In a search u/s 132 in the case of the assessee, no incriminating material was found to show payment of cash over and above the invoice value for jewellery purchased from Firestar International Pvt. Ltd., and the assessee (and in one case, the spouse in a statement u/s 132(4)) categorically denied any cash payment and produced the purchase bills, the AO was not justified in making addition solely on the basis of a statement of an employee of the jewellery concern and an excel sheet found in the search of that third party. The Tribunal held that except for the solitary third-party statement, there was no corroborative material to establish that the assessee had in fact paid cash; the assessee cannot be required to prove a negative by documentary evidence; and additions based only on third-party material, without giving proper opportunity and without any incriminating material found in the assessee’s search, are impermissible. Following co-ordinate Bench decisions in Shri Avinash Nivrutti Bhosale v. DCIT (in ITA Nos. 529 & 530/Mum/2021 vide order dated 18.11.2023) . Smt. Rekha Ganesh v. ACIT (in ITA No. 1275/Bang/2024 vide order dated 20.09.2024)(Bang)(Trib)  identical “Firestar/Nirav Modi group” matters, the additions were deleted in both cases. ITA Nos. 4440 & 4441/Mum/2025, order dated 03-12-2025. (AY. 2014-15 & 2017-18)