2022 (9) TMI 1324 - HC - Income Tax

Estimation of income - Bogus purchases - HELD THAT - Bogus purchases made by the assessee to make addition of the entire purchases u/s 68 as income for the year under consideration. CIT(Appeals) and the Tribunal therefore, considering the possibility of bogus purchases on the basis of documentary evidence produced before the appellate authority have arrived at the concurrent findings of fact by holding that factum of said dealer already being engaged in bogus billing was not ruled out and therefore, sustained the addition by estimating 5% of alleged bogus proceedings i.e. 5% by the assessee for the year under consideration.

Summary

Issues:
1. Whether the Tribunal erred in restricting the addition made on account of bogus purchases to 5% of such purchases?
2. Whether the decision of CIT(Appeals) and the Tribunal in estimating 5% of alleged bogus purchases is justified in the absence of concrete evidence of the purchases being genuine?
3. Whether the judgment in the case of M/s N. K Industries Ltd. is applicable to the present case?

Analysis:
1. The appeal under section 260A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 challenged the Tribunal's decision to limit the addition for bogus purchases to 5% of the total. The revenue contended that the Tribunal overlooked a previous High Court decision in a similar case.

2. The case involved an individual dealer of Chemicals whose income was reassessed due to alleged bogus purchases. The Assessing Officer added Rs. 15,38,784 under section 68 of the Act based on information from the Sales Tax Authority. The CIT(Appeals) and Tribunal restricted the addition to 5% of the alleged bogus purchases after considering the evidence provided by the assessee.

3. The revenue argued that the decision of CIT(Appeals) and the Tribunal was erroneous, citing the M/s N. K Industries Ltd. case where the entire transaction was deemed bogus. However, the Court found that in the present case, there was no concrete evidence to support the Assessing Officer's addition of the entire amount. The Tribunal's decision to estimate 5% of the bogus purchases was upheld based on the available documentary evidence.

4. The Court emphasized that the facts of the present case differed from the N. K Industries Ltd. case, as there was no substantial material to prove the purchases were entirely bogus. Therefore, the decision to restrict the addition to 5% of the alleged bogus purchases was deemed appropriate based on the evidence presented.

5. Ultimately, the Court found no error in the Tribunal's decision and dismissed the appeal, affirming the judgment of the CIT(Appeals) and the Tribunal. The appeal was deemed meritless and was accordingly dismissed.