2013 (10) TMI 1021 - HC - Income Tax

Application for admission of additional evidence without affidavit Held that - for effective adjudication of the dispute involved in this appeal, the aforesaid two documents are necessary for consideration. It is needless to mention that those two documents were not in possession of the assessee and as such, they could not produce those documents before the Tribunal below. - an opportunity given to the Revenue to produce evidence for rebutting the genuineness of those documents or the facts contained therein. Since the application for additional evidence has been disposed of without any affidavit being given on behalf of the Revenue, the averments, made in the application, should not be treated to have been admitted by the Revenue Decided in favor of Assessee.

Summary

Issues:
1. Consideration of additional evidence in an appeal under Section 260A of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
2. Determination of whether the benefit of Section 80 HHC was wrongly refused to the appellant.

Analysis:
1. The appellant sought to introduce Annexures "A" and "B" as additional evidence for the appeal under Section 260A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Annexure "A" was a certificate from the Commissioner of Customs regarding bonded goods and catering food supplies, while Annexure "B" was a letter from the Foreign Exchange Department concerning repatriable funds. The appellant argued that these documents were crucial for interpreting the meaning of "convertible foreign exchange" and "export out of India" under Section 80 HHC. The appellant's counsel contended that a similar benefit was granted to another assessee based on a circular, which the appellant became aware of post the impugned order. The Revenue opposed the application, alleging mala fide intentions due to the delay in submission.

2. The court considered the necessity of the additional evidence for effective adjudication of the dispute. Despite the delay in submission, the court found the documents essential as they were not in possession of the assessee during the Tribunal proceedings. Consequently, the court decided to accept Annexures "A" and "B" as additional evidence. The Revenue was granted an opportunity to present evidence to challenge the genuineness of the documents within a fortnight. The court emphasized that the acceptance of additional evidence did not imply admission of the Revenue's averments. The application was thus disposed of, and urgent copies of the order were to be provided to the parties upon request.

This judgment underscores the importance of allowing additional evidence when crucial for resolving legal disputes, even if not available during prior proceedings. It also highlights the procedural fairness in granting the opposing party an opportunity to rebut the new evidence.