In a recent judgment, The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Hyderabad Bench passed a ruling that no Addition of information could be made merely on the support of Dumb documents. In the aforesaid case, The assessee has challenged the correctness and accuracy of the lower authorities’ action with respect to the addition made on-money payment.
The department has been unable to give support to the impugned seized document containing the assessee’s claimed money paid over and above the sale price itself. In all, it has relied on the father’s name only and it contains rough notings and jottings only.
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The critical issue raised in this case is whether the impugned/challenged and seized material or ‘Excel’ sheet (that not even mentioned the assessees’ names) forms a dumb document or not.
The Coram of S.S.Godara and Laxmi Prasad Sahu held that holdings such as loose sheets justify being treated like a dumb document only. The reason being, the document does not reveal full disclosure of details about the dates thus containing a lack of further particulars and consequently should not to be made the criteria of addition.
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) held that the challenged addition of on-money payment made in assessees’ hands on the basis of a mere dumb document and not supported by any other evidence cannot be sustained. And so the tribunal issued the directive to delete the impugned identical addition that formed the subject matter of adjudication.
