NEENA AGGARWAL Vs. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, PANCHKULA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Application is allowed and the delay of 277 days in refiling the appeal is condoned.

(2.) Briefly stated, the facts necessary for adjudication of the instant appeal as narrated therein may be noticed. The appellant is running a boutique and regularly filing her income tax returns. She sold a piece of land situated in Sector-9, Ambala for a sum of Rs. 10,00,000/- in September, 2007. As per the sale deed dated 14.9.2007, she received the said amount by way of cheque dated 14.9.2007. She did not deposit the said cheque in her SBI account and as per mutual understanding with the buyer, the said cheque was cancelled and two bearer cheques No. 684557 dated 14.9.2007 amounting to Rs. 5 lacs and No. 684558 dated 14.9.2007 for Rs. 4 lacs, respectively were drawn from saving bank account No. 1002619886 with SBI, Model Town, Ambala City. The appellant withdrew a sum of Rs. 9 lacs. She deposited the said amount in installments in her bank account. The assessee was getting sale receipts from her boutique and was regularly depositing her saving in her bank account. During the year 2007-08, she got receipts from sale of plot as well as business operation of boutique and during September, 2007 to March, 2008, she deposited a sum of Rs. 12,12,000/- in her bank account. The assessee filed her income tax return on 31.3.2009 for the assessment year 2008-09 declaring income at Rs. 1,65,990/-. The said return was processed under Section 143(1)(a) of the Act at the returned income and was selected for scrutiny through CASS. A notice under Section 143(2) of the Act was issued to the assessee. The assessment under Section 143(3) of the Act was completed by the Assessing Officer vide order dated 31.12.2010 (Annexure A-3) at a total income of Rs. 13,77,990/-. Feeling aggrieved, the assessee filed an appeal, Annexure A-4, before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [for brevity "the CIT(A)"]. Along with the appeal, the assessee also attached a certificate (Annexure A-5) received from State Bank of India under RTI information that the cheque mentioned in the sale deed was never encashed. She also filed statement of account dated 17.4.2012 (Annexure A-6) showing the details of deposit and available cash with her during the assessment year 2008-09. The CIT(A) vide order dated 25.4.2012 (Annexure A-7) dismissed the appeal holding that the assessee had failed to prove that the cheque was deposited by her in SBI account to get cash and no cash deposit of Rs. 10 lacs was made by the assessee on 14.9.2007. Further, it was held that the dates of deposit and availability of cash do not tally either for sale of plot or receipts of boutique. Still dissatisfied, the assessee approached the Tribunal by way of an appeal. The Tribunal vide order dated 6.3.2014 (Annexure A-1) dismissed the appeal which gave rise to the assessee to approach this Court by way of instant appeal.

(3.) Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the order of the Tribunal dated 6.3.2014 (Annexure A-1) dismissing her appeal is not legally sustainable in the eyes of law, being based on surmises and conjectures. It was further submitted that the Tribunal has acted in an arbitrary manner in holding that the assessee had not been able to satisfactorily explain the deposit of cash on various dates.