Bharati Sapru, J. - (1.) The petitioners are group of companies registered under the Companies Act, 1956.
(2.) On 28.04.2015 a survey under Section 133-A of the Income Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') was conducted at premises Nos.7/125, C-2, Swarup Nagar, Kanpur which is the registered office of petitioner Nos.1, 2 and 4 and HDFC Bank, Civil Lines, Kanpur. Income Tax authorities during the course of survey seized cash amounting to Rs. 64,56,970/- and impounded the books of account. Besides cash, incriminating evidence were found at the premises of the petitioners. These documents indicated that the petitioners were taking cash from various parties and returning the money via cheques to the same parties in the guise of unsecured loan and long term capital gain (LTGC).
(3.) The statement of one of the directors, Sri Gaya Prasad Gupta was recorded under Section 131(1A) of the Act, who was asked to explain the source of cash found at the premises of the petitioners. However, he failed to explain the source of cash. Sri Gupta was further asked to furnish the books of accounts of all companies. Doing business from the premises in question which he failed to produce. Sri Gupta also failed to explain the various entries in the documents recovered which indicated that the petitioners were receiving cash from various parties and returning the money via cheques to the same parties in the guise of unsecured loan and LTCG. Dubious entries in the document and unexplained cash recovered from the premises gave reason to believe that there was undisclosed income which was not disclosed in ordinary course and, therefore, a satisfactory note was prepared on application of mind to convert the survey into a search. The satisfaction note was put before the Director of Income Tax (Investigation), who after obtaining administrative approval from the Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), Lucknow issued a warrant of authorisation under Section 132(1) of the Act to seize the unaccounted cash and documents from the premises of the petitioners.;