Held that the AO was not justified in making addition under S. 69C on account of alleged distribution of cash by assessee to the voters simply by drawing adverse inference against the assessee on the basis of recovery of photo-identity cards of the voters of one assembly constituency from the premises of the assessee and some vague WhatsApp messages sent from the assessee’s mobile phone without examining the recipient of the messages. The assessee has not contested the elections and none of the agencies deployed for monitoring the election process has filed any case against the assessee for indulging in any malpractice in the elections. (AY.2017-2018)
A.Jhonkar v. Dy. CIT v. Johnkumar Trust (2022) 220 TTJ 187 (Chennai) (Trib) Dy. CIT v. Johnkumar Trust (2022) 220 TTJ 187 (Chennai) (Trib)
S. 69C : Unexplained expenditure-Gifts given to beneficiaries of chit fund scheme-Admitted Rs. 3. 2 crores as undisclosed income-Benefit of telescoping has to be given-WhatsApp messages-WhatsApp message sent from assessee’s mobile phone-WhatsApp messages are a dumb document without any corroborative evidence on record-No addition can be made on the basis of said documents. [S. 153A]