- (1.) In this appeal the assessee has objected to the assessment order for block period passed by the assessing officer under the provisions of Chapter XIV-B of the Income Tax Act and has listed as many as 21 grounds. 1.1. In addition to the aforesaid, the appellant/assessee also sought permission, as per letter dt. 15th Feb., 1999, for admission of two additional grounds. But since the counsel for the assessee pleaded for withdrawal of the additional grounds at the time of hearing of the appeal, the same are dismissed as such.
(2.) As far as the other grounds are concerned, we have heard the assessee's counsel as well as the learned departmental Representative and proceed to decide the various issues as under L Ground Nos. (i) to (v) :
(3.) These grounds are against the determination of appellant's undisclosed 'income of Rs. 4,05,840 on the basis of seized documents marked as Annexure A- 1. 3.1. Before divulging to the arguments advanced by the parties, we consider it necessary to refer to the brief facts, as they emerge from the records before us. 3.2. The facts relating to the issue of undisclosed income of Rs.4,05,840 are that when the appellant was called upon to furnish a return of her undisclosed income by virtue of provision of s. of the Act, the appellant furnished her return for block period on 6th Feb., 1997. When the appellant was called upon to explain the nature and details of the entries made in document marked as Annexure A- 1, the appellant vide her letter dt. 15th Feb., 1997 explained that the entries listed in the documents represented investment in the construction of building named as 'Ved Ashram' and belonging to her husband Dr. B.N. Tripathi. Since appellant's name was appearing against most of the entries in this document, the appellant was asked to show cause as to why the entries against her name should not be considered as having been originated from her and since the amount involved in the building named 'Ved Ashram'. It was proposed that the amount should be taken as appellant's undisclosed investment on account of unexplained investment in the building. SO far as the contents, i.e. entries in the books are concerned, it was noticed by the assessing officer that at pp. 3 & 4 of the documents a sum of Rs. 4,05,840 was shown as having been received from Smt. Usha Tripathi during the period 28th Jan., 1993 to 6th Oct., 1994 and this amount had been subsequently invested in the construction of the building. The appellant once again tried to explain the nature and source of amounts involved in these entries and as per letter dt. 26th Feb., 1997 submitted that the appellant was supervising the construction work on behalf of her husband and the document under reference was being maintained by appellant's brother Mr. Pappu. It was further explained that the amounts mentioned against the appellant's name had actually originated from her husband Dr. B.N. Tripathi. According to the appellant, since her husband had no time to hand over the amount to Mr. Pappu, he used to give the same to the appellant who in turn used to pass on the same to Mr. Pappu. In short, the appellant's claim was that the amounts involved in the entries against her name did not belong to tier. 3.3. The assessing officer, however, did not find any merit in appellant's explanation. The assessing officer specifically noted that in addition to narration 'frorn Usha Tripathi there are other narrations also such as "from Ved Pathology" on 29th June, 1993 and "from SBI-Ved Pathology" on 22nd Sept., 1993. On the basis of these narrations, the assessing officer concluded that the narrations represented the source of the cash. Ultimately, the assessing officer corcluded that the entries appearing against appellant's name or against the name of Ved Pathology belonged to the appellant and consequently be considered the total of such entries which as Rs. 4,05,840 as appellant's undisclosed income having been invested in appellant's husband's property called 'Ved Ashrarn'. The parties have advanced 'their arguments in the light of aforesaid facts.;