9911796707
TMI Blog1979 (4) TMI 11X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e conclusion of the ITO that the assessee had purchased the winning tickets from the real holders is based on no material evidence and is perverse ? " The material facts found or admitted in these proceedings are a follows : In the assessment year 1972-73, for which the relevant previous year ended on the 31st March, 1972, the assessee claimed that Rs. 64,913 being winnings on horse racing from seven jackpots and four trebles were his receipt of a casual and non-recurring nature and exempt from tax. Most of the payments were claimed to have been received by the assessee in cheques drawn by the Royal Calcutta Turf Club and a certificate to that effect was produced from the said turf club. In his income-tax assesment for the previous year ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the observation of the ITO that the assessee might have purchased the winning tickets from the real holders to give a colour of genuineness to the receipts was not without any material on record. From the said evidence and the materials collected by the ITO the Tribunal found that it was incredible that the assessee had won so many events in two years. The Tribunal accordingly set aside the order of the AAC and restored the assessment as made by the ITO. The learned counsel for the assessee urged before us at the hearing that for the earlier assessment year 1971-72, the AAC deleted the addition of the race winnings of the assessee mainly on the ground that the ITO did not bring any material on record to show that the assessee had purchase ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... from the race-course counter within the half hour allowed for the same at the end of each event. It was also urged that the assessee never claimed to be a person versed in the races and had deposed that he had merely followed the tips furnished by Govind Saran Agarwal and his friend, N. Das, only for the jackpot and the treble events. It was but natural that he did not know the happenings of the race course or remember the names of the jockeys or horses or the major races or cups of the winning events. The Tribunal's observation that the assessee had stated before the ITO that he used to watch the races from the members' enclosure was wholly erroneous as no such statement of the assessee was recorded. In support of his contention learn ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n this were identical to those in the earlier year, the Tribunal necessarily had to consider the facts found for the assessment year 1971-72. The Tribunal found that the explanation of the assessee was not convincing and that the facts found by the ITO clearly established the utter improbability of the story of the assessee having won huge amounts from the races in two successive years. It was next urged that the deposition of the assessee related to both the earlier and the present assessment years. The conclusion of the Tribunal was based on the totality of the facts and circumstances which all had to be taken into account and the conclusion to which the Tribunal arrived at in the instant case could not be said to be unjustified. In sup ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tative conclusion that the winning tickets presented at the race-course counter for payment might be the tickets which were purchased by the assessee from their real holders after the close of the event. The assessee sought to support his claim on the cheques received from the turf club and the certificate issued by it in favour of the assessee. Apart from the fact that the assessee was not conversant with the happenings in the race course and did not remember the names of the horses or the jockeys or the important events which brought him the winnings, no material or evidence was before the ITO on record to displace the evidence adduced by the assessee. In the appeal for the assessment year 1971-72 the AAC held that the findings of the ITO ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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