commodities. The assessee in the year under consideration has incurred loss of Rs.45,23,943/- in derivatives transactions of shares. The above loss was incurred by the assessee at the fag-end of the relevant Assessment Year i.e. from 18.03.2009 to 26.03.2009. All the transactions were carried out through a broker namely M/s Ratnabali Capital Markets Ltd. (RCML for short) a member of National Stock Exchange (NSE for short). The director in the assessee-company and RCML were common and the name of RCML was appearing in the list of specified person as envisaged u/s.40(A)(2)(b) of the Act. The assessee has also paid brokerage to RCML for Rs.92,566/- only for the above stated transactions. The Assessing Officer during the course of assessment proceedings to verify the veracity of the loss claimed by assessee has confirmed from NSE by issuing a notice u/s.133(6) of the Act. As per the confirmation received from NSE, the AO observed that the name of the client and code has been modified during the process of said transaction....
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....observing as under:- "... ... The facts in this case have been considered and it is apprehended that there is a possibility that the modifications might have been made to accommodate the appellant as the broker of the appellant was a sister concern. Even though apparently it has not been established that the such modification had been done in violation of rules and regulations prescribed by SEBI and the AO had proceeded on suspicion, however at the same time it also cannot be concluded either that the loss would not be attributable to these "modifications". Thus, I find merit in the contention of the AO. Therefore, the appellant's contention in respect of the claim of loss cannot be acceptable as the same pertained to the modified transactions being entered into by the appellant's sister concern who was the Broker and helped in manipulation for the benefit of the Appellant. I also find that similar addition was made by the AO on the same ground in the previous AY 2008-09 and the CIT(A)-XXX, Kolkata has partly confirmed the addition so made by the AO vide Appeal Order dated 23.11.2012. Hence disallowance made by the AO for the loss of Rs. 19,76,538/- claimed to be i....
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....hannel and all the supporting evidence such as contract note, payment of STT were filed at the time of assessment proceedings. We also find that Ld. CIT(A) confirmed the order of AO on the basis of his guess-work as evident from his appellate order which is reproduced below:- "there is a possibility that the modifications might have been made to accommodate the appellant as the broker of the appellant was a sister concern." Further the ld. CIT-A has observed in his order as under:- "Even though apparently it has not been established that the such modification had been done in violation of rules and regulations prescribed by SEBI and the AO had proceeded on suspicion, however at the same time it also cannot be concluded either that the loss would not be attributable to these "modifications" On perusal of the order, we find that Ld. CIT(A) has confirmed the order of AO on his own surmise and conjecture which is not permissible in the eyes of law. Ld. DR has also not brought anything on record contrary to the advance arguments placed by Ld. AR for the assessee as well as no defects of whatsoever has been pointed out in the documents produced by asse....
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....on was correct or wrong cannot be a question, which can be a subject-matter of decision in such a case. In order to find out whether the transaction is genuine or ingenuine, it is neither the expedience or correctness of the decision nor the business expertise of the person to be considered. It is to be considered on the basis of the materials that there was no such transaction and that these share transactions were paper transactions. The suffering of loss could not be a factor for such purpose. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, the view taken by the Tribunal allowing share loss cannot be said to be erroneous or perverse.-CIT vs. Emerald Commercial Ltd. & Anr. (2001) 171 CTR (Cal) 193: (2001) 250 ITR 539 (Cal), CIT vs. Dhawan Investment & Trading Co. Ltd. (1999) 238 ITR 486 (Cal) and CIT vs. Currency Investment Co. Ltd. (2000) 158 CTR (Cal) 361 : (2000) 241 ITR 494 (Cal) relied on." Respectfully following the same, we hold that the impugned loss claimed by assessee is genuine loss in the above facts and circumstances of the case and therefore eligible for deduction. Accordingly, AO is directed. This ground of assessee's appeal is allowed ". 4. ....
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....2,689/- and huge amount brought into the books without paying a single rupee of tax. The Ld.AO has very carefully analyzed the information received from the Investigation Wing, and has recorded the noteworthy features of the Company whose shares were purchased / sold by the assessee-individual. The economic parameters of the said company over the impugned period has also been brought on record, in the analysis. The rise and fall of the prices as recorded had been brought out by the Ld. AO to be artificial and not commensurate with the normal market, as the Company has no business at all. The Ld. AO has also brought forth information that the Regulatory Authority SEBI has also after investigating such abnormal price increases of certain stocks investigated the matter and suspended trading in certain scripts. It is very clear that the prices of these scripts fell sharply after the offloading of these scripts by pre-arranged and manipulated transactions. The entire transactions were carried out on the Stock Exchange to give it a color of real transactions. 2. I also find that the submissions made by the appellant during the course of the appeal point towards the elab....
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....In view of section 68 of the Act, where any sum is found credited in the books of the assessee tor any previous veer, the same may be charged to income tax as the income of the assesses of' that previous veer if the explanation offered by the assessee about the nature and source thereof is, in the opinion of the Assessing Officer not satisfactory. In such a case, there is prima facie, evidence against the assessee viz. the receipt of money, and if he fails to rebut, the said evidence being un-rebutted, can be used against him by holding that it was a receipt of an income nature."In the case of Sajjan Das & Sons vs. CIT (2003) 264 ITR 435 (Delhi), their Lordships of the High Court of Delhi, while considering a case in which gifts were received by the assessee through banking channels laid importance on the capacity of the donor for making the gift and his identity as well as importance of relationship between the donor and done in determination of genuineness of gift held as under: "That a mere identification of the donor and showing the movement of the gift amount through banking channels was not sufficient to prove the genuineness of the gift. Since the claim of the gift was m....
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....d reflect due application or mind on the relevant facts and the decision should take into consideration the entire material, which is germane and which should not be ignored and exclude that which is irrelevant. Certain facts or aspects may be neutral and should be noted. These should not be ignored but they cannot become the bedrock or substratum of conclusion. The provisions of Evidence Act are not applicable, but the assessing officer being a quasi judicial authority, must take care and caution to ensure that the decision is reasonable and satisfies the cannons of equity, fairness and justice. The evidence should be impartially and objectively analyzed to ensure that the adverse findings against the assessee when recorded are adequately and duly supported by material and evidence and can withstand the challenge in appellate proceedings. Principle of preponderance of probabilities applies. What is stated and the said standard, equally apply to the Tribunal and indeed this Court. The reasoning and the grounds given in any decision or pronouncement while dealing with the contentions and issues should reflect application of mind on the relevant aspects. When an assessee does not pro....
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....s to establish the truth of those recitals. Otherwise it will be very easy to make self-serving statements in documents either executed or taken by a party and rely on those recitals. If all that an assessee who wants to evade tax is to have some recitals made in a document either executed by him or executed in his favour then the door will be left wide-open to evade tax. A little probing was sufficient in the present case to show that the apparent was not the real. The taxing authorities were not required to put on blinkers while looking at the documents produced before them. They were entitled to look into the surrounding circumstances to find out the reality9 of the recitals made in those documents.... 6. It is well settled principle of law as declared by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Sumati Dayal Vs. CIT (214 ITR 801) (SC) that the true nature of transaction have to be ascertained in the light of surrounding circumstances. IT needs to be emphasized that standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt has no applicability in determination of matters under taxing statutes. In the present case, it is clear that apparent is not the real as evidenced from the inves....
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....actions, is to be assessed on the basis of the material available on record, surrounding circumstances, human conduct, preponderance of probabilities and nature of incriminating information/ evidence available with AO. 6.12. In the case of Sumati Dayal V. CIT (1995) 80 Taxman 89 (SC), the Hon'ble Supreme Court' has dealt with the relevance of human conduct, preponderance of probabilities and surrounding circumstance, burden of proof and its shifting on the Department in cases of suspicious Circumstances, by following observations: ",,,,. It is, no doubt, true that in all cases in which a receipt is sought to be taxed as income, the burden lies on the department to prove that It is within the taxing provision and if a receipt is in the nature of income; the burden of proving that it is not taxable because it falls within exemption provided by the Act lies upon the assessee, But in view of section 68, where any sum is found credited in the books of the assessee for any previous year, the same may be charged to incometax as the income of the assessee of that previous year if the explanation offered by the assessee about the nature and source thereof is, in th....
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....ear on the surface of the evidence adduced; some of these links may have to inferred from the proved facts; (4) in drawing those inferences or presumptions, the Authorities must have regarded to the common course of natural events, to human conduct and their relation to the facts of the particular case. (5) The circumstantial evidence can, with equal facility, be restored to in proof of a fact in issue which arises in proceedings for the assessment of taxes both direct and indirect, circumstantial evidence can be made use of in order to prove or disprove a fact alleged or in issue. In fact, in whatever proceedings or context inferences are required to be drawn from the evidence or materials available or lacking, circumstantial evidence has its place to assist the process of arriving at the truth." 6.14 It will also be worthwhile to consider the nature of burden of proof on the AO for proving a fact or circumstances in the income tax proceedings. The questions raised about the tax liability by the AO are to be answered by the assessee by furnishing reasonable and plausible explanations. If assessee is not forthcoming with proper or complete facts or his st....
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....claimed to have been made by the assessee. The small difference of Rs. 324/- was claimed to have been paid by way of cash. It is also pertinent to note that the alleged Speculation transaction carried out earlier to the purchase of shares of Prime Capital Markets Ltd was also claimed to have been carried in off market transaction. Another important point is that the assessee did not possess copies of Share certificates or copies of Share transfer forms. The , broker M/s Khandelwal & Co., has expressed its inability to furnish copies of contract notes available with it and also failed to furnish its books of account to substantiate the transactions of purchase of shares by the assessee. Since the impugned transaction was an off market transaction, the purchase transaction could not be confirmed by the Kolkata Stock exchange. The seta shares were earlier held by M/s Brightsun Merchants (P) Ltd .and the assessee had purchased the shares from them. The notice issued to M/s Brightsun Merchants (P) Ltd was returned unserved by the postal authorities with the remark "unknown". In this regard the assessee had replied that the name of the company was wrongly mentioned by the AO as M/s Brigh....
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.... gains put forth by the assessee. We notice that the test of human probabilities was not applied by the co-ordinate benches of Tribunal In the case of Shri Avinosh Kantilal Jain (supra) and Mr. Shyam R Pawar (supra). Hence, in our view) the assessee cannot take support from the above said decisions, We further notice that the ld CIT(A) has placed reliance on the decision dated 04.1.2011 rendered by ITAT Delhi In the case of Haresh Win Chaddha Vs. DDIT, wherein the Tribunal has expressed the view that there is no presumption in law that the AO is supposed to discharge an impossible burden to assess the tax liability by direct evidence only and to establish the evasion beyond doubt as in criminal proceedings. Further It was held that: the AO can assess on consideration of material available on record, surrounding circumstances, human conduct, preponderance of probabilities and nature of Incriminating information / evidence available on record. 13. In the case of Smt. Jamnadevi Agrawal (supra), the Hon'ble Bombay High Court has upheld the order of Tribunal on the reasoning that no fault can be found with the findings recorded by the Tribunal. A perusal of the above said o....
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.... probabilities was applied to reject the claim of profit realized on sale of penny stocks. There should not be any dispute that the onus to produce necessary evidences to convincingly show that the shares were purchased and sold at the prices claimed always lies upon the assessee. Our view finds support from the decision rendered by Hon'ble Guwahati High Court in the case of CIT vs. Smt. Jasvinder Kaur (357 ITR 638) 16. In view of the foregoing discussions, we are of the view that the decisions relied upon by the assessee cannot be taken support of by the assessee for the reasons discussed supra. Accordingly, we are of the view that the Ld CIT(A) was justified in confirming the order of the assessing officer by applying the test of human probabilities. 17. In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is dismissed. [Unquote] 9. Reliance is also placed In the case of Somnath Maini Vs ITO (226) 100 TTJ 917 wherein the Hon'ble Chandigarh bench of ITAT held that if facts and circumstances so warrant that it does not accord with the test of human probabilities, transactions have to be held to be non genuine. 3. The relevant facts br....
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....AO also recorded the finding that although the shares were transferred in the name of the assessee, they were still lying in the name of assessee much after the sale to M/s S.K. Sharma & Co. The learned CIT(A) deleted the addition on the ground that both the brokers from whom the shares have been purchased and sold were called under Section 31 by the AO. Both have confirmed the sale and purchase of said shares. Other aspect of the facts and circumstances raised by the AO was not discussed by the CIT(A) in his order. 4. In appeal before us, the learned Departmental Representative contended that it is highly improbable that shares of a company go up so high in few months' time. The learned Departmental Representative took us through various pages of the assessment order and the paper book wherein sale bill of the shares with the said M/s S.K. Sharma & Co. were also filed. The learned Departmental Representative pointed out that shares have been sold at Ludhiana when actually stock exchange was not functional - a fact which is also recorded by the AO. The learned Departmental Representative also pointed out that shares have been sold to M/s S.K. Sharma & Co. On 9th Feb., 1998....
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....f shares at the rate of Rs. 3 to the sale of shares at Rs. 55 in a short span of time and shares being not, quoted at Ludhiana Stock Exchange and the way in which different, installment payments have been received from the brokers and non-availability of the records of the brokers and the shares remaining in the name of assessee even long after the sale of the shares does not stand the test of probabilities. As rightly pointed out by the learned Departmental Representative, these types of companies function in the capital market whose sale price is manipulated to astronomical height only to create the artificial transaction in the form of capital gain. Surrounding circumstances differ from the normal share market transactions in which they are ordinarily carried out. Taking all the steps together, final conclusion does not accord with the human probabilities. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of CIT v. Durga Prasad More held as under: It is a story that does not accord with human probabilities. It is strange that High Court found fault with the Tribunal for not swallowing that story. If that story is found to be unbelievable as the Tribunal has found and in our opi....
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....;ble Bombay High Court in the case of Sanjay Bimalchand Jain Vs. Pr. CIT by their order dated 10th April, 2017 have upheld the orders of the Hon'ble ITGAT, Nagpur Bench dated 18.07.2016 in ITA No.61/Nag/2013 in Sanjay Bimalchand Jain Vs ITO, Ward-4(2), Nagpur, wherein it was held that on the facts emergent in the case, and the preponderance of probabilities, entire Capital Gains claims were to be treated as fictitious and bogus. Bogus LTCG from Penny stocks. The assessee has not tendered cogent evidence to explain how the shares in an unknown company worth Rs. 5 had jumped to Rs. 485 in no time. The fantastic sale price was not at all possible as there was no economic or financial basis to justify the price rise. The assessee had indulged in a dubious share transaction meant to account for the undisclosed income in the garb of long term capital gain. The gain has accordingly to be assessed as undisclosed credit u/s. 68. In view of the above discussion, I find no infirmity in the orders of the Ld. AO, and I confirm the same, holding the claim of LTCG of Rs. 34,62,689/- to be bogus. As a natural corollary, I also hold that the Ld. AO was also correct in adding b....
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....in Sanjay Mehta vs. ACIT ITA No.1089/Kol/2018 decided on 28.09.2018 has deleted identical addition of LTCG treated as unexplained cash credits regarding the very scrip as follows:- "5. We have given our thoughtful consideration to rival contentions. Case file as well as a compilation of judicial precedent stand perused. Learned Departmental Representative emphasizes time and again that the instant issue of bogus LTCG has rightly been decided against the assessee in both assessment as well as lower appellate proceedings raised pertaining to artificial manipulation of share prices in both M/s Unno Industries Ltd. & Sharp Trading Finance Ltd. We find no force in Revenue's instant argument. This tribunal co-ordinate bench's decision in ITA 2394/Kol/2017 Prakash Chand Bhutoria vs. ITO decided on 27.06.2018 for AY 2014-15 itself upholds such a share prices increase to be genuine qua the above former entity as under:- 5. In response to the queries raised by the assessing officer on the issue of the fact that the assessee received Rs. 31,62,372/- from sale of once scrips i.e. 'Unno Industries Ltd.' the assessee submitted the following facts: "Details of Purchase of share ....
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....Account opened on-31.08.2004 b) Name of DP- Guiness Securities Ltd. (DP ID No. IN302898) Demat account No. 10350406 Address of DP-Guiness House, 18, Deshpriya Park Road, Kolkata-700026. DP A/c opened on-25.05.2013 c) Name of DP- Tamilnad Mercantile Bank ltd. (DP ID No. IN303069) Demat account No. 10051996 Address of DP-Pearl Towers DPS Cell, AC 16, III Floor, II Avenue, Anna Nagar West, Chennai-600040. 9. Demat Statements of M/s Ashika Stock Broking Ltd. and Guiness Securities Ltd. for f.y. 2013-14 and 2014-15 in respect of long term capital gains are enclosed. Annexure IV. 10. The Equity Shares of M/s Unno Industries Ltd. were submitted for dematerialization on 01.04.2013 and credited to my Demat A/c No. 1203450000003128 with M/s Ashika Stock Broking Ltd. (DP ID No. 12034500) on 12.04.2013 (91000 shares). Details of Sale of Share for Long Term Capital Gain financial year 2013- 14(A.Y.2014-15): 1. The equity shares of M/s Unno Industries Ltd. are listed at Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), a recognized Stock Exchange of India since last so many years and even during the time of sale by me. The security code of the said equity shares ....
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....ones and colorable device only to convert the unaccounted cash into tax exempt. 7. Apart from this, the directorate of income tax, Kolkata various enquiries have been made on project basis, which has resulted into the unearthing of huge syndicate of entry operators, share brokers and money lender involved in providing bogus accommodation entries of Long Term Capital gain and short term capital loss. It has come to the light that large scale manipulation has been done in market price of shown of certain companies listed in the BSE by certain beneficiary is utilized to purchase shares of such company at a very high artificially inflated market price. Some of the listed companies directly or in directly owned by operators and whose shares price have been apparently manipulated by the syndicate of operators. Out of the above enquiry made by DIT(Inv.), Kolkata has established that one of the main manipulated company which you had availed is also under this syndicate. Hence, it is crystal clear that Sharp Trading Company is one of the main manipulated company (Penny listed) to convert unaccounted cash of beneficiary through long term capital gain with claim a certain percentage ....
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....t cannot take the place of evidence. The Hon'ble Supreme Court has stated that suspicion however strong cannot be the basis for making an addition. The evidence produced by the assessee listed above proves his case and the AO could not controvert the same by bringing on record any evidence. The evidence said to have been collected by the DIT (INV.), Kolkata and the report is not produced before this Bench. 10. I now discuss the case law on the subject. The Hon'ble Calcutta High Court in the case of CIT, Kolkata-III vs. Smt. Shreyashi Ganguli reported in [2012] (9) TMI 1113 held as follows: "1. Whether on the facts and circumstances of the case, the order of the Ld.. Tribunal is perverse in law as well as on facts in deleting the addition made by the Assessing Officer as unexplained cash credit under section 68 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, by ignoring the facts on record. The ld. Tribunal after considering the material and hearing came to a fact finding which is as follows: The Assessing Officer has doubted the transaction since the selling broker was subjected to SEBI's action. However, the demat account given the statement of transactions fr....
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....012] (Cal HC) - In this case the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court held that the Assessing Officer doubted the transactions since the selling broker was subjected to SEBI's action. However the transactions were as per norms and suffered STT, brokerage, service tax, and cess. There is no iota of evidence over the transactions as it were reflected in demat account. The appeal filed by the revenue was dismissed. (iv) CIT V. Rungta Properties Private Limited [ITA No. 105 of 2016] (Cal HC) - In this case the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court affirmed the decision of this tribunal , wherein, the tribunal allowed the appeal of the assessee where the AO did not accept the explanation of the assessee in respect of his transactions in alleged penny stocks. The Tribunal found that the AO disallowed the loss on trading of penny stock on the basis of some information received by him. However, it was also found that the AO did not doubt the genuineness of the documents submitted by the assessee. The Tribunal held that the AO's conclusions are merely based on the information received by him. The appeal filed by the revenue was dismissed. (v) CIT V. Andaman Timbers Industries Limited [ITA No....
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....uthorities below was not justified in rejecting the claim of the assessee that income from LTCG is exempted u/s 10(38) of the Act. For coming to such a conclusion we rely on the decision of the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court in the case of M/s. Alipine Investments in ITA No.620 of 2008 dated 26th August, 2008 wherein the High Court held as follows : "It appears that there was loss and the whole transactions were supported by the contract notes, bills and were carried out through recognized stock broker of the Calcutta Stock Exchange and all the bills were received from the share broker through account payee which are also filed in accordance with the assessment. It appears from the facts and materials placed before the Tribunal and after examining the same, the tribunal allowed the appeal by the assessee. In doing so the tribunal held that the transactions cannot be brushed aside on suspicion and surmises. However it was held that the transactions of the shares are genuine. Therefore we do not find that there is any reason to hold that there is no substantial question of law held in this matter. Hence the appeal being ITA No.620 of 2008 is dismissed." ....
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....the Donors were making such plans for the last 7 years to rig the stock price to generate bogus capital gains that too without any evidences whatsoever. 9.2 It is also pertinent to note that the assessee and / or the stock broker M/s P Didwania & Co and Toshith Securities P Ltd., both registered share and stock brokers with Calcutta Stock Exchange had confirmed the transaction and have issued legally valid contract notes under the Law and such contract notes are available in pages 41-52 of the Paper Book. We find that the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court in the case of Pr CIT Vs Rungta Properties Private Limited ITAT No 105 of 2016 dated 8th May 2017 in a similar issue dismissed the appeal of the Department by making the following observations: (11) On the last point, the Tribunal held that the Assessing Officer had not brought on records any material to show that the transactions in shares of the company involved were false or fictitious. It is finding of the assessing officer that the scrips of this company was executed by a broker through cross deals and the broker was suspended for some time. It is assessee's contention on the other that even though there are allegations ag....
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....ion of the Hon'ble High Court at Calcutta in the case of ALPINE INVESTMENTS in ITA No. 620 of 2008 dated 26th August 2008 wherein the Hon'ble Court held as follows: "It appears that the share loss and the whole transactions were supported by contract notes, bills and were carried out through recognized stockbroker of the Calcutta Stock Exchange and all the payments made to the stockbroker and all the payments received from stockbroker through account payee instruments, which were also filed in accordance with the assessment. It appears from the facts and materials placed before the Tribunal and after examining the same the Tribunal came to the conclusion and allowed the appeal filed by the assessee. In doing so, the Tribunal held that the transaction fully supported by the documentary evidences could not be brushed aside on suspicion and surmises. However, it was held that the transactions of share are genuine. Therefore, we do not find that there is any reason to hold that there is any substantial question of law involved in this matter. Hence, the appeal being ITA No.620 of 2008 is dismissed." 9.4. We also find that the various other case laws of Hon'bl....
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....The assessee in this case has stated the following facts and produced the following documents as evidences: 1. The assessee had made an application for allotment of 50000 equity shares of "Smart champs IT and Infra Ltd." and she was allotted the share on 3rd December 2011 (copy of Application form, intimation of allotment and share certificate Paper Book at page 8 to 10). 2. The payment for the allotment of shares was made through an account payee cheque (copy of the bank statement evidencing the source of money and payment made to "Smart Champs IT & Infra Ltd." for such shares allotted is placed in the Paper Book at page no. 11). 3. Annual return no. 20B was filed with Registrar of companies by "Smart Champs IT & Infra Ltd" showing the assessee's name as shareholder (copy of annual return no. 20B filed with Registrar of companies by "Smart Champs IT & Infra Ltd. "is placed in the Paper Book at page no. 12 to 18.) 4. The assessee lodged the said shares with the Depository M/s. Eureka Stock & Share Broking Services Ltd. with a Demat request on 11th February, 2012. The said shares were dematerialized on 31st March, 2012 (copy of demat request slip ....
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....as to guide our decision in the matter or the general observations based on statements, probabilities, human behavior and discovery of the modus operandi adopted in earning alleged bogus LTCG and STCG, that have surfaced during investigations should guide the authorities in arriving at a conclusion as to whether the claim in genuine or not. An alleged scam might have taken place on LTCG etc. But it has to be established in each case, by the party alleging so, that this assessee in question was part of this scam. The chain of events and the live link of the assessee's action giving her involvement in the scam should be established. The allegation imply that cash was paid by the assessee and in return the assessee received LTCG, which is income exempt from income tax, by way of cheque through Banking channels. This allegation that cash had changed hands, has to be proved with evidence, by the revenue. Evidence gathered by the Director Investigation's office by way of statements recorded etc. has to also be brought on recording each case, when such a statement, evidence etc. is relied upon by the revenue to make any additions. Opportunity of cross examination has to be provided to the....
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....ve the fact of bogusness or establish circumstance unerringly and reasonably raising an interference to that effect. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Umacharan Shah & Bros. Vs. CIT 37 ITR 271 held that suspicion however strong, cannot take the place of evidence. In this connection we refer to the general view on the topic of conveyance of immovable properties. The rates/sale price are at variance with the circle rates fixed by the Registration authorities of the Government in most cases and the general impression is that cash would have changed hands. The courts have laid down that judicial notice of such notorious facts cannot be taken based on generalisations. Courts of law are bound to go by evidence. 16. We find that the assessing officer as well as the Ld. CIT(A) has been guided by the report of the investigation wing prepared with respect to bogus capital gains transactions. However, we do not find that the assessing officer as well as the Ld. CIT(A), have brought out any part of the investigation wing report in which the assessee has been investigated and /or found to be a part of any arrangement for the purpose of generating bogus long term capital gain....
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....arred with the same brush as every arhatdar and grain merchant who might have been indulging in smuggling operations, without an iota of evidence in that behalf. The cancellation of the food grain licence at Nawgachia and the prosecution of the appellant under the Defence of India Rules was also of no consequence inasmuch as the appellant was acquitted of the offence with which it had been charged and its licence also was restored. The mere possibility of the appellant earning considerable amounts in the year under consideration was a pure conjecture on the part of the Income-tax Officer and the fact that the appellant indulged in speculation (in Kalai account) could not legitimately lead to the inference that the profit in a single transaction or in a chain of transactions could exceed the amounts, involved in the high denomination notes,---this also was a pure conjecture or surmise on the part of the Income-tax Officer. As regards the disclosed volume of business in the year under consideration in the head office and in branches the Income-tax Officer indulged in speculation when he talked of the possibility of the appellant earning a considerable sum as against which it showed a....
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....ss-examining the witnesses examined by that party. Not providing the said opportunity to crossexamine witnesses, would violate the principles of natural justice. (See also: Union of India v. T.R. Varma, AIR 1957 SC 882; Meenglas Tea Estate v. Workmen, AIR 1963 SC 1719; M/s. Kesoram Cotton Mills Ltd. v. Gangadhar and Ors. ,AIR 1964 SC708; New India Assurance Co. Ltd. v. Nusli Neville Wadia and Anr. AIR 2008 SC 876; Rachpal Singh and Ors. v. Gurmit Singh and Ors. AIR 2009 SC 2448;Biecco Lawrie and Anr. v. State of West Bengal and Anr. AIR 2010 SC 142; and State of Uttar Pradesh v. Saroj Kumar Sinha AIR 2010 SC 3131). 24. In Lakshman Exports Ltd. v. Collector of Central Excise (2005) 10 SCC 634, this Court, while dealing with a case under the Central Excise Act, 1944,considered a similar issue i.e. permission with respect to the cross-examination of a witness. In the said case, the Assessee had specifically asked to be allowed to cross-examine the representatives of the firms concern, to establish that the goods in question had been accounted for in their books of accounts, and that excise duty had been paid. The Court held that such a request could not be turned down, as the....
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.... wherein it was held that: "4. We have heard Mr. Kavin Gulati, learned senior counsel appearing for the Assessee, and Mr. K.Radhakrishnan, learned senior counsel who appeared for the Revenue. 5. According to us, not allowing the Assessee to cross-examine the witnesses by the Adjudicating Authority though the statements of those witnesses were made the basis of the impugned order is a serious flaw which makes the order nullity inasmuch as it amounted to violation of principles of natural justice because of which the Assessee was adversely affected. It is to be borne in mind that the order of the Commissioner was based upon the statements given by the aforesaid two witnesses. Even when the Assessee disputed the correctness of the statements and wanted to cross-examine, the Adjudicating Authority did not grant this opportunity to the Assessee. It would be pertinent to note that in the impugned order passed by the Adjudicating Authority he has specifically mentioned that such an opportunity was sought by the Assessee. However, no such opportunity was granted and the aforesaid plea is not even dealt with by the Adjudicating Authority. As far as the Tribunal is concerne....
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....e concrete evidence where the transactions cannot be proved with the supportive evidence. Here in the case the transactions of the commodity exchanged have not only been explained but also substantiated from the confirmation of the party. Both the parties are confirming the transactions which have been duly supported with the books of accounts and bank transactions. The ld. AR has also submitted the board resolution for the trading of commodity transaction. The broker was expelled from the commodity exchange cannot be the criteria to hold the transaction as bogus. In view of above, we reverse the order of the lower authorities and allow the common grounds of assessee's appeal." [quoted verbatim] This is essentially a finding of the Tribunal on fact. No material has been shown to us who would negate the Tribunal's finding that off market transactions are not prohibited. As regards veracity of the transactions, the Tribunal has come to its conclusion on analysis of relevant materials. That being the position, Tribunal having analyzed the set off acts in coming to its finding, we do not think there is any scope of interference with the order of the Tribunal in exercise of our....
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....eld as under vide Page 12 Para 8.1: "In the light of the documents stated i.e. (I to xiv) in Para 6(supra) we find that there is absolutely no adverse material to implicate the assessee to have entered gamut of unfounded/unwarranted allegations leveled by the Assessing Officer against the assessee, which in our considered opinion has no legs to stand and therefore has to fall. We take note that the ld. DR could not controvert the facts supported with material evidences which are on record and could only rely on the orders of the AO/CIT (A). We note that in the absence of material/evidence the allegations that the assessee/brokers got involved in price rigging/manipulation of shares must therefore also fail. At the cost of repetition, we note that the assessee had furnished all relevant evidence in the form of bills, contract notes, demat statement and bank account to prove the genuineness of the transactions relevant to the purchase and sale of shares resulting in long term capital gain. These evidences were neither found by the AO nor by the ld. CIT (A) to be false or fictitious or bogus. The facts of the case and the evidence in support of the evidence clearly support th....
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....conjectures. It is to be kept in mind that suspicion how so ever strong, cannot partake the character of legal evidence. It further held as follows: "We note that the ld. AR cited plethora of the case laws to bolster his claim which are not being repeated again since it has already been incorporated in the submissions of the ld. AR (supra) and have been duly considered to arrive at our conclusion. The ld. DR could not bring to our notice any case laws to support the impugned decision of the ld. CIT(A)/AO. In the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case, we hold that the ld. CIT(A) was not justified in upholding the addition of sale proceeds of the shares as undisclosed income of the assessee u/s 68 of the Act. We therefore direct the AO to delete the addition." f) The BENCH "A"OF KOLKATAITAT in the case of SHALEENKHEMANI [ITA No.1945/Kol/2014]order dated 18.10.2017 held as under vide Page 24 Para 9.3: "We therefore hold that there is absolutely no adverse material to implicate the assessee to the entire gamut of unwarranted allegations leveled by the ld AO against the assessee, which in our considered opinion, has no legs to stand in the eye....
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....to the conclusion that transaction entered by the assessee was genuine. Detailed finding recorded by CIT (A) at para 3 to 5 has not been controverted by the department by bringing any positive material on record. Accordingly, we do not find any reason to interfere in the findings of CIT (A)." h)The Hon'ble Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case of VIVEK MEHTA [ITA No. 894 OF2010] order dated 14.11.2011 vide Page 2 Para 3 held as under: "On the basis of the documents produced by the assessee in appeal, the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeal) recorded a finding of fact that there was a genuine transaction of purchase of shares by the assessee on 16.3.2001 and sale thereof on 21.3.2002. The transactions of sale and purchase were as per the valuation prevalent in the Stocks Exchange. Such finding of fact has been recorded on the basis of evidence produced on record. The Tribunal has affirmed such finding. Such finding of fact is sought to be disputed in the present appeal. We do not find that the finding of fact recorded by the Commissioner of Income Tax in appeal, gives give rise to any question(s) of law as sought to be raised in the present appeal. Hence, the pr....