TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2005 (10) TMI 206
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....our office Manager Shri Manoj C. Brahmabhatt asked us to go to a firm by name M/s. Amit Kumar Harilal Shroff at Kalupur Kabutarkhana and collect Rs. 10,00,000 from them. I was also instructed to go after collecting the amount to Ellisbridge Co-op. Bank at Ajanta Commercial Centre, Ashram Road, Ahmedabad where our office clerk Shri Gopal H.C. Joshi will be available and to deposit the amount in the bank. On his instructions, I along with our office peon Shri Shailesh M. Bhil started for the office of the Shroff around 12.30 to 1.00 p.m. and reached the office around 1.30 p.m. At the office of the Shroff, a person aged about 20 to 25 years gave me cash of Rs. 10,00,000 in the denominations of Rs. 100, Rs. 50, Rs. 10 and Rs. 5 which after counting, I put in a cloth bag and thereafter, along with peon Shri Shailesh left for Ellisbridge Co-op. Bank at Ajanta Commercial Centre, Ashram Road via Delhi Darwaja, Shahpur Road and Gandhi Bridge. In between, the police stopped us at Shahpur Road. While checking our bag, the police found cash of Rs. 10 lakhs belonging to our office which they seized since I could not produce any evidence in support of my claim." 3. The statement of Shri Manoj....
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....tion notes was false. He also noted that a huge cash balance was coming right from February, 1996 and thereafter, the assessee-company has been withdrawing amounts from the bank of smaller and meagre amounts and concluded that a company having more than Rs. 10 lakhs in cash would never withdraw smaller amounts for the day-to-day expenses. 5. The Assessing Officer thereafter recorded the statement of Shri Hitesh C. Shah and Shri Shailesh Bhil on 27-10-1997, wherein Shri Hitesh Shah stated that he was a peon on a monthly salary of Rs. 1,200. He was doing the work of serving tea, water and at times going to the bank and depositing the cheques for clearing and had never handled the cash in the company and this was the only instance of handling the cash. He also stated that Shroff did not exchange the notes and that he left his office at 1.00 P.M. and Shroff's office at 1.30 P.M. Shri Shailesh M. Bhil denied any knowledge of the transaction and stated that he did not know the place where he was to go. He was only asked to accompany Shri Hitesh C. Shah. An affidavit from Shri Hemendra D. Shah, director of the assessee was also filed claiming that the cash belonged to the assessee ....
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....ize therefore the money was being deposited in the bank (Q. Nos. 24 to 34). In the statement given to the police officials on 4-8-1996, Shri Manoj stated that he is not aware of the source and destination of the cash and only Shri Hemendra L. Shah can explain the same. Subsequently, he mentioned that the cash was given by him to these employees for exchanging the denominations and depositing the money in the bank. He was also unable to explain why the amount was sought to be deposited in the bank on Saturday that too after the banking hours especially when the alleged cash was lying with them for a period of more than six months." In view of the above, the Assessing Officer held that the cash was the unaccounted amount and remaind unexplained and represented the concealed income of the assessee-company. The income was added in the hands of Shri Hitesh C. Shah and Shri Shailesh M. Bhil on protective basis. 6. We have heard the parties and considered their rival submissions. The two persons apprehended by the police with cash of Rs. 10 lakhs were men of no means. Shri Hitesh C. Shah was a peon drawing a salary of Rs. 1,200 per month. The other person Shri Shailesh M. B....
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....ich could be said to have been obtained during the course of the search and on the basis of which the assessment under section 158BC read with section 158BD can be made in the hands of the assessee Anand Autoride Ltd. The cash was found in the possession of the two persons Shri Hitesh C. Shah and Shri Shailesh M. Bhil and it could be an income of those persons because of unsatisfactory explanation of the money but the two persons even as per the finding of the Assessing Officer were of no means, Shri Hitesh C. Shah being a peon drawing a salary of Rs. 1,200 per month and Shri Shailesh M. Bhil also a peon in Anand Group for the last three years drawing a present salary of Rs. 1,100 per month. Currency notes of Rs. 100, Rs. 50, Rs. 10 and Rs. 5 which were seized by the police are legal tender and any discrepancy in stating their exact denomination may not be a valid ground for making the addition because no account is normally kept for the exact denomination of notes available with a particular person. Therefore, in our opinion, if the cash is there with the assessee as per the books of account maintained and there is no other evidence that the same has been utilized elsewhere, no ad....