9911796707
TMI Blog2001 (3) TMI 61X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ings under section 143(3) of the Act. The appellant is a partnership firm engaged in the sale and purchase of iron scrap wholesale. The assessment year under consideration is the assessment year 1991-92. For the said year, the appellant disclosed its income at Rs. 1,83,454. The assessment was completed determining the income of the appellant at Rs. 16,45,416. This figure was arrived at by making additions under section 69 of the Act to the tune of Rs. 10,05,000 being loans received from different parties and the interest paid thereon amounting to Rs. 24,079. The Assessing Officer also made additions disallowing the freight charges claimed by the appellant-assessee with which we are not concerned in this appeal. Against the said order of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ning the additions on the basis of 'assumptions and presumptions of the assessing authority is bad in law'." The learned Appellate Tribunal on consideration of the evidence and materials placed on record confirmed the order of the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) as regards the transaction with Smt. Mehrunnisa Begum to the tune of Rs. 1,40,000 and allowed the appeal in respect of the remaining four transactions. Hence, this appeal under section 260A of the Act. Sri A. V. Krishna Koundinya, learned counsel appearing for the appellant, would strenuously contend that the finding recorded by the Assessing Officer and the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) as well as the learned Appellate Tribunal that there is no acceptable evidence o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... preme Court or by the Privy Council or by the Federal Court or is not free from difficulty or calls for discussion of alternative views. If the question is settled by the highest court or the general principles to be applied in determining the question are well settled and there is a mere question of applying those principles or the plea raised is palpably absurd, the question would not be a question of law. As per the decision of the Supreme Court in Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. v. Union of India [1979] 49 Comp Cas 419 and Kondiba Dagadu Kadam v. Savitribai Sopan Gujar, AIR 1999 SC 2213, the question of law would be a substantial question of law which (i) is of general public importance or directly and substantially affects the rights of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssing Officer and a statement was recorded from her on November 30, 1994. It was found that an amount of Rs. 1,40,000 had been credited to her account in the Indian Bank, Osmanganj Branch, on July 30, 1990, and that the said amount was returned in the following week to the appellant. Mrs. Mehrunnisa also was totally ignorant of the transactions with the appellant. She could not furnish any details with regard thereto. It was stated by her that all the transactions had been looked after by her husband. Mr. Nooruddin Dayani was summoned by the Assessing Officer and when he was asked about these details, it was stated by him that he could not recollect as to how the said funds had accumulated..." The Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) on c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nding on a pure question of fact. Secondly, that finding cannot be said to be perverse in the sense that it is not based on any admissible substantive legal evidence. As rightly pointed out by the authorities below, the appellant-assessee has utterly failed to prove the said cash credit standing in the name of Mrs. Mehrunnisa Begum. It is trite to state that section 69 clearly lays down the initial burden on the assessee of proving the nature of source of investments not recorded in the books of account. If the assessee fails to explain and prove the nature and source of investments, the unexplained investments would be assessable under section 69 and there would be no burden on the Department to prove that such investments were the income ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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