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2025 (9) TMI 1014

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.... the Act was issued on 12.09.2018 followed by questionnaire under Section 142(1) dated 17.10.2019. Pursuant to the said notice the assessee duly submitted the details as required. The assessee filed return of income reporting cash deposit to the tune of Rs. 39,83,63,741/- during demonetization period commencing from 09.11.2016 to 31.12.2016. Show cause as to whether such cash deposit shall not be considered as undisclosed income of the assessee was issued. The assessee replies as follows: "The source for the cash deposits fee receipts out of IPD/OPD collections and college fee received from students as per receipt issued the same is offered as income of the trust in the return of income. Comparison of cash deposits Cash Deposits F.Y. 2015-16 F.Y. 2016-17 Total Cash Deposited in FY 36,64,68,587 59,62,82,459 From 01.04.2015/16 to 08.11.2015/16 16,38,58,013 15,18,32,468 From 09.11.2015/16 to 31.12.2015/16 2,59,59,619 39,89,0,491 Comparison of Cash Sales/Fee receipts Cash Sales/Fee receipts FY 2015-16 FY 2016-17 Total Cash Sales Fee receipts in FY 66,41,28,044 66,63,01,905 From 01.04.2015/16 to 08.11.20....

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....ence to justify the source of such deposits which was in turn deleted by the Ld. CIT(A). 6. Before the Ld. CIT(A) the assessee submitted the following in support of the source of SBN i.e. the demonetization currency: "A. Justification of the source of the SBN in the face of the peculiar factual background of the case. The Ld. AO rejected the explanation of source of cash deposit during demonetization period by giving following reasons in para 3.3 at page 3 of impugned order: 1. There is substantial amount of increase in cash deposit during FY 201617 as compared to cash deposit during preceding FY 2015-16. 2. The appellant had not filed any corroborating evidence to justify the source of cash deposit. The appellant seeks to high light the following facts before contesting the validity of the action in applying the provision of sec 69A vis-à-vis the cash deposits during the demonetization period. The relevant facts which need to be considered are as under: i. The appellant trust has been running two independent institutions, one is the medical college having the facility of hospital, pharmacy etc. and the other unit is a....

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....the specific issue of the deposit of SBN involved in the present appeal, it is submitted that the total deposit of demonetised currency from 08.11.2016 to 30.12.2016,as per the AO, was the amount totalling Rs. 39,83,63,741/- but the AO has clearly has been misled from the incorrect information available on his records which is evident from the fact that the deposit of demonetised currency could not have been in the denomination lower than Rs. 500/- and the deposits in the lower denominations could not have been in the demonetised currency. The appellant has placed a chart (PB 114) where the date wise and bank wise detail of cash deposits are given. From the chart it can be seen that in the accounts where the deposits of college fee collection is made the aggregate cash deposits during demonetisation period had been Rs. 39,27,63,336/-out of which the deposit of demonetised currency with PNB (Certificates PB 115) was Rs. 12,29,836/- thus leaving the quantum of SBN deposits to the amount of Rs. 39,15,33,500/-only. Similarly in the bank accounts of the Pharmacy the aggregate cash deposits considered to be demonetised currency was Rs. 17,52,500/- out which as per the certificates issued....

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....f fees vis a vis the total collection during AY 2017-18 has come down to 49% from 53% in preceding AY 2016-17. The percentage of cash collection till 08h November to the total collection till that date has also shown decline to 47% from 49% in preceding AY. This fact shows and rather nails the possibility / doubt that the appellant has created the cash balance just before demonetisation by artificially inflating the cash collection. Interestingly, the percentage of cash collection has shown a comparative decline IN ay 2017-18 from preceding AY. It is also interesting to note that the gross income of the trust for AY 2017-18 till 08th November has shown increment of 15% approximately to Rs. 79.32 crore from Rs. 68.92 crore in AY 201617. This increase in revenue matches with the overall increase of 10% in the annual revenue of the appellant trust. The breakup of income of the trust with comparative figures for earlier assessment year is discussed in the succeeding para. Further the activity wise collection chart at page 65 of the Paper book shows the collection of fee from the students which is the major part of the income of the Appellant Trust has shown normal increase of ....

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.... is regular collection from the charitable activities, The Ld AO has apparently based his finding on the wrong premise that appellant has booked unaccounted income in cash, which is the source of demonetized currency. b. From details available on record, it can be seen that till 08.11.2015, the appellant had cash in hand of Rs. 20.91 Crore (PB 63), whereas the cash balance as on corresponding date 08.11.2016 increased to Rs. 40.24 Crore (PB 64). It is the balance of cash balance on 08.11.2016 which is the source of cash deposit of Rs. 39,83,63,741/- made during the demonetization period which is considered as undisclosed income. The reason why the higher amount of Rs. 40.24 Crore came to be accumulated, than corresponding balance of 08.11.2015, can be explained from the Income and Expenditure Account in the respective years of comparison. (PB 12 AY 2017-18 & 44 for AY 2016-17) c. The appellant due to the peculiar circumstances was under compulsion to keep the cash in hand in physical form in spite of the appellant having number of bank accounts. The peculiarity of circumstances is that the appellant had been put under constant threat of attachment of bank accounts....

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....from cash flow statement for AY 2016-17 up to 08.11.2015, it can be seen that there had been two major outgoes i.e. Rs. 16.37 Crore towards capital work in progress and Rs. 6.10 Crore towards assistance in meeting the regular expenses of the parent trust M/s Maharaji Educational Trust, the entity engaged in para-medical education to the students. Provision of assistance to above institution is in accordance with the main objects of the appellant trust. The appellant during AY 2017-18 had no occasion to incur those expenses such capital work in progress and assistance to Maharaji Educational Trust. The capital work in progress undertaken last year had reached near stage of completion and therefore no further expenditure was incurred. The appellant therefore had extra availability of cash from the level of cash in hand in AY 2016-17 by the amounts of avoided payments of Rs. 16 Crore (Capital Work in Progress) and Rs. 6 Crore (Assistance to Maharaji Educational Trust) .. g. From the explanation given earlier, the cash collection of the trust during AY 2017-18 till date of demonetization was showing normal increase of 10% over the collection for the corresponding period in AY ....

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....were allowed to make such payment in demonetized currency and no enquiry will be made on such account. Copies of payment of tax challans as discussed above are placed in paper book at pages 80-94. The least the AO could have considered was the payments of Rs. 3,93,92,561/- made through banking channel being out of the demonetized currency deposited post 08.11.2016 not to be considered for the purpose of invoking section 69A r.w.s. 115BBE of the Act. j. It is also clarified that the deposit of demonetized currency which is normal accrual in the course of running medical college/hospital/pharmacy had been fully used towards normal expenses contingencies of the trust which is evident from the fact that the Ld. AO did not find any instance of diversion of funds for the purposes other than the purposes manifest in its intended objectives for which the registration u/s 12A was granted. The application of income does qualify as deduction u/s 11(1) of the Act. The AO does not dispute the application of income by the appellant and this is the reason the AO has granted exemption us 11(1) of the Act for the expenditure claimed per the computation of income. B. Validity of ac....

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....y accordingly. The assessee offers the all its receipts to income and incurs expenditure for the purpose of the trust, no addition us 68/69/69A of the Act is warranted. IV. In case of institutions exempt under provisions of Income Tax Act either us 10(23C)/12A of IT Act and where the Assessing Officer proposes to invoke either sec 68/69/69A of the Income- tax Act, 1961 on account of unexplained source of investment/credit ultimately leading to denial of exemption available w/s 11 of IT Act, such action is contrary to the decision of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court in case of Director of Income Tax (Exemption) v. Raunaq Education Foundation [2007] 294 ITR 76 (Del.) where it is held that the income cannot be given a restricted meaning following the decision of the Supreme Court in different context in P.R. Prabhakar v. CIT [2006] 284 ITR 548 (SC). Reliance is also placed by the Court on the decision of the Supreme Court in Adityapur Industrial Area Development Authority v. Union of India [2006] 5 Scale 321 (SC), where it was held that an exemption granted cannot be taken away, unless it is expressly provided for. In such cases where the Assessing Officer infers income for a....

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....d for accomplishment of the charitable objectives of the trust. Therefore, there is record of identity indicating the name and address of the person making contribution, then it will be outside the purview of definition of anonymous donation also. To support above view, further reliance is placed on following decisions: • Sh Vivekanand Education & Welfare Society ITA No.2592/Del/2012; • Sunder Deep Educational Society vs ACIT ITA No.2428/Del/2011; • ITO vs Tathagat Shiksha Samiti ITA No. 51/LKW/2016 dt: 23.10.2018; • ITO (Exemption) v. Narain Educational & Welfare Trust Income Tax Act No. 15/LKW/2015 dt: 10.07.2015. VII. In view of the authorities cited above it is clear that the appellant has applied the income of the trust for charitable activities which fact is undisputed by the AO also, the application of the deeming income under any of the provisions 19) (sections 68/69/ 69A does not arise. Be that as it may, if that proposition of law is applied the action of invoking and applying higher rate of tax as per section 115BBE also has no basis. C. Replies of the specific queries raised by your good self with the....

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.... the trust, the normal average bank balance was in the region of Rs. 50 Lakh to Rs. 60 Lakh. The bank balance in July end came down to Rs. 71.19 Lakh in following month end i.e., Aug 2014 and the same trend of the bank balance being at the bare minimum level continues in the remaining months thereof. B. AY 2016-17 There was no departure, in this year too, in the practice of keeping minimum funds in bank accounts and keeping the same largely in physical form. This systematic trend is evident from the charts for AY 2015-16 in the paper book at pages 142-143. The cash held in the months of July 2015, Aug 2015 and Sept 2015 were accumulated from the cash collection and this cash balance got utilised in the cash payments made in later months. The Chart of bank balances supports the above plea of the appellant which is further strengthened from the fact that in the months of June 2015 (Bank Balance Rs. 1.16 Crore), July 2015 (Bank Balance Rs. 2.75 Crore) and Feb 2016 (Bank balance Rs. 1.48 Crore) but in the following months, the month end balance were Rs. 0.75 Crore in Aug 2016 and Rs. 0.42 Crore in March 2016). The fee collection in July 2015 was Rs. 16.03 Crore out of....

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....e notice dated 06.09.2018 specifically required the appellant to produce all bank statements and the source of cash deposits during demonetisation period. The appellant in replies thereto vide letter dated 17.12.2018 (PB 147- 153) submitted all bank account statements and perusal of these bank statement confirms the fact that the appellant as a matter of consistent policy had been keeping the funds in physical form instead of keeping the same in banking system. The above factual position is accepted in the assessment completed u/s 143(3) of the Act. In the assessment order for AY 2016-17 the Ld. AO did not make any adverse observation on the above practice of the appellant and has accepted the books of accounts maintained by the appellant and accepted the returned income of the appellant. The returned income was computed by the appellant on the basis of books of account maintained and the evidences made available in the assessment proceedings indicated beyond any shadow of doubt that the appellant had been keeping the large part of funds in physical form rather keeping the same in bank accounts. The appellant had also furnished similar explanation before the Investigation ....

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....nting the public welfare functions of the Govt, and the tax collection are made to serve the same cause of public welfare which the appellant through its charitable activities aims to accomplish. 2. Submission dated 14.02.2022 Reason for keeping the cash in hand and not depositing the same in bank accounts of the trust. The detailed reason can be found from the written submission Dt: 07.07.2021 in para-V in sub-para (a) to (i) and further explained through the supplementary submission dt: 06.08.2021, also both uploaded on 13.08.2021. The genesis of the reason is that there had been various statutory liabilities which appellant trust was unable to pay because of the financial constraints. There had been real fear in the minds of the trustees that in case coercive action was taken by the concerned authorities to recover these demands, the activities of the trust will suffer irreversibly which will not be less than the sin and that might lead future of young students, who are promising future of the society as prospective doctors to the state of uncertainty and also the welfare of the patients belonging to poor section of society. The detail of the ....

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....s. Most of the statutory liabilities have been paid in FY 2018-19 after the capex requirement of the trust was met in FY 2017-18. The chart at page 131 supports the above fact. 4. Besides above, there was PF liabilities of Rs. 1,38,24,409/- which needs to be paid as mentioned in notes to account as on 31.03.2017 (PB 21) and also in notes to account for 31.03.2016 (PB 37). 5. The above practice of keeping cash and the reason for such option had been explained before the AO in the assessment proceedings for AY 2016-17 vide submission dt: 17.12.2018 (PB 152153) and also in reply to a show cause notice dt :20.12.2018 (PB 144) when the appellant was once again required to explain the source of cash deposit of Rs. 39 Crore during demonetization period. The appellant vides letter dt: 22.12.2018 (PB 146) once again explained the source with the help of explanation already given. The same explanation had also been given before the investigation wing vide letter dt: 20.02.2017 (PB 75-79). It is therefore submitted that the fact of cash kept by the appellant for the sake of survival of the entity as a charitable entity is duly documented. 6. It is also relevant to n....

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....ted balance sheet as on 31.03.2017(PB 15)- Notes on accounts Schedule 5 Fixed Assets. Since no major capital expenditure was required to be incurred and actually not incurred during FY 2016-17 upto 08.11.2016 which can be verified from cash flow statement at page 64. The expenditure on account of capital work in progress at Rs. 5,87,50,250/- does not pertain to cash expenditure till 08.11.2016. In view of these, it can be appreciated that since, the appellant was not required to incur capital expenditure for existing projects, there was lesser outgo of cash on that account during FY 2016-17 till 08.11.2016. III. The statement of monthly balances at paper book page 142-143 is the statement covering FY's 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17. From perusal of the above chart, it can be seen that in July 2014 there was peak bank balance of Rs. 4.73 Crore and barring the formidable balance in July 2014, the bank balance remained less than one crore in other months which shows that the appellant had been keeping the bank balance at minimal level just sufficient to keep the trust as a going concern. This also proves that this practice was adopted by the appellant trust uninte....

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....tion till 08.11.2016 has increased to Rs. 37.60 Crore (previous period RFs.34.07 Crore). The cash collection till 08.11.2016 has increased despite proportionate decrease of the same to the gross collection. The increased cash collection till 08.11.2016 and the absence of need of capital expenditure which was there in AY 2016-17 of Rs. 16.37 Crore led to accumulation of cash of Rs. 40 Crore approx. till 08.11.2016 although as explained earlier the cash accumulation till 08.11.2015 had been Rs. 20 Crore only approx. Since, there is sufficient reason for keeping huge cash in hand and there is real threat of the recovery by the department which ultimately came to be exercised by the department three or four times, the bonafide decision to keep the cash is rational and is not without any reasonable basis. VI. Further, Section 68/69/69A of the Act has no application to the facts of the case because the assessee had in fact disclosed the receipts of the trust in the form of fees from students and patients and the pharmacy receipts as its income and it cannot be disputed that all receipts are income in the hands of the appellant assessee. There was, therefore, full disclosure of i....

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.... the income cannot be given a restricted meaning following the decision of the Supreme Court in different context in P.R. Prabhakar v. CIT [2006] 284 ITR 548 (SC). Reliance is also placed by the Court on the decision of the Supreme Court in Adityapur Industrial Area Development Authority v. Union of India [2006] 5 Scale 321 (SC), where it was held that an exemption granted cannot be taken away, unless it is expressly provided for. In such cases where the Assessing Officer infers income for a charitable institution other than what is admitted in the books, whether by anonymous donations or by way of loan, the source of which cannot be proved, such income will also be exempt subject only to the conditions for application of such income as well, so that there could be no liability on such income. The above view has also been taken in the case of ACIT v. Muslim Educational Society [2010] 1 ITR (Trib.) 527 (Coch.) VIII. From the material 1 on record, the AO has not found any credits/income/receipts source of which is remained unexplained. So far as the college fee which is the substantial part of the income of the appellant is concerned, the same is duly explained with referenc....

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....2.2022, the reason for keeping the cash in hand which was a matter of abundant precaution was explained to be the threat of possible coercive action by the department and consequent recovery of demand through attachments of bank accounts. The appellant had placed in paper book of bank attachment notices (PB 71-74) done on 13.02.2017 and 17.02.2017 issued to Vijaya Bank, Axis Bank, Punjab National Bank. In fact, the appellant wishes to place on record the collection through attachments on various dates which can be found from the schedule of tax payments at pages 129-131. The evidence of recoveries made by the bank as manifest in the above schedule (PB 129-131) are enclosed herewith to highlight the status of mind of the trustees of the trust who were guided by the larger interest of serving the society through medical services and for that a calculated decision was taken to defer payment of the statutory liability which was ultimately paid when the situation permitted then to do so. That fact can be verified from the above chart (PB 129-131). To further support our above submission, we are placing herewith copies of bank statements for relevant period showing payments of t....

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....ar to year. 2. Copy of settlement order dt: 27.11.2015 is enclosed to establish that the assessee had been allowed to discharge the tax liability determined together with interest in six quarterly installments. The relevant para in the enclosed order is para 26 at page 26 of the order. The department, considering the cash flow problem of the appellant's trust itself requested the Hon'ble Settlement Commission the concession of the payments in the eight quarterly installments but Hon'ble Settlement Commission opted in its wisdom to prescribe six quarterly installments. 3. Your good self has required us to explain the reason why the cash expenses during the assessment year under appeal i.e. AY 2017- 18 has come down drastically from level of expenditure for AY 2016-17. It was also noted by your good self that from the details of cash receipts and payment for AY 2016-17, the average cash expenses were Rs. 5-6 Crores per month upto cut off date of 08.11.2015, the date of demonetization in AY 2017-18 and this cash expenses sharply came down to average expenses of Rs. 2 crore approx. per month. In compliance of the above direction, the appellant mos....

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....y of the appellant trust is running of two charitable institutions namely Santosh Medical College & Hospital and Santosh Dental College & Hospital. The Trust was declared as "Santosh University" by Union Ministry of Human Resource Development ("MHRD") vide its Notification dated 13.06.2007 on the basis of recommendations of University Grants Commission dated 18.05.2007. Copies of UGC Recommendations and MHRD Notification is attached herewith and marked as Annexure - 1 & 2. Thereafter the Government with the intent to review the working and status of deemed universities across the country happened to form various committees such as Dr Tandon Committee in 2009, Committee of MHRD officers Committee on the direction of Hon'ble Supreme Court dt. 11.01.2011 and finally the UGC Committee, again on the direction of the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 21.01.2014. Each of these committees were mandated to take a col; on the fate of the deemed universities some of which were arbitrarily classified in C Category including the appellant university earlier by Dr Tandan Committee. Accordingly, in February 2014 and in June 2014, UGC Committee invited Santosh University to make a....

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....and conducted rigorous inspection continuously for 3 days and thoroughly satisfied with the Criteria's met by the University and recommended to NAAC for Accreditation to Santosh University. A copy of Peer Team Report dated 06.11.2015 is attached herewith and marked as Annexure - 7. Ultimately, Santosh University was Accredited by NAAC successfully. A copy of Accreditation Certificate issued by NAAC is attached herewith and marked as Annexure - 8. The said NAAC Accreditation was accepted and approved by Hon'ble Supreme Court vide its order dated 19.02.2016. A copy of the order dated 19.02.2016 is attached herewith and marked as Annexure - 9. Finally, on 16th December 2019, MHRD has recognized Santosh University and issued a Notification to the aforesaid effect. A copy of the Notification dated 16th December 2019 issued by MHRD is attached herewith and marked as Annexure - 10. In the meantime, the Trust had been continuously striving for increase of intake capacity in lv13BS Course from 100 to 150 on various occasions. The necessary application was made on 26.08.2015 after depositing the prescribed fee of Rs. 4,00,000/- through demand draft....

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....anagement that bank accounts are likely to be attached, which is the reason given for non-banking of the regular collection, your good self has required us to substantiate the above reasons through the evidences. The following evidences will show that it was not only the fear but there was actual possibility of attachment of bank accounts to be undertaken by the department for collection of demands of tax which is evident from the actual attachments of the bank done by the department. If the above precaution was not taken, then result would have been financial stalemate leading to huge impairment of the studies/medical services provided by the appellant trust as part of the core activity. The appellant seeks to place on record a chart showing tax collection through attachments made by the department and that chart is supported by Form 26AS for various years i.e. AY's 2012-13 to 2014-15. The above chart has reference of the entries made in Form 26AS of respective years. The perusal of the chart supported by entries of Form 26AS will show that there has been attachments of the bank accounts in February 2017, November 2017, January 2018, March 2018 and also colle....

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....k: 1. Letter dt: 21.03.2017 (PB 169) to the Ld AO, in compliance of summon dt: 17.03.2017, issued w/s 131(1A), where the cash book for relevant period, bank statements and documentary evidences in support of cash deposits were filed. 2. Letter dt: 18.12.2017 (PB 55-55A) whereby the source of cash deposited was explained to the AO. 3. Letter di: 17.12.2019 (PB 56-60) filed during assessment proceedings whereby source of cash deposited is explained in para 3 at page 58 and also with the help of the chart on page 60 the cash accrual was detailed out from which cash was deposited with comparative figures for preceding assessment year at page 59. 4. The AO in the impugned assessment order acknowledges the fact that in para 3.3 at page 3 therein that cash flow statement for the year under consideration along with earlier years has been filed and considered with the bank statements. 5. The cash book for the entire financial year had been submitted in the course of assessment proceedings to the AO for AY 2016-17 in reply to the query to enquire into source of cash deposit during demonetization period through letters dt: 17.12.2018 (PB 152-153, r....

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....t has no application to the facts of the case because the assessed had in fact disclosed the donations of Rs. 18,24,200 as its income and it cannot be disputed that all receipts, other than corpus donations, would be income in the hands of the assessed. There was, therefore, full disclosure of income by the assessed and also application of the donations for charitable purposes. It is not in dispute that the objects and activities of the assessed were charitable in nature, since it was duly registered under the provisions of section 12A of the Act." In the present case all the receipts are in the course of carrying out charitable activities of the appellant trust and there is no finding or material to dispute the above fact more particularly when the major part of the receipts are college fee which is supported with the head wise collection of the fee duly approved by the regulatory authorities such as IMA and the other receipts are routine hospital/pharmacy receipts. In view of these facts, since all the receipts have been duly offered as income against exemption u/s 11 is claimed, there remains no doubt that in view of the decision of jurisdictional Delhi High Court in po....

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....etization had been Rs. 13.84 Crore which is lower than the regular expenditure of Rs. 17.40 Crore in FY 201617 relevant to AY 2017-18. It is also submitted that assistance to sister trust i.e. M/s Maharaji Educational Trust and incur of capital expenditure in cash in AY 2016-17 was verified by then AO during assessment proceeding for AY 2016-17 after which the assessment order has been passed u/s 143(3) of IT Act vide order dt: 25.12.2018, copy of assessment order enclosed. The ratio of cash expenditure per week in AY 2017-18 is not lower than the similar expenditure in preceding AY 2016-17 which is evident from the fact that weekly cash expenditure in AY 2017-18 is Rs. 54.37 Lakh in comparison to Rs. 43.25 Lakh per Week in AY 2016-17. There is no basis for any possible apprehension that the assessee has not booked cash expenditure in AY 2017- 18 prior to the date of demonetisation with the purpose to justify cash accumulation of Rs. 39 Crore approx on 08.11.2016." 9. The assessee before us also filed the following written notes of submission: "Issue: Relief granted by the Ld CIT(A) of the addition of Rs. 39,83,63,741/- u/s 69A rws 115BBE of IT Act of the cash ....

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....st, September which gradually decreased to the optimally minimum level in the month of April. It may be relevant to note that main and regular source of cash is student fees which is collected in the months of July, August and September around the start of academic session. The bank balances used to be barely minimum in all the months. More or less similar trend is found evident in AY 2017-18 where bank balances are invariably minimal and cash balances are substantial in above months of fee collection which gradually decreased at the session end at the minimal level barely enough to meet the unforeseen contingencies. 4. Reason for huge cash in hand on the date of demonetization i.e. 09.11.2016 I. It was explained before Ld CIT(A) that there was a settlement order passed in the assessee's case us 245D(4) of IT Act dated 27.11.2015 as per which a liability of Rs. 8,58,81,126/- for various years was fixed and the assessee was supposed to pay the above tax demand through a consequential order by the AO dt 31.12.2015 and 08.06.2016. A provision in the audited accounts for AY 2016-17 for the above tax liability amounting to Rs. 7,04,54,813/-was made (Note No.3(e) (P....

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....y of the Settlement Commission order when there was huge cash available. It was explained that the assessee has been running a medical college providing medical education to students and at the same time running a hospital/ pharmacy for providing medical facilities to the general public. As is evident from the trend of cash accrual/spending, whatever cash is generated at the start of the academic session, the same gets exhausted at the end of the session leaving barely a thin cushion of funds and leaving little possibility of any drain on these resources on which the first right is of the beneficiary students and the patients. Had the strategy of keeping cash in hand, till finances allowed the assessee to make the payment of outstanding tax liability, not been employed, there would have been chances of the above charitable activities getting jeopardized leaving the students/ patients/ staff in the lurch besides the assessee being put to unnecessary avoidable litigation. Through this strategy, both the twin objectives of accomplishment of charitable objective and objective of payment of tax demand were achieved with rider being difference of timing in the payment of demand which was....

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....stance to sister trust, payment of income tax, purchase of land/fixed assets, repayments of loans and other routine day to day expenses. The Ld. CIT(A) took note of the fact that neither did the Ld AO draw any adverse inference on the utilization/ channelizing of deposited funds to other unrelated entities and nor could such adverse inference at the appellate stage be drawn on the basis of the utilization details provided by the assessee. 7. Justification of Addition made u/s 69A rws 115BBE of IT Act The submission is part of cross objection raised in Form 36A There is no dispute on the fact that the source of cash deposits in dispute is from books of account maintained in regular course. The books of accounts have not been found to be incorrect or incomplete and Ld. AO has not rejected the same for passing the assessment order as best judgment assessment u/s 144 of IT Act. The assessment has, in fact, been completed u/s 143(3) of IT Act implying that Ld. AO was satisfied with the correctness and completeness of books of account. On the basis of this analogy, the Ld AO can't be held to be not satisfied with the source of cash deposits which is routine collecti....

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....ocation of sec 68 of IT Act as the receipts are already offered for tax. Reliance has been placed in the decision of Keshav Social and Charitable trust 278 ITR 152 (Del) and also ITAT Delhi Bench decision in the case of Shantiniketan Trust vs Addl CIT ITA No. 4109/Del/2015 dated 07.01.2019. The addition u/s 69A is thus the case of double addition. Without prejudice to above, your kind attention is invited to decision of Hon'ble ITAT, Delhi B bench in the case of Deepak Sharma vs ACIT ITA No.2886/Del/2022 dated 26.03.2025 where the applicability of sec 115BBE for AY 2017-18 was also not approved in view of the decision of Hon'ble Madras High Court in the case of S.M.I.L.E Microfinance Ltd. vs ACIT W.P.(MD) 2078 of 2020 and 1742 of 2020 dated 19.11.2024 as it was applicable on the transactions done on or after 01.04.2017. Submissions in support of grounds raised in Cross Objection as per Form 36A Further, the co-ordinate Delhi Bench of the ITAT in case of M/s Agson Global P Ltd vs ACIT ITA No.3741 to 3746/Del/2019 dt: 31.10.2019, approved by Hon'ble Delhi High Court in ITA No.68/2021 in para (xxvii), held that when books of account are found to be genuin....

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....account late in the demonetization period. - In the present case, the SBN were deposited on different bank accounts opened for each department of the assessee trust. This fact is evident from bank deposit details at page 109. No adverse finding of the AO on that aspect. 4. Non-availability of stock or attempt to inflate stock by introducing fictitious purchases. -Not applicable in the case of college and hospital collection. No adverse finding on the stock manipulation qua the pharmacy receipts where cash receipts were permitted even in the demonetization period. 5. Transfer of deposited cash to another account or other entity not in line with the history. -No such instance found by the AO and Ld CIT(A)'s finding is pertinent and categorical supporting the case of the assessee. Non-Cancellation of Registration u/s 12AA and granting of benefit of exemption u/s 11(1) of IT Act. The lower authorities have not proceeded to cancel registration /s 12AA and also opted to grant benefit of sec 11(1) exemption despite finding huge amount of cash deposits allegedly found to be unaccounted receipts/deposits. Such action shows t....

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....er passed by the Ld. AO upon making addition under Section 69A r.w.s 115BBE is incorrect: "4.1 I have considered the material on record including written submission of the AR of the appellant filed in course of appellate proceeding. I have also perused the assessment order u/s 143(3) of the Act. In the present appeal the appellant has raised following seventeen grounds of appeals: 1. That the order passed u/s 143(3) on 31.12.2019 was perverse to the law and to the facts of the case, therefore, not tenable because of making illegal and impugned additions to the tune of Rs. 39,83,63,741/- u/s 69A r.w.s. 115BBE of the Income Tax Act 1961, being the alleged presumptions of unaccounted cash appears to be deposited in the bank account of the appellant Trust. 2. That while making the illegal and impugned additions to the extent of Rs. 39,83,63,741/-u/s 69A r.w.s. 115BBE of the Income Tax Act 1961 being the cash deposited in the bank account of the appellant as income of the appellant, which charged to tax twice against the law and to the facts of the case. The Assessing Officer has not appreciated that the deposits of cash to the extent of Rs. 39,83,63,741/- eit....

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....any material either collected or ever placed upon records to hold the illegal and impugned additions of Rs. 39,83,63,741/- in the hands of the appellant as their income chargeable to tax u/s 69A r.w.s. 115BBE of the Income Tax Act 1961. 6. That the order passed is further perverse to the law and to the facts of the case, therefore, not tenable because the Assessing Officer has on the one hand accepted the entire receipts and expenses incurred thereafter, which has accordingly been debited to the Income & Expenditure Account besides accepting the nature and particulars of income and exemptions claimed therefrom, which also forming part of the ITR of the appellant for the year under assessment, as the same has not been doubted or no adverse inference if any has ever been drawn from the same while finalizing the assessment proceedings. 7. That the order passed was entirely based upon assumptions and guess work of the Assessing Officer as discussed / contained in Para-3.3 of the assessment order, wherein it infer that since the cash deposited in the Financial Year 2016-17 was large in comparison to the Financial Year 201516, for which the appellant failed to adduce co....

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....r from their undisclosed sources, which charged to tax u/s 69A r.w.s. 115BBE of the Income Tax Act 1961. 11. That the order passed was further not correct under the law and to the facts of the case, because the Assessing Officer has failed to adjudicate about the correctness, completeness, genuineness and about the bonafide of the information given and documents uploaded on the e-portal of the Deptt. explaining thereby the source of deposit of cash in the bank account of the appellant to the tune of Rs. 39,83,63,741/ -. 12. That the order passed was further suffers from infirmity as laconic and ironic in nature as Assessing Officer was not having any nexus or material whatsoever, on the basis of which he hold that the cash deposits to the tune of Rs. 39,83,63,741/- in the bank account of the appellant for which the additions was made u/s 69A r.w.s. 115BBE of the Income Tax Act 1961 was not out of the re-deposit of cash in the bank accounts or from the cash collections from IPD / OPD patients from the hospital but the same was an unaccounted income of the appellant earned during the year under assessment from their undisclosed sources, which charged to charge tax u....

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....ash deposits of Rs. 39,83,63,741/-(correct amount being Rs. 39,63,17,500/-) during the demonetisation period (from 08.11.2016 to 30.12.2016) ignoring the fact that there is no adverse finding given by the AO regarding the unaccounted receipts or the bogus payments claimed as application of income u/s 11(1) of the Act. The above action of the AO is contrary to the facts on record and also against the decisions of the jurisdictional Delhi High Court and the Apex Court ruling out application of 68/69/69A on the trusts/institutions claiming exemption u/s 11 of the Act. 4.2.2 In Ground No. 2, the appellant has contended that the action of the AO is not tenable in law and on facts of the case on the ground that the appellant explained in detail the source of cash deposited in the banks during demonetisation period and the AO did not find from the inquiry conducted by him the reason to reject the above explanation of the appellant. 4.2.3 In Ground No. 3, the appellant has contended that the above action of the AO is bad in law as the appellant trust is claiming exemption u/s 11 of the Act and said exemption has been allowed by the AO after considering the application of ....

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....he issue of cash deposit of Rs. 39,83,63,741/- during the period of demonetization as stated below: The source for the cash deposits fee receipts out of IPD/OPD collections and college fee received from students as per receipt issued the same is offered as income of the trust in the return of income. Comparison of cash deposits Cash Deposits F.Y 2015-16 F.Y 2016-17 Total Cash Deposited in FY 36,64,68,587 59,62,82,459 From 01.04.2015/16 to 08.11.2015/16 16,38,58,013 15,18,32,468 From 09.11.2015/16 to31.12.2015/16 2,59,59,619 39,89,0,491 Comparison of Cash Sales/Fee receipts Cash Sales/Fee receipts FY 2015-16 FY 2016-17 Total Cash Sales Fee receipts in FY 66,41,28,044 66,63,01,905 From 01.04.2015/16 to 08.11.2015/16 48,92,69,042 56,45,26,470 From 09.11.2015/16 to 31.12.2015/16 6,10,12,523 85,30,558 3.3 Cash flow statement for FY 2014-15, 2015-16 & 2016-7 was duly considered all the bank account provided by the assessee was also carefully perused alongwith that this office also called information from various banks us 133(6) is also carefully perused and placed on record. At the....

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....osit. Considering the facts and circumstances the Assessing Officer observed that the appellant has failed to discharge its onus and deliberately tried to conceal the source of cash deposit. Accordingly, the Assessing Officer considered these deposits as undisclosed income u/s 69A as unexplained money and made the addition in the form of unexplained money u/s 69A r.w.s 115BBE of Income Tax Act. 4.2.8 The appellant is a charitable Trust registered u/s 12A of the Income Tax Act and came into existence w.e.f. 16.12.2004. The said Trust has also been granted exemption in terms of Section 80G(5)(iv) of Income Tax Act. The main object of the Trust is to impart medical education to the student and the Trust has been running a medical college named as 'Santosh Medical College and Hospital' and another integrated institution named as 'Santosh Dental College and Hospital' at Ghaziabad. Apart from medical education the medical facilities are also provided to the public. The said institutions were granted independent status of a deemed university in the name and style of "Santosh University'. 4.2.9 The appellant trust, as a matter of regular routine, has n....

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....gate cash deposits during the period >= Rs. 2 lakh). Therefore, the observation of the Assessing Officer that the quantum of the cash deposited during demonetization period was not disclosed in the return of income is factually incorrect as this information was included and was fully disclosed in the income tax return. 4.2.13 With regard to the specific issue of deposit of SBNs, the relevant arguments of the appellant regarding the exact quantum of SBNs are as under: "Coming to the specific issue of the deposit of SBN involved in the present appeal, it is submitted that the total deposit of demonetised currency from 08.11.2016 to 30.12.2016,as per the AO, was the amount totalling Rs. 39,83,63,741/- but the AO has clearly has been misled from the incorrect information available on his records which is evident from the fact that the deposit of demonetised currency could not have been in the denomination lower than Rs. 500/- and the deposits in the lower denominations could not have been in the demonetised currency. The appellant has placed a chart (PB 114) where the date wise and bank wise detail of cash deposits are given. From the chart it can be seen that in the ....

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.... 34.07 68.92 49% Therefore, the percentage of cash collection ill 8th November and for the whole of the year out of the total collection has reduced in AY 2017-18 in comparison to AY 2016-17. The percentage of cash collection has shown a comparative decline in AY 2017-18 from preceding assessment year, whereas the gross income of the Trust for AY 2017-18 has shown increase over AY 2016-17. 4.2.15 The comparative chart of gross receipts for the period of 01.04.2015 to 08.11.2015 and 01.04.2016 to 08.011.2016 containing details of fees collection, other charges collected by college, hospital charges and pharmacy charges is as under: "For the period From 01.04.2015 to 08.11.2015 Month Fee collection Other Collection Total College Hospital Pharmacy Total Gross Receipt Apr-15 30533960 556495 31090455 9452869 805094 41348418 May-15 78888390 378667 79267057 12425703 1030818 92723578 Jun-15 43771360 261028 44032388 9768700 1546479 55347567 Jul-15 304768520 202834 304971354 9444942 1018892 315435188 Aug-15 78161150 1060683 79221833 12078892....

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.....2.18 An analysis of table above highlights the following: 1. Total cash receipts in both the years are more or less the same. 2. Huge amounts of cash have been withdrawn from the bank. 3. Sizeable amount of cash is withdrawn from the bank account in such a way that the bank balances are normally maintained somewhere between Rs. 1 to 2 Crores only. 4. Huge cash withdrawals is the modus operandi of the appellant as in both the years sizeable amount of cash has been withdrawn from the bank accounts. 5. During the AY 2017-18 the opening cash in hand was Rs. 1,17,57,764/-, which has increased to Rs. 2,33,98,814/- on Rs. 30.04.2016 Rs. 10,56,87,493/- on 31.05.2016, 13,67,78,622/- as on 30.06.2016 Rs. 33,08,06,435/- as on 31.07.2016 Rs. 37,00,28,223/- as on 31.08.2016 Rs. 38,49,38,712/- as on 30.09.2016 and Rs. 42,92,29,252/- as on 31.10.2016. This amount was reduced to Rs. 2,10,89,138/- on 30.11.2016 as most of the cash was deposited in the bank account subsequent to demonetization by the appellant. 4.2.19 The appellant deposited a sum of more than Rs. 39 Crores in his bank account in the post demonetization period. As per the cash f....

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...., your good self has required us to substantiate the above reasons through the evidences. The following evidences will show that it was not only the fear but there was actual possibility of attachment of bank accounts to be undertaken by the department for collection of demands of tax which is evident from the actual attachments of the bank done by the department. If the above precaution was not taken, then result would have been financial stalemate leading to huge impairment of the studies/medical services provided by the appellant trust as part of the core activity. The appellant seeks to place on record a chart showing tax collection through attachments made by the department and that chart is supported by Form 26AS for various years i.e. AY's 2012-13 to 2014-15. The above chart has reference of the entries made in Form 26AS of respective years. The perusal of the chart supported by entries of Form 26AS will show that there has been attachments of the bank accounts in February 2017, November 2017, January 2018, March 2018 and also collection of tax in FY 2018-19 in the months of April 2018, May 2018, August 2018, October 2018, January 2019 and March 2019. T....

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.... amount of cash in hand or there may be another reasons of doing the same but it is duly supported from the cash in hand and cash at bank details of FY 2015-16. Further, there is no denying to the fact that the attachments were actually carried out by the department to recover the tax demands. The practice of keeping high cash in hand may be unusual but is certainly consistent as per the past history of the appellant. It is also noteworthy to mention that scrutiny assessment has been carried out for AY 2016-17 and no adverse inference have been drawn by the Assessing Officer regarding the practice of keeping high cash in hand. 4.2.24 With regard to the second issue, as per the cash flow statements for the period prior to gth November in AY 2016-17, the cash in hand as on 08.11.2016 was Rs. 20.91 Crores, which has increased to Rs. 40.24 Crores as on 08.11.2016. Therefore, the appellant in the preceding year maintained cash in hand of around Rs. 20 Crores, which has abnormally increased to around Rs. 40 Crores as on 08.11.2016. There is a substantial rise in the cash in hand figures as on 08.11.2016. This issue has been analysed and it is noted that the cash expense....

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.... as Annexure - 3 & 4 respectively. On July 14, 2014, Santosh University submitted its Rebuttal to Tandon Committee Report to UGC. A copy of Rebuttal to Tandon Committee Report is attached herewith and marked as Annexure - 5. Meanwhile, Hon'ble Supreme Court vide its order dated 08.09.2015, directed inspection of the all the "Deemed to be Universities" including Santosh University and thereafter, accord the Accreditation depending on their infrastructure and other facilities available in the respective Universities. A copy of the order dated 08.09.2015, passed by Hon'ble Supreme Court is attached herewith and marked as Annexure - 6. In the financial year 2015-2016, the Trust had to incur huge cash expenditure to create the infrastructure and other teaching facilities to satisfy the various criteria requirements of National Assessment and Accreditation Council to be eligible for Accreditation of Santosh, University. The criteria fixed were Curricular aspects, Teaching - learning & Evaluation, Research Consultancy, Infrastructure & learning resources and on other relevant aspects. To satisfy the aforesaid criteria particularly the infrastructural and....

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....he other infrastructure facilities such as lab resources etc for which the additions capital cost had to be incurred till 31.03.2016. The cost both for accreditation and for the additional intake of students amounting to Rs. 23,46,77,015/-, was incurred in FY 2015-16 and was debited to Capital Work in progress as on 31.03.2016. Since, the accreditation was granted, the capital work in progress was therefore, transferred to various assets in AY 2017-18 and as explained earlier capital expenditure was not required in the absence of any need to create any more infrastructure in AY 2017-18 and therefore, no expenditure was incurred on that account during the AY 2017-18 which was the reason for accumulation of cash in AY 2017-18. This is the reason why the cash of Rs. 40,24,83,858- got accumulated on 08.11.2016 which was deposited in banks during demonetization period. " 4.2.26 The appellant has argued that during FY 2015-16, the appellant had to incur huge cash expenditure to create the infrastructure and other teaching facilities to satisfy the various criteria of requirements of National Assessment and Accreditation Council to be eligible for Accreditation of Santos....

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.....11.2016 indicates that cash expenses of Rs. 17.40 Crores have been made in regular course against an amount of Rs. 13.84 Crores for the same period in the preceding years of AY 2016-17. The regular cash expenditure upto the date of demonetization had been Rs. 17.40 Crore in FY 2016-17 relevant to AY 2017-18, which is higher than the regular expenditure of Rs. 13.84 Crores for the same period during FY 2015-16. 3. The weekly regular cash expenditure prior to demonetization was Rs. 54.37 lakhs per week during AY 2017-18, which was higher than the earlier figure of 43.25 lakhs per week during AY 2016-17. 4. The Total cash payments in AY 2016-17 upto date of demonization were 36.32 Crore out of which 22.47 Crore were the payments which were in the nature of either the Capital Expenditure or in the nature of assistance to sister trust for pursuing objects similar to the appellant trust. It is also noteworthy to mention that assistance to sister trust i .. e M/s Maharaji Educational Trust and incur of capital expenditure in cash in AY 2016-17 must have been verified by the Assessing Officer during scrutiny assessment proceeding for AY 2016- 17. 5. Since, the a....

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....tion of cash in hand of the appellant as on the date of demonetization. 3. The assessment for AY 2016-17 was carried out in scrutiny and there is no adverse finding regarding the said expenditure of capital in nature discussed above. 4. The Assessing Officer did not carry out any investigation or made any adverse finding on these cash expenses which resulted in accumulation of cash as on date of demonetization. 5. The pattern of regular expenses in cash for FY 2015-16 and FY 2016-17 is almost similar. In fact, the regular cash expenses in FY 2016-17, prior to demonetization are higher than the same in corresponding period of FY 2015-16. 4.2.31 In view of the above, there is no justification of any adverse finding with reference to the appellant's books of accounts and details of cash income/expenditure. Therefore, there cannot be any prima facie basis for possible apprehension that the appellant has not booked cash expenditure in AY 2017-18 prior to the date of demonetisation with the purpose to justify cash accumulation of Rs. 40 Crore approx on 08.11.2016. 4.2.32 At this stage it is also noteworthy to mention that during the course....

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....en the assessment has to be carried out as the best judgment assessment. However, in this case the assessment has been carried out u/s 143(3) of the Income Tax Act. This gives a clear indication that the Assessing Officer was satisfied with the correctness and completeness of the books of accounts of the appellant and therefore he chose not to reject the books of accounts. The Assessing Officer was satisfied with the correctness and completeness of the books of accounts; this would mean that the Assessing Officer found the college fees receipts, hospital and pharmacy receipts and cash expenditure to be correct. The Assessing Officer did not doubt the genuineness of the cash receipts on account of college fees and hospital receipts and therefore, all the receipts of the Trust have been considered to be in order. Further the Assessing Officer did not find any anomaly with the expenditure side of the income and expenditure account also. Even at appellate stage, there is no adverse finding regarding the correctness and completeness of books of account; accordingly even at this stage the correctness and completeness of books of account cannot be doubted. Therefore, the expenditure in ca....

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....d source of acquisition of the money or the explanation offered by him is not, in the opinion of the Assessing Officer, satisfactory, the money may be deemed to be the income of the assessee for such financial year. Therefore, the term unexplained money is defined as the money of which the appellant is an owner and is not recorded in the books of accounts. Therefore, the basic condition and pre requisite of unexplained money is that it should not be recorded in the books of accounts. However, here is the case where this money has been a part of the books of account and therefore, cannot be considered as 'not recorded in the books of account'. The Assessing Officer has not rejected books of account, which clearly indicates that the receipts which are later considered for cash deposits are as per the books of accounts, which have not been disputed by the Assessing Officer. 4.2.37 The appellant had also submitted that such an addition could not have been made even by invocation of section 68 of Income Tax Act treating the source of cash deposits as unexplained cash credit. The relevant extracts of appellant's submission in this regard are as under: "In vi....

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....harmacy receipts. In view of these facts, since all the receipts have been duly offered as income against exemption /s 11 is claimed, there remains no doubt that in view of the decision of jurisdictional Delhi High Court in post sec 115BBC era, no addition us 68 could be sustained. The Delhi Bench of Hon'ble ITAT in Shanti Nikentan Trust vs Addl CIT in ITA No.4109/Del/2015 dt: 07.01.2019 has dealt the applicability of sec 115BBC in case of unaccounted receipts. Para 5.2 of the above decision is relevant where the Keshav Social and Charitable Trust (supra) has also been relied upon. For the sake of avoiding complicity, the other decision of invocation of sec 68 in case of charitable trust are not elaborated when the jurisdictional Delhi High Court decision supports the appellant's contention." 4.2.38 It is noteworthy to mention that the receipts explained to be source of cash deposits as per the books of accounts have not been disputed by the Assessing Officer and the Assessing Officer has not rejected the books of accounts therefore, even the addition u/s 68 of Income Tax Act would not be appropriate. This would also tantamount to a double addition as the same rece....

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....from the hospital/ pharmacy, which received in cash from the patients on day to day basis. 8. The appellant has satisfactorily explained the nature and source of cash deposits during the assessment and appellate proceedings and duly supported it with the books of accounts, which have already been accepted as correct. Further, the dissatisfaction of the Assessing Officer is not based upon any material either collected or ever placed upon record, which could have nexus to doubt either about the bonafide or genuineness of the receipt of cash, which was consequently deposited in the bank accounts by the appellant. 9. No adverse inference was either drawn by the Assessing Officer during assessment proceedings nor could be drawn during appellate proceedings regarding subsequent utilization of the SBNs deposited during demonetization, as most of these subsequent payments/expenses are only related to the routine activities of the appellant trust. 10. The cash receipts from hospital, pharmacy and fee have already been declared and form part of the gross receipts appearing in the Income & expenditure account, therefore, the tax cannot be charged twice on the same r....

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....ank account/s have already been considered as receipts in the income and expenditure account and have not been doubted by the Assessing Officer. No adverse inference was either drawn by the Assessing Officer during assessment proceedings nor could be drawn during appellate proceedings regarding subsequent utilization of the SBNs deposited during demonetization. Since the receipts form a part of gross receipts which have been disclosed in the books of accounts, the application of Section 69A cannot be considered as appropriate. The undersigned has no reason to doubt high availability of cash with the appellant on the date of demonetization. Demonetization was an event which never happened in the recent past and therefore comparing the cash deposits during demonetization with the past years will not be appropriate. During demonetization the appellant had to deposit entire cash in hand, which was in the form of SBNs. That is the reason due to which the cash deposits in this year has been unusually high with reference to the preceding year/s. The Assessing Officer considered the books of accounts as correct and complete and did not find out any other source of cash income during the co....

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.... of the assessee trust which has been duly accounted in the regular books of accounts maintained fact of which the AO had already been apprised of by very many letters/representations along with evidences forming part of the paper book filed before us by the assessee which is further mentioned in the appellate authorities order. The receipt of cash explained to be the source of cash deposit in terms of the books of account followed by the assessee consistently as found by the Ld. CIT(A) which was neither objected during assessment proceeding by the Ld. AO and further that the books of accounts maintained by the assessee not having been rejected by the Ld. AO, considering the entire financials produced by the assessee, the source of such cash deposit in our considered opinion has left no further query against the assessee. We note that for very many reasons the assessee was keeping maximum funds in the form of cash leaving the barely minimum balance in the bank account. We have further examined the table of monthly cash receipts/ cash withdrawals cash deposits and cash expenses and also closing and opening balance of cash/bank accounts in Assessment Year 2016-17 & 2017-18 annexed to....

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....s in both the years are found to be more or less same. The impugned cash deposit to the tune of Rs. 39,83,63,741/- is this found to be out of the cash in hand on the date of demonetization and/or pertains to the redeposition of cash out of withdrawals from the bank accounts due to non utilization of the same or out of the college fee, collection from the hospital or pharmacy which was received in cash from the patients on day to day basis. The nature and source of such cash deposit supported by corroborative evidences particularly the books of accounts had neither been rejected by the authorities below. The dissatisfaction on the part of the Assessing Officer was only non furnishing of corroborative evidences in support of cash deposits made by the assessee whereas at page 24 of the CIT(A)s order speaks of very many documents having been placed by the assessee before the Ld. AO as the documentary evidences in support of the cash deposit made by the assessee. Therefore, such dissatisfaction on the part of the AO cannot be appreciated by us. Rather, we found no enquiry has been conducted by the Ld. AO in regard to such cash deposits made by the assessee and addition without any cogen....