2011 (4) TMI 862 - HC - Income Tax

Disallowance of expenditure - Medical and welfare power and fuel & laminating expenditure - Held that - Assessee in support of his claim produced details of vouchers and other documents in support of the claim in respect of those three items - It is settled law that if a finding of fact is perverse and is based on no evidence it can be set aside in appeal even though the appeal is permissible only on the substantial question of law - On consideration of the materials placed by the assessee if the Tribunal below is of the view that those are manufactured or irrelevant it may reject the claim but simply on the basis of guesswork the assessment cannot be made - Tribunal below would be free to give opportunity to the Assessing Officer to produce evidence of rebuttal to the ones relied upon by the assessee - Decided in the favour of the assessee by way of remand

Summary

Issues:
Assessment of expenses - welfare expenses, power and fuel expenses, laminating expenses.

Welfare Expenses:
The Revenue disputed the amount claimed by the assessee for welfare expenses, contending that the production decrease should have affected the claimed expenses. The CIT (Appeals) deleted the disallowance, but the Tribunal modified it to Rs. 3,00,000 without clear reasoning. The Court found that the authorities made assessments without considering evidence, relying on guesswork. They remanded the matter to the Tribunal for reassessment based on the evidence produced by the assessee, emphasizing that assessments cannot be made solely on guesswork.

Power and Fuel Expenses:
The Revenue challenged the addition of Rs. 56,72,600 for power and fuel expenses, citing a decrease in sales compared to the previous year. The Assessing Officer disallowed Rs. 65.72 lakh, which was deleted by the CIT (Appeals). The Tribunal modified the disallowance to Rs. 20,00,000, considering the overall circumstances. However, the Court found that all three authorities assessed the amount without reference to evidence, leading to a perverse assessment. The Court remanded the matter to the Tribunal for reassessment based on the evidence presented by the assessee.

Laminating Expenses:
The Revenue disputed the addition of Rs. 37,84,956 for laminating expenses, which the CIT (Appeals) reduced to Rs. 10,00,000 without clear reasoning. The Tribunal further modified the disallowance without providing reasons. The Court held that the assessments were made without considering the evidence, solely based on guesswork. They directed the Tribunal to reassess the expenses based on the documents provided by the assessee, emphasizing the importance of evidence in making assessments.

Conclusion:
The Court set aside the orders of the Assessing Officer, CIT (Appeals), and the Tribunal, remanding the matter back to the Tribunal for reassessment based on the evidence produced by the assessee. The Tribunal was instructed to consider all documents provided by the assessee and make a genuine assessment. The Court allowed the appeal, answering the questions against the Revenue, and directed the Tribunal to dispose of the appeal within three months. No costs were awarded in the circumstances.