2015 (4) TMI 1054

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..... assessee does not adduce any evidence it is no part of the duty of the Assessing Officer to start investigation and/or to collect evidence in support of the case of the assessee. It is to be pointed out that the assessee in this case did not disclose the identity of the persons to whom the payment was made. The assessee could have asked the Assessing Officer to issue summons to the so called middlemen under Section 131 and/or 133(6) of the Income Tax Act. The assessee could have done it because he knew the person to whom the payment was made. It was not, therefore, possible for the Assessing Officer even if he wanted to, to undertake any such enquiry. For the aforesaid reasons the submissions advanced by Mr. Sen are rejected. The judgment r .....

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..... he utensils and the jewelleries was made over in lieu of deposits made by them in cash with the assessee. The middlemen thereafter sold the utensils and the jewelleries to the merchants located in Surat, Jaipur and Kolkata. After the sale proceeds were paid to the assessee by cheque, the deposits earlier made together with payment of some amount on account of commission were refunded to the middlemen. The aforesaid explanation offered by the assessee was not proved either by any oral or documentary evidence. Books of accounts he had not disclosed as already indicated above. The Assessing Officer in these circumstances treated the payment of a sum of ₹ 9 lacs as the undisclosed income of the assessee during the block period. The afores .....

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..... have held that the sum of ₹ 9 lacs or a little more than that paid in cash by the assessee was his undisclosed income and not the amount of security as was the version of the assessee. We are unable to accept such a specious plea. True it is that the Assessing Officer occupies the position of an adjudicator and an investigator but the role of investigator is to be discharged for the purpose of ensuring that income made by the assessee does not go unassessed. It is no part of the duty of the Assessing Officer to make investigation for the purpose of collecting evidence in support of the case made out by the assessee. It is the bounden duty of the assessee to prove his case. If he has adduced prima facie evidence in support of his ca .....

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