TMI Blog2020 (7) TMI 69X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... en accepted by the Revenue and thus, not in dispute, then in such a scenario, subsequent deposit of the same or a part thereof in his NRO account maintained in India cannot be brought to tax in India. Thirdly, in his return of income, the assessee has disclosed long term capital gains on sale of plot on 27.11.2015 and the DLC Value has been shown as ₹ 17,82,707 which is same as the sale consideration of ₹ 17,82,707/- received by the assessee and there is no finding that the assessee has received any consideration over and above what has been shown in the return of income. Besides, the assessee has disclosed interest on FDR, Interest on NRO account, interest on IT refund in his return of income. There is thus no adverse finding recorded by the Assessing officer in terms of any source of income over and above the declared income in the return of income. Therefore, where there is no finding that the assessee has any other source of income, other than what has been declared by him, then in such a scenario, the explanation of the assessee cannot be discarded in absence of any adverse material on record. No doubt, the amount has been found deposited in his bank account ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... USD through authorized money changer but assessee has not submitted any evidence by way of receipt from authorized money changer for converting the USD into Indian rupees. He therefore, treated the cash deposit of ₹ 8,00,000/- in NRO Account as unexplained and made addition for the same. On appeal, the Ld. CIT(A) accepted that the assessee has submitted evidence relating to bringing of foreign currency in India. However, he observed that in the absence of receipt of exchange of dollars into rupees, the assessee has failed to demonstrate the nexus of foreign currency bought in India with the cash deposit in the bank account and the receipt is critical to establish the nexus. He further held that the possibility of taking foreign currency on the return journey cannot be ruled out and that in case of any relaxed approach, the bank account of the assessee can be misused for deposits of unexplained cash by their known ones. Accordingly, he confirmed the addition of cash deposit as unexplained income. Against the said findings, the assessee is in appeal before the Tribunal. 4. In the aforesaid background, the ld. AR submitted that there is no dispute as to the fact that the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of CIT vs. Smt. P. K. Noorjahan 237 ITR 570. 6. Per contra, the ld DR submitted that the assessee has failed to submit primary evidence in support of his explanation that the money so deposited in his bank account is out of the foreign exchange brought-in by him in the Country and exchanged with Indian Rupees and in absence of such evidence and establishing the necessary nexus, the Assessing officer has judiciously invoked the provisions of section 69 of the Act. It was further submitted that the ld CIT(A) has rightly appreciated the facts of the case and has confirmed the addition and our reference was drawn to the findings of the ld CIT(A) which read as under: 5.5 During the appellate proceedings, the appellant has reiterated his position. I find that the appellant has submitted the evidence regarding bringing of foreign currency in India through declaration form. The only missing link is the receipt issued by M/s Thomas Cook, Agra Gate Circle, Ajmer. The assessee was asked as to why the exchange money was not received through cheque. In this regard, the appellant submitted that Thomas cook staff offered higher rate of exchange in cash as against cheque payment. In the g ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s NRO account. The case of the Revenue is that though the assessee has submitted the declaration in support of bringing the foreign exchange in the country, however, there is no proof which has been submitted in support of exchanging such foreign exchange with Indian Rupees. 9. To our mind, we find the explanation of the assessee as a plausible explanation given the facts and circumstances of the present case. The reason for the same is as follows. Firstly, source of cash deposit of ₹ 8 lacs has been claimed to be out of foreign currency USD 21,500/- which at the relevant point of time would be worth Indian ₹ 13,65,680/- approx. (applying exchange rate of 1 USD equivalent to Indian ₹ 63.52). The ld AR has stated at the Bar that source of such foreign exchange is the salary income from United Nations and funds in his NRE account. Where the source of such foreign currency and the fact of bringing such foreign currency in the country has not been disputed by the Revenue, the explanation of the assessee that out of such funds, he has deposited ₹ 8 lacs in his NRO bank account within a period of few days is a plausible explanation in terms of source, quantum a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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