TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (9) TMI 1689
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.... 2019-20. 2. The main grievance of the assessee is against the action of the Ld. CIT(A)/NFAC in confirming the disallowance of deduction of Rs. 1,50,000/- claimed u/s 80GGC of the Act in respect of donation made to Apna Desh Party and in sustaining the consequential addition of Rs. 1,50,000/- under section 69A read with section 115BBE of the Act. 3. None appeared on behalf of the assessee at the time of hearing. However, since the issue involved in the present appeal is covered by the decision of the Coordinate Bench of the Tribunal, we proceed to adjudicate the appeal after hearing the Ld. DR (DR) qua the assessee. 4. In this case, the assessee has filed her return of income for the year under consideration declaring total income ....
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.... 6. Aggrieved by the order of the Ld. CIT(A), the assessee is in appeal before the Tribunal 7. We have heard the rival contentions and perused the material available on record. We note that the identical issue concerning bogus political donations claimed under section 80GGC of the Act was considered by the Co-ordinate Bench in ITA No.1017/Ahd/2023, vide order dated 30.04.2025, wherein, upon consideration of the investigation material, bank trail and modus operandi of the recipient political party, the disallowance under section 80GGC was upheld. 8. We also find that similar issue stands adjudicated by the Co-ordinate benches of this Tribunal in the cases of :- (i) Mihir Bipinbhai Parekh Vs. DCIT (ITA No. 1173/Mum/2026), ....
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....gus in nature. It is pertinent to mention here that the political party doesn't pay any tax since it is exempt u/s 13A of the Act. (iii) During the search proceedings, on 07.09.2022, statement on oath u/s 132(4) of the I.T. Act, was recorded of Smt. Sandhya Singh, National Party President of the Rashtriya Samajwadi Party (Secular). As evident from the declaration made on oath by Smt. Sandhya Singh that although she is national party president of the party, however, all the work related with party is being looked-after by her husband Shri Bishwajeet Singh. She was not aware about any activity of the party. Further, vide Q. No. 18 and 19, she was categorically asked regarding details of bank accounts, books of accounts, nature an....
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....nal Chief Electoral Officer where the party is registered i.e. CEO, Gujarat State, it has been found that Rashtriya Samajwadi Party (Secular) has not filed any contribution report, since F.Y. 2013-14 onward. (viii) The party been claiming wrong and invalid exemption, over the years under section 13A of the I.T. Act but it has also been, mentioning in its Income Tax Return of F.Y. 2018-19 that no contribution report has been filed u/s 29C of the R.P. Act, 1951. (ix) Rashtriya Samajwadi Party (Secular) is not registered, as of today, as informed by Id Counsel for the assessee, with Election Commission of India/R.P. Act, 1951. (x) There is no retraction of statements given by Smt. Sandhay Singh, Shri Bishwajeet Singh....
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.... that the RUPP is involved in the bogus donation scam. Moreover, Umapati IT Solution is a paper entity and has been used for layering of bogus donation received in the bank accounts of RSP(Secular). 23. From the above facts, it is abundantly clear that donation received by "Rashtriya Samajwadi Party" is bogus. The assessee has claimed deduction under Section 80GGC of the Act, and 80G(5) of the Act, which is also bogus and to that extent Assessment Order passed by assessing officer is erroneous and prejudicial to the interest of Revenue. There is a saying that The 'tail' cannot wag the 'dog'. When there is a fraud, then the details and documents submitted by the assessee, before the assessing officer, during the asse....
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.... probabilities. In the present case, the investigation material, statements recorded under section 132(4), bank trail analysis and the established modus operandi of the recipient political party constitute a complete chain of circumstances which overwhelmingly demonstrate that the impugned donation was merely an accommodation entry and not a genuine contribution eligible for deduction under section 80GGC of the Act. 11. In view of the foregoing discussion, the material brought on record by the Revenue, the findings emerging from the investigation and respectfully following the consistent view taken by the Co-ordinate Benches of this Tribunal in identical matters, we hold that the assessee has failed to establish that the impugned contrib....