9911796707
TMI Blog2018 (3) TMI 896X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... essee is an employee in M/s. Software Technology Parks of India at Hyderabad. For the year under consideration, assessee declared a total income of Rs. 1,63,693/- and the same was processed accordingly. Subsequently, the case was selected for scrutiny under CASS and notices were issued from time to time and information was called for. Essentially the A.O. verified the bank account statement of the assessee, held with Axis Bank, wherein the assessee is having cash deposits to the tune of Rs. 1,10,82,600/-. During the proceedings the assessee was asked to furnish the explanation for the sources of cash deposits. In response thereto the assessee submitted that she had entered into an agreement for sale of property with Sri K. Chandra Sekhar Ra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... price and it is not the actual sale deed and hence the A.O. was not justified in terming it as insufficient evidence. He further submitted that A.O. ought to have appreciated that the assessee is having all the relevant details, supporting the source of credits in the bank account, but due to paucity of time the same could not be furnished. 5. It may be noticed that the Assessing Officer issued summons to Sri K. Chandra Sekhar Rao, calling upon him to appear on 25.03.3013 and when he did not appear, no further opportunity was given to the assessee but proceeded to complete the assessment on 28.03.2013 without informing the assessee about the non-appearance of Sri K. Chandra Sekhar Rao. 6. Before the Ld. CIT(A) assessee contended that a s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssing Officer was confirmed by the Ld. CIT(A). Further aggrieved, assessee is in appeal before the Tribunal. 8. Learned Counsel for the Assessee submitted that the A.O. completed assessment in hurry without giving the assessee a proper opportunity of being heard. He placed before the Bench agreement of sale dated 02.04.2009 wherein the complete address of Sri K. Chandra Sekhar Rao was mentioned, wherein there is a reference with regard to the instalments paid / payable. Thereafter the agreement was cancelled and accordingly they have entered into a cancellation agreement and the assessee agreed to return an amount of Rs. 20 lakhs, which was received earlier. Learned Counsel for the Assessee submitted that in order to prove veracity it is n ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... details, it is the duty of the Revenue not only to issue notice u/s 131 of the Act but to pursue the matter further. In the aforecited case, the Revenue did not examine the source of income of the said alleged creditors to find out whether they were creditworthy. There was no effort to pursue the so-called creditors and merely drew an adverse inference that the amount of cash credits is the income of the assessee. The Hon'ble Court observed that the assessee has to discharge its burden that lay upon him and the Tax Authorities were not justified in taking an adverse inference merely because the creditor did not appear in response to the notice u/s 131 of the Act. Learned Counsel for the Assessee strongly submits that in the instant case als ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssee's case the complete address of the creditor was available along with the PAN and the Assessing Officer having issued summons he could have proceeded further to examine the creditworthiness. In fact the details of the land holding were also available on record. Similarly in the case of Maithan International (supra), the issue is with regard to the power of Revisional Authority in the case of improper enquiry by the A.O., concerning creditworthiness of a loan creditor, and in this regard the Court observed that the Assessing Officer was required to make proper investigation to determine whether the money was really lent by the third party or it has come out of the resources of the assessee himself. Learned Counsel for the Assessee submit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s to be applied. Merely because the creditor did not respond to the notice, no adverse inference can be taken with regard to the creditworthiness of the creditor. The complete particulars and the source of income earned by the creditor were available on record and if there is any doubt with regard to the source, the assessee could have been given further opportunity. Under the peculiar circumstances of the case, I am of the opinion that the Assessing Officer has not made out a case for making addition u/s 68 of the Act. By respectfully following the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Orissa Corporation (P.) Ltd (supra) I hereby set aside the order of the A.O. as well as the Ld. CIT(A) and direct the A.O. to delete the addi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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