Survey Statements Not Conclusive Evidence: Assessee's Right to Disprove Preserved Under Section 133A Proceedings

ITAT adjudicated on the validity of statements recorded during survey proceedings under Section 133A. The tribunal held that statements obtained during survey proceedings do not automatically bind the assessee. The burden of proof remains with the assessee to disprove such statements through substantive evidence. Critically, the presumption under Section 292C applies only to documents seized during a search from the assessee's premises, not those obtained during a survey of a third party. The tribunal relied on precedential rulings emphasizing that legal fictions are limited to their specific purpose. Consequently, the tribunal allowed the assessee's grounds, directing the Assessing Officer to delete the contested addition based on the lack of evidentiary value in the survey statements and inapplicability of statutory presumptions. .....

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