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2021 (3) TMI 221 - ITAT DELHIAssessment us 153A - statement of assessee to be the basis for making any estimated additions against the assessee - Reliance on third party statement - HELD THAT:- If the Revenue recorded statement of any witness at the back of the assessee, such statement shall have to be confronted to the assessee and right of cross-examination to such statement shall have to be given to the assessee. In this case no material is produced before us to show if any right of cross-examination have been allowed by the A.O. or the other Income Tax Authority to the statement of Shri Ramendra Kumar Singh to the assessee. Therefore, such statement otherwise also cannot be read in evidence against the assessee. No statement of assessee was recorded under section 132(4). Later on A.O. recorded the statement of assessee under section 131which is the sole basis of making the above estimated additions against the assessee, but, the statement of the assessee is also not corroborated by any evidence or material on record. We may also note even if assessee has made some admission in his statement recorded under section 131, however, the question is what is the basis of assessee in making any admission in statement recorded under section 131 of the I.T. Act, 1961. Statement of assessee alone cannot be the basis for making any estimated additions against the assessee. May be the assessee has retracted from the statement given under section 131 later on and there is a delay in retracting by filing a letter and affidavit to the Income Tax Authorities as well as President of Noida Authority, but, the delay in retracting the statement is of no significance because there were no corroborative material found during the course of search at the residence of Smt. Kusum Lata or Shri Ramendra Kumar Singh or at the residence of the assessee. Thus, in the absence of any corroborative evidence, statement of Shri Ramendra Kumar Singh or assessee cannot be the basis for estimating the additions of commission against the assessee in all the assessment years under appeal. It is well settled Law that if no incriminating material was found during the course of search, such type of additions cannot be made against the assessee. See KABUL CHAWLA [2015 (9) TMI 80 - DELHI HIGH COURT] Statement of Shri Ramendra Kumar Singh and Annexures A1 and A2 found in their case being a third party cannot be referred to or relied upon in the case of the assessee unless the procedure provided under section 153C of the I.T. Act, 1961 have been adopted by the authorities below. - Decided in favour of assessee.
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