TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2020 (8) TMI 85
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....hri Rajiv Gupta are also identical. For ready reference, the grounds from ITA 124/CHD/2020 are reproduced hereunder: 1. That the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-Hisar has erred both in law and on facts in upholding the determination of total income of the appellant at Rs. 42,84,650/- as against declared income of Rs. 2,84,650/- in an order of assessment 24.12.2018 under section 143(3) of the Act. 2. That the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) has further erred both in law and on facts in upholding an addition of Rs. 40,00,000/- representing alleged unexplained cash credit under section 68 of the Act. 2.1. That while making the above addition, the learned Income Tax Officer has failed to appreciate the factual substratum of the case, statutory provisions of law and as such, addition so made is highly misconceived, totally arbitrary, wholly unjustified and therefore, unsustainable. 2.2. That while confirming the above addition, the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) has failed to appreciate the factual substratum of the case, statutory provisions of law and as such, addition so sustained is highly misconceived, tota....
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....missioner of Income Tax (Appeals) has also erred both in law and on facts in upholding the levy of interest of Rs. 72,222/-u/s 234A of the Act and interest of Rs. 3,97,221/- u/s 234B of the Act which are not leviable on the facts of the instant case. Prayer : It is therefore, prayed that, it be held that addition made and sustained by the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) be deleted and appeal of the appellant be allowed. 4. Addressing the grounds, the ld. AR submitted that the issue at hand is fully addressed vide ground Nos. 1 & 2 and the main arguments on behalf of the respective assessees are addressed vide ground Nos. 2.3, 2.6 and 2.9. 4.1 Other grounds were stated to be supporting arguments assailing the impugned order. 4.2 Ground No. 3, it was submitted, is not being pressed and ground No. 4 is consequential, as such requires no specific adjudication. 5. In the light of these facts, the ld. AR invited attention to the impugned order so as to highlight the relevant facts as argued before the AO. It was submitted that the position of facts as made available and considered largely have been extracted in the assessment order in para 3 of the impug....
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....tures of Shri Rajiv Gupta are available and in the same, there is no over-writing or lack of clarity etc. For ready reference, the relevant extract is reproduced hereunder : 7. Since this issue is a common issue in both the appeals, it would be appropriate to refer to the relevant document in the case of the husband Shri Rajiv Gupta which is at Paper Book page 40 of the said appeal. Attention was invited to the relevant entry 255 wherein the name of Shri Rajiv Gupta S/o Bhagirath Gupta alongwith signatures of Shri Rajiv Gupta are clearly given. In the signatures, there appears to be a 'G' in English also appears to be written and it was his submission that possibly the entry No. 254 who was Gurvinder, may have initially signed this name at the wrong place. Thus, as far as Shri Rajiv Gupta is concerned, there is no over-writing. The signature, it was submitted, is clear. The ld. Sr.DR's specific attention was invited to this document also. 8. Reverting back to the case of Smt. Monika Gupta as all the other facts remained identical, attention was invited to Paper Book pages 25 to 29 which contain the statement dated 10.12.2018 recorded by the AO of Shri Rajesh Kumar, one of the....
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....s heavily relied upon. It was his submission that the purchaser has elaborated that he had 21 acre of land and part of it was contemplated for sale, however the land prices nose-dived (mandi aane ki vejah se) he could not sell, however, it was submitted, Shri Rajesh Kumar clearly expressed that he was hopeful that he would be able to still raise the funds and complete the purchase as still on the date of recording the statement, there was still time available. Attention was invited to question No. 6 wherein the AO digging deeper enquired that as resident of Hansi, why was he contemplating settling or purchasing land near Mangala which was quite far. In response to the same, it was read out by the ld. AR that Shri Rajesh Kumar stated that most of his relatives reside near Hansi Kheda, Sirsa which is why he wanted to sell land and settle there. Apart from that, there was a paucity of water in the area where he was living and opposed to that in the area where he was contemplating purchase, there was an existing tube-well in the land and the water was good, sufficient and conducive for rice growing. Inviting attention to question No. 7, it was submitted that the AO not still believing ....
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....as his submission that they have conveniently ignored the fact that the agreement to sell was made in the residence of Shri Sita Ram, Ex-Panchayat Member, relative of Shri Rajesh Kumar, one of the purchasers which is an unrebutted fact. Even otherwise, it was his submission that there was no need to record the agreement to purchase in writing. The fact that the parties have exchanged monies relying upon thereto and ultimately settled the issues relying upon the compromise entered into are a matter of record. All parties have been examined, no contrary evidence is available except conjectures. Specific attention was invited to the fact that all the dates on which the agreement to execute the Sale Deed was extended is clearly set out therein, none of the parties dispute it. The fact that the purchasers could not fulfill the requirements of the contract is evidenced by the said document which was entered into on 29.01.2017. It has duly been signed by the assessee Smt. Monika Gupta, Shri Rajesh Kumar and Shri Ravinder Kumar, Shri Sita Ramm, erstwhile Sarpanch of Hansi Khera, Sirsa. Relative of Shri Rajesh Kumar is also a witnesses alongwith Shri Ashok Goyal and Shri Bhagirath Gupta, no....
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....assessee has made an agreement on 15.05.2015 just a few days before the introduction of Amendment in Section 269SS of Income Tax Act, 1961 on 01.06.2015 was an irrelevant consideration and the conjectures are not supported by any fact or legal consideration. Assessees have given valid reasons for wanting to relocate and all these evidences cannot be discarded. 13. The fact that the amount was forfeited after about 4 years of serious efforts to conclude the detail is a matter of record. Thus, where despite the best efforts of the purchasers, they could not go ahead and purchase the land due to lack of funds which also has been duly explained as direct result of fall in agricultural land prices are unrebutted facts on record. The fact that the price considered to be correct price for sale did not materialize so as to enable raising funds by the purchaser who wanted to sell and invest those proceeds in the purchase of the specific agricultural land from the assessees are unrebutted facts clearly on record. The fact that ultimately Rs. 10 lacs each has been returned back to the respective purchasers through banking channels by the assessee as is evidenced from para 1.16 of the writt....
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....pset, rebutted or interfered with. 15. I have heard the submissions and perused the material on record. In the facts of the present case, admittedly the assessee was the owner of specific piece of land measuring 43 kanal 11 marle 2 sarsai located in village Mangala, Sirsa The ownership of the assessee is not disputed. The persons with whom the Agreement for sale was entered into by Smt. Monika Gupta are identified as Shri Ravinder Kumar S/o Shri Nathu Ram and Shri Rajesh Kumar S/o Shri Nathu Ram resident of village Sekupura, Hansi on 15.05.2015. In the case of Shri Rajiv Gupta, the agreement is dated 27.04.2015, the purchasers are the same. The date for registration in both the Agreements was fixed as 19.04.2016 and as per the Agreement, the respective assessees had received, as per their claim, Rs. 40 lacs as earnest money each. It is a common stand in the case of both the assessees that purchases being common, Shri Ravinder Kumar and Shri Rajesh Kumar could not arrange the funds. 15.1 On a perusal of the grounds, it is seen that in both the cases the assessees are aggrieved by the addition of Rs. 40 lacs made by the AO. The explanation of the assessee that the same emanated....
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....ounting to Rs. 2,71,360/- was e-filed by the assessee on 25.01.2017 which was processed u/s 143(1) of the IT Act, 1961. Later on, the case of the assessee was selected for limited scrutiny under CASS on the parameter 'High Cash in hand shown in Balance sheet as compared to preceding year and return of income filed after 07.11.2016'. Notice u/s 143(2) was issued on 18.09.2017 through 1TBA and sent on email. During assessment proceeding questionnaire dated 12.07.2018 was issued alongwith notice u/s 142(1) through ITBA and send on email. The assessee was asked to give a note on business activities. The assessee has earned commission income, interest, interest income and also earned the agriculture income during the year under consideration. The assessment is completed with the following observations:- 2. The assessee has produced the cash boom for the F.Y. 2015-16 relevant to A.Y. 2016 17 to justify the cash in hand of Rs. 83,39,887/- at the end of the financial year. From the perusal of cash book, it is noticed that the assessee has shown cash receipt amounting to Rs. 40,00,000/- on 15.05.2015 with the narration that the same has been received as 'Earnest Money f....
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....f the amount of earnest money i.e. Rs. 20,00,000/- will be forfeited by the assessee and rest of the earnest money of Rs. 20,00,000/- will be returned to the purchasers. 2.4 The assessee has purchased the stamp papers on 15.05.2015 from the stamp vender Sh. Satpal Middha Stamp Vender. Rama. The copy of the relevant page of stamp sale register was called from the above mentioned vendor and copy of the same is placed on record. The secanned copy of the relevant page is produced as under:- 2.5 when this page is closely monitored, ti can easily be seen that there is overwriting on entry 439 to incorporate the name of the assessee in place of the original purchaser's name. In the name column, alphabets 'Monika' and alphabet W/o is written overwriting the name of original purchaser. Further, there are signatures of sh. Rajiv gupta and one more person at this entry, which clearly substantiates the fact that stamp paper was purchased on future dale and same was entered at Sr. No. 439 doled 27.04.2015 was over writing the name of original purchaser. Therefore, the above agreement was made to adjust the unaccounted cash in the books of accounts. 2.6 In ....
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....ing of Rs. 12-15 Lakh per annum from the brine water land is next to impossible. Therefore, the purchaser had made the contradictory statement. 2.9 They further stated that they wanted to purchase the agriculture land located in Mangala. Sirsa, because most of their relatives are resident of village Handikhera, sirsa and they wanted to shift near to their relatives. The distance between village Mangala and Handi Khera is aprox. 20 K.M. and agriculturists mostly lives at the place where his agriculture land is located. Hence, they have just made a fake story to justify the purpose of making the purchase of agriculture land. 2. 10 Purchasers during the statement have submitted that. As a source of advance for purchase of agriculture land from the assessee, they have arranged the funds from following sources:- (i) Rs. 7.5 Lakh from the sale of agriculture land. (ii) 14 15 from the income from agriculture lands. (iii) Reaminmg money income from relatives and relatives were later paid out of the withdrawal from the KCC limit of Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 6.40 Lakh in the name of both the brothers. But, purchaser had not submitted any docume....
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....on 15.05.2015, just 15 days before the introduction of amendment in section 269SS of the l.T. Ad, 1961 on 01.06.2015, which states that no advance in form of specified sum can be taken or accepted otherwise than through account payee cheque, bank draft or use of electronic clearing system if the amount is grater than Rs. 20,00,000/-. The above arrangement was made to escape the said amendment and introduce the unexplained cash into the books of the assessee before the amendment made into the Act. 2.15 The assessee belongs to Sirsa and the purchasers are the resident of village Sekhupura, Hansi. The agriculture land under consideration is located in Mangala, near Sirsa city. But, the stamp paper for the agreement of sale of agriculture land was purchased from Rama, sirsa. The distance of Rania from the purchasers and. Seller is aprox 140 KM. and 22 KM. respectively and distance of agriculture land under consideration from Rania is aprox./ 15 K.M.. In a normal agreement stamp is purchased from nearby area. These, facts prove that the agreement of sale between the assesse and the pruchaserers was not authentic. 2.16 From the perusal of agreement for sale, it is notic....
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....d 30-34 5 Copy of compromise deed dated 29.1.2017 between the appellant and prospective purchasers 35- 36 6 Copy of affidavit of prospective purchasers namely Shri Ravinder Kumar and Shri Rajesh Kumar 40- 41 7 Copy of affidavit dated 19.1.2018 of t h e appellant 42- 43 8 Copy of cash flow statement furnished by the appellant 39 9 Copy of letter dated 19.1.2017 by the appellant to the Registrar 38 15.5 The Assessing Officer's observations and reasoning point-wise and para-wise was assailed with a detailed tabulated reply extracted at page 10 to 26 of the impugned order. The issue of over-writing was addressed. The case-law relied upon in support of the fact that for agriculture income, returns were not required to be filed and even if according to the Assessing Officer, for dairy income, the purchaser ought to have filed the return, the assessee could not be held liable. Casting the onus upon the assessee for ensuring the filing of return by the purchasers, it has been argued, was an unfair burden as the assessee had no occasion to advice the purchasers. Arguments and decisions were relied upon to assail that although the assessee w....
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....est and balance amount of Rs. 20,00,000/- will be forfeited by the seller. That a written agreement was also executed between the parties who alongwith panchayat members have also singed the same. 1.12 That the assessee appeared before the Income-Tax Officer, Ward. 2. Sirsa and submitted reply and also produced her complete books of accounts, copy of agreement executed for sale of her agriculture land, documents regarding appearance before the Tehsildar, copy of panchayatirazinama. That cash book alongwith copy of statement of income, statement of affairs and capital accounts was also submitted alongwith reply. That summons for appearance of purchasers were also issued That the purchaser appeared before the Ld Income tax officer, ward 2, Sirsa on 10 12 2018 and their statement was recorded That both the purchasers have confirmed for execution of agreement for sale of land by the assessee to them They have also explained the earnest amount of Rs. 40.00,000/- given by them in cash They have also explained the source of their investment and also produced the documents regarding ownership of agriculture land owned by them That they have also confirmed tlie panchayatirezinam. T....
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....rence drawn by the Ld ITO is against the principle of natural justice particularly when the assessing officer has made addition under section 68 without giving any notice. 1.16 It is further respectfully submitted that appellant after the order of assessment dated 24.12.2018 under section 143(3) of the Act made the payment to purchaser are as under: Sr. No. Date Name of Purchaser Amount i) 28.01.2019 Sh. Ravinder Kumar 10,00,000 ii) 28 01 2019 Sh Rajesh Kumar 10.00,000 Total - 15.6 However, the arguments were considered to be not acceptable and the view of the AO for the reasons set out in the impugned order at para 5.1 which is more or less repetition of the assessment order has been confirmed. 15.7 For similar reasons, the addition has been confirmed in the case of Shri Rajiv Gupta also. 15.8 On a careful consideration of the facts, arguments and the respective findings, I notice that the ld. CIT(A) did not care to address specific para 1.13 in Smt. Monika Gupta's case. It is also seen that the ld. CIT(A) also has not cared to address the facts reproduced in the order itself in para 1.16. I notice tha....
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....e the payment. It is not his onus or duty to ensure that the funds made available are from disclosed sources as he has no such authority to call upon him to explain the fact. The fact that there was a time lag of 11 months contemplated as opposed to the time lag of 3 months which was deemed to be normal according to the AO and the ld. CIT(A) ignores the fact that the agreement was entered into between the parties wherein the purchasers Shri Rajesh Kumar and Shri Ravinder Kumar admittedly did not have the entire funds available in cash and they were required to liquidify their assets by sale of agricultural land and raising loans from their relatives etc. and the fact that ultimately despite their best efforts and attempts of the parties after extending the date a few times, ultimately the funds could not be raised is a fact available on record. The fact that before the Panchayat as per the Compromise Deed available on record which also stands unrebutted on record, the purchasers were still hopeful of selling their lands and have made their statements before the AO and recorded in the Compromise Deed also that the land prices at the time of sale nosedived and this fact also stands u....
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....° के आये ? इसके बारे में सारा पैसा विसà¥à¤¤à¥ƒà¤¤ "लाख रà¥à¤ªà¤¯à¥‡ कहाठजानकारी हैं। मैंने और मेरे à¤à¤¾à¤ˆ दोनों ने दिठथे। यह पैसा मà¥à¤à¥‡ à¤à¤µà¤‚ मेरे à¤à¤¾à¤ˆ को खेली-बड़ी की à¤à¤µà¤‚ डेयरी का à¤à¤• जमीन हà¥à¤† था। साथ पà¥à¤°à¤ªà¤¾à¤¤ Tos cotch रूपये में बेची थी। इससे पहले मैंने स....
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....¤¦à¥à¤°à¤¿à¤¯ à¤à¤• से वसूल की की और लिठ194-2015 की नई कफ से के बकाया रकम का इंतजाम हो पाया लिख कम से कम को आगे 30-9-2016 तक गà¥à¤Ÿ किंवा या था उसके बाद दोबारा से à¤à¥€ दिखोगों सहमति से 19-01-2017या कर ली थीं। इस तारिख को à¤à¥€ डिडिय यह रकम अ करने क रजिसà¥à¤Ÿà¤°à¥€ कय हेतॠठानी विà¤....
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....à¥à¤¤à¥à¤° शà¥à¤°à¥€ नतà¥à¤¥à¥‚ राम गांव शेखपà¥à¤°à¤¾, हांसी के शà¥à¤°à¥€à¤®à¤¤à¥€ मोनिका गà¥à¤ªà¥à¤¤à¤¾ के cave में दिनांक 10/12/2018 के Secevin 131 के अंतरà¥à¤—त लिये गये । राजेश कà¥à¤®à¤¾à¤° शपथ दिवाले वाला) रातेमा कà¥à¤®à¤¾à¤°: (करà¥à¤¤à¤¾) पà¥à¤°à¤¶à¥à¤¨ उतà¥à¤¤à¤°à¤ƒ कृपया अपना परिचय दें मेरा नाम राजा कà¥à¤®à¤¾à¤° पà¥à¤¤à¥à¤° ....
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....à¥à¤°à¥à¤•à¤°à¤° ! परनà¥à¤¤à¥ पैसे के अà¤à¤¾à¤µ. रूप नहीं करवा पाठ। रजिसà¥à¤Ÿà¥à¤°à¥€ की तारीख पर पैसे न होने से, आपसी सामंदी से दो बार तारकीय बढ़ाई गई थीं। परनà¥à¤¤à¥ उन दो तारीखों पर à¤à¥€ पैसे का इंतनाम नहीं हो पाया। इसलिठरजिसà¥à¤Ÿà¥à¤°à¥€ नहीं हो पाई। इस बारे दो बार ....
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....रशà¥à¤¨ 6: उतà¥à¤¤à¤°: थे कà¥à¤› हिसà¥à¤¸à¤¾ हम बेंचकर यह । परनà¥à¤¤à¥ जमीनों के मंदी अपने की वजह से हम अपनी जमीन को अचà¥à¤›à¥‡ दामों में नहीं बेच पाठऔर पैंसों का इंतनाम नहीं होने की वजह से नहीं जमीन की रजिसà¥à¤Ÿà¥à¤°à¥€ नहीं करना याà¤à¤ । परनà¥à¤¤à¥ अà¤à¥€ à¤à¥€ रजिसà¥â€à¤Ÿà¥à....
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....ास लेना चाहता है। इसके आलावा हमारे गांव में खेतों में पानी के लिठपाईप लाइन दूर से जाती है, सब पतà¥à¤¨à¥€ का उपयà¥à¤•à¥à¤¤ पà¥à¤°à¤¬à¤‚ध नहीं हैं। राजेश कà¥à¤®à¤¾à¤° ified Trud Ga Cort -Page-4 Document 8 28 Page-4- बं जो जमीन मेठऔर मेरा à¤à¤¾à¤ˆ खरीदना चा रहे थे वहाठपर टà¥à¤¯à¥‚बूत लगा है। à¤à¤µà¤‚ पानà....
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....¤‚कि पानी की मैं बंदकर उपलबà¥à¤§à¤¤à¤¾, यहाठपर अचà¥à¤›à¥€ है कà¥à¤¯à¥‹à¤‚कि पास नंदी पड़ती है। यह जमीन मोड़‌मिखेडा रोड का बिलà¥à¤•à¥à¤² पास है। खेते के सामने पानी की सà¥à¤•à¥€ बनी हà¥à¤ˆ है। मà¥à¤à¥‡ इतनी ही जानकारी है। पà¥à¤°à¤¶à¥à¤¨ 8 : जैसा कि इकारनामें के तय हà¥à¤† था कि आप....