TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (3) TMI 270
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.... 15,26,480/- and the CIT(A) erred in upholding the same, it is stated that the same being illegal and unwarranted, may kindly be deleted. 3. In making addition as per section 69 of the Act at Rs. 28,30,250/- on account of alleged payment of on money to NODPL for purchase of immovable property and the CIT(A) erred in confirming the same, in absence of any proof of such payment of on-money in cash. 4. The AO erred in making addition as per section 69 of the Act at Rs. 56,60,500/- on account of alleged payment of on money and the CIT(A) erred in confirming the same of Rs. 28,30,250/- in spite of the fact that the assessee has duly discharged her onus by providing voluminous evidences and therefore, the addition is required to be deleted. 5. In passing the impugned order dated 16-05-2023 and CIT(A] confirmed the same vide order dated 06-10-2025 by solely relying on the information from the search and has not done any independent inquiry to arrive at a conclusion that the income of the assessee has escaped assessment. 6. In passing the impugned order dated 06-10-2025 without providing entire statement made by the group at the time of search so also an....
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....veloper. The Assessing Officer reopened the case of the assessee on the basis of information stating that the assessee had paid on-money in cash for the purchase of a residential unit from NODPL. During the reassessment proceedings, the Assessing Officer noted that during the search in the case of the Navratna group, certain incriminating digital evidence in the form of an Excel sheet was recovered from a laptop seized from Shri Murlidhar Marutibhai Trivedi, who was found to be a key person coordinating sales and cash components of transactions in the Kalhaar Blues and Greens project. The Excel sheet contained unit-wise details such as area, land price, construction cost, amounts received by cheque and amounts received in cash, recorded in coded form by omitting zeros. The Assessing Officer further observed that NODPL, during post-search proceedings, furnished purchaser-wise details which corroborated the seized Excel data and also admitted before the Income Tax Settlement Commission that on-money had been received in cash on sale of villas in the said project. 4. On decoding and correlating the seized Excel data with the registered sale deed of the assessee dated 23.03.2016 for....
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....ter considering the assessment order, material on record and the submissions of the assessee, upheld the reopening of the assessment. The CIT(Appeals) held that the information emanating from the search in the case of NODPL constituted tangible material justifying reopening under section 147 and that section 153C was not applicable as the seized documents did not belong to the assessee but were recovered from a third party. On the issue of reliance on the seized Excel sheet, the CIT(Appeals) observed that the Excel data was a structured and detailed record which, upon decoding, exactly matched the particulars of the assessee's registered purchase, and therefore could not be treated as a dumb document. The CIT(Appeals) further held that the presumption under sections 132(4A) and 292C of the Act applied and that the assessee failed to rebut the same with any cogent evidence. The contention regarding denial of cross-examination was rejected on the ground that the addition was primarily based on documentary evidence corroborated by post-search disclosures of the developer group and that absence of cross-examination did not vitiate the assessment. 7. On merits of the addition under s....
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....gment of cash payment by the assessee. The Assessing Officer has not brought on record any evidence such as cash withdrawals, statements of the assessee, confirmation of receipt of cash from the assessee, or any document linking the assessee with the alleged cash payment. The entire addition is thus based on third-party material and presumptions, without independent verification. We further observe that there was no reference of any cheque payment by the assessee in the excel sheet and therefore, there is no basis of correlate the cash payments mentioned in the excel sheet with the payments made by the assessee. 13. We are of the considered view that reliance placed on the alleged admission of the developer group before the Income Tax Settlement Commission cannot, by itself, be a conclusive proof that the assessee paid on-money. An admission by one party cannot automatically fasten tax liability on another party, unless the Revenue establishes, by positive evidence, that the assessee was a party to such undisclosed transaction. Further, the statements recorded during search, which are sought to be relied upon, were not furnished in full to the assessee and no opportunity of cros....
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.... the instant facts, we are of the considered view that there is apparently no lack of enquiry by the Assessing Officer on the issue of on-money payment of a sum of Rs. 55,00,000/- towards purchase of immovable property, and secondly the order passed under Section 263 of the Act by Ld. PCIT has not given any specific findings as to where the Assessing Officer is wrong in passing the assessment order. Therefore, looking into the instant facts, we are of the considered view that the assessment order is not erroneous and prejudicial to the interest of the Revenue." "8. Accordingly, in view of the facts placed before us and the judicial precedents on the subject, the appeal of the assessee is allowed." We further note that the aforesaid view of the Tribunal stands fortified by the judgment of the Hon'ble Gujarat High Court in PCIT v. Kaushik Nanubhai Majithia, Tax Appeal No. 20 of 2024, wherein the Hon'ble Court held that mere entries in an unsigned Excel sheet found from a third party, without corroborative evidence and without establishing actual payment by the assessee, cannot form the sole basis for making additions in the hands of the assessee. 15. We further note that ....