COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX Vs. ROSHAN LAL SETH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE assessee, Roshan Lal Seth, constructed a house in Jalandhar which was completed during the assessment year 1970-71. According to the assessee, the total investment in the construction of this house was Rs. 27,676. THE value of this construction, as estimated by the approved valuer, was Rs. 27,981. In explaining the sources of the funds utilised for the construction of this house, the assessee disclosed that he had taken a loan from the Government of Rs. 17,000 while Rs. 13,200 had been advanced to him by his sons during the period April 1, 1968, to March 31, 1970.

(2.) THE Income-tax Officer, while making the assessment for the assessment year 1971-72, did not doubt the investment of Rs. 17,000 in the construction of the house which the assessee had obtained as loan from the Government, but he did not accept the contribution of Rs. 13,200 said to have been made by the assessee's sons. This sum was consequently treated as income of the assessee from undisclosed sources for the assessment year 1971-72.

(3.) BESIDES this, there was another disputed amount of Rs. 5,000 during the assessment year 1971-72. It came to the knowledge of the Income-tax Officer that a sum of Rs. 5,000 had been deposited with Hamdard Printing Press in the name of the assessee's wife. The assessee informed the Income-tax Officer that this sum represented gifts made by his sons to his wife from time to time. The Income-tax Officer took the view that the sons were not in a position to make any such gifts and he, therefore, added this sum of Rs. 5,000 too as being the income of the assessee from an undisclosed source.