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2021 (5) TMI 131 - AT - Income TaxUnexplained income - transaction in the bank account of the assessee made by his landlord and related to family members of the landlord - HELD THAT:- From the very beginning, the assessee had made solitary explanation that the said bank account was opened at the instance of Abhishek Agarwal and all the deposits and withdrawals were made by the said Abhishek Agarwal. We found that explanation given by the assessee was not fanciful and sham story. It was plausible and should have been accepted by the revenue authorities, unless there was justification or ground to hold to the contrary. More particularly when the entire explanation was supported by statement of Shri Abhishek Agarwal coupled with bank transactions and affidavit of said Abhishek Agarwal. The revenue authorities should have given due regard and latitude to human conduct and behaviour while considering the validity and truthfulness of an explanation. One should not consider and reject an explanation as concocted and contrived by applying prudent man’s behaviour test. The principle of preponderance of probability as a test is to be applied and is sufficient to discharge onus. Probability means likelihood of anything to be true. Probability refers to appearance of truth or likelihood of being realized which any statement or event bears in light of the present evidence (Murray’s English Dictionary). Evidence can be oral even then the same cannot be discarded. More particularly, in the present case, when the assessee has fully discharged his onus by calling Shri Abhishek Agarwal who appeared before the A.O. and got recorded his admission statement coupled with affidavit and the bank statements to the effect that all transactions in the bank account 909010036473994 were of Shri Abhishek Agarwal which have not been rebutted by the department. Therefore, in our view, there was no reason to discard the admission of Shri Abhishek Agarwal. Therefore, keeping in view the totality of facts and circumstances of this particular case, we are of the view that the assessment order and the appellate order falls foul and have disregarded the preponderance of probability test. See JAYA AGGARWAL VERSUS INCOME TAX OFFICER [2018 (3) TMI 1358 - DELHI HIGH COURT] - Thus we direct the A.O. to delete the addition - Decided in favour of assessee.
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