Income Tax Appellate Tribunal - Kolkata
Sudarshan Jalan, Huf, Kolkata vs Ito, Ward - 36(2), Kolkata , Kolkata on 23 August, 2019
1
ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018
Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15
आयकर अपील य अधीकरण, यायपीठ - "SMC" कोलकाता,
IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL "SMC" BENCH: KOLKATA
(सम ) ी ऐ. ट . वक , यायीक सद य)
[Before Shri A. T. Varkey, JM]
I.T.A. No. 1664/Kol/2018
Assessment Year: 2014-15
Sudarshan Jalan, HUF Vs. Income-tax Officer, Wd-36(2), Kolkata
(PAN: AAFHS8950Q)
Appellant Respondent
For the Appellant Shri Subash Agarwal, Advocate
For the Respondent Shri Sankar Halder, CIT, Sr. DR
Date of Hearing 02.07.2019
Date of Pronouncement 23.08.2019
ORDER
This appeal of the Assessee arises out of the order of the Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) -10, Kolkata for AY 2014-15 dated 28.06.2018.
2. The main grievance of assessee is against the action of Ld. CIT(A) in confirming the addition made by AO u/s. 68 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act") in respect to the Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) claim of assessee in respect of sale consideration from shares of M/s. SRK Industries Ltd. (in short M/s. SRK) and commission added of Rs.5340/- on it.
3. The brief facts is that AO noted that the assessee has shown LTCG of Rs.10,68,061/- and claimed the same as exempt u/s. 10(38) of the Act. The assessee was asked to file complete details as well as evidences with respect to such claim of exempt income. In reply, the assessee filed copy of contract notes in support of purchase and sale of shares of M/s. SRK on which LTCG was claimed. From the details/evidences the AO found that 2 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 5994 shares of the company was purchased for Rs.13,500/- on 08.08.2012 and just after completion of one year, it was sold for Rs.10,82,212/- on 25.10.2013 and 11.11.2013. Thus according to AO the assessee has managed an increase in profit of almost 7916% in a short span of time of 14-16 months and that too when the general market trend was recessive during the relevant period of time. Therefore, the AO was of the opinion that the prices was jacket up/rigged purposefully and the sales were all pre-arranged and stage managed by players who were running it as a racket to launder the ill gotten money of the assessee through such nefarious activities. So, he added the entire amount of Rs.,10,68,061/- u/s. 68 of the Act and also made an addition of Rs.5340/- as commission of LTCG. Aggrieved, the assessee preferred an appeal before the Ld. CIT(A) who was pleased to confirm the action of AO. Aggrieved, the assessee is before this Tribunal.
4. The Ld. AR assailing the action of the Ld. CIT(A) brought to our notice that the assessee submitted that the assessee had purchased 1350 numbers of shares of M/s. Transcend Commerce Ltd. on 08.08.2012 at a total consideration of Rs.13,500/- from Jintan Vanijya Pvt. Ltd. . (copy of the purchase bill is available in the paper book at pages 12.) The payment was made through an account payee cheque and copy of the bank statement evidencing the payment made to M/s. Jintan Vanijya Pvt. Ltd. for such share purchase is also available at paper book page 13. Thereafter, Transcend Commerce Ltd. was merged with M/s. SRK and on merger, the assessee received 2997 shares of M/s. SRK. Further the said shares were subdivided and the assessee's demat account was credited with 5,994 shares. Thereafter, in the relevant year the assessee sold in two trenches of 3000 shares on 25.10.2013 and 2994 shares on 11.11.2013 for a total consideration of Rs.10,79,032/- through Eureka Stock & Share Broking Services Ltd., who is a registered broker at the BSE and claimed LTCG of Rs.10,65,532/-. Copy of contract notes in connection sale of shares along with the bank statement reflecting the receipt of sale consideration and demat statement are available in the paper book page 15 to 23. He also submitted that the A.O. at the time of assessment proceedings described the Modus Operandi of booking the alleged bogus LTCG. The A.O. has nowhere in the assessment order referred to any material which can prove the complicity of assessee either in the price rigging or in the alleged accommodation entry operation. The Ld. CIT(A) confirmed the action of the AO on the 3 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 ground that the entire transactions entered into by the assessee are beyond human probability. According to Ld AR, in the instant case, the assessee is not connected with M/s. SRK amalgamated company or their promoters, directors and any other person who exercises any control over M/s. SRK/ amalgamated company or any so called entry operator. As a matter of fact, the assessee has never indulged in any such activity nor has been part of any modus operandi as stated by the A.O. The assessee has transacted in the shares of M/s. SRK/amalgamated company in the normal course of investment like millions of investors do in the stock market. Therefore, the question of alleged conversion of unaccounted money in the form of alleged bogus long term capital gains with the help of many alleged connected parties through price rigging and price manipulations does not arise. According to him, there is no material evidence for the A.O. to conclude what is apparent is not real. In the absence of any link between the assessee and the alleged admissions of the directors and brokers, human probability is being used as a vague and convenient medium for the Departments conjectures. Blaming the assessee by vague observations and drawing an adverse inference without any admissible evidence on record, on the part of the lower authorities is not justified in the eyes of law. In this connection, he placed reliance on the following decisions:
i) Lalchand Bhagat Ambica Ram vs. CIT [1959] 37 ITR 288 (SC);
ii) CIT (Central) Calcutta vs. Daulat Ram Rawatmull (87 ITR 349)
iii) Andman Timber Industries vs. CCE - [2015J 62 taxmann.com 3 (SC)
(iv) P.S. Abdul Majeed vs. Agricultural Income-Tax and Sales Tax Officer And Others 209 ITR 821 (Ker.)
(v) CIT vs. Eastern Commercial Enterprises 210 ITR 103 (Cal)
(vi) Asst. CIT vs Ajnara India Ltd (2011) 49 DTR 273 (Del-Trib)
(vii) Calcutta High Court in S.K.Bothra & Sons (HUF) vs ITO (2011) 62 DTR (Cal)234
(viii) Delhi High Court in CIT vs Rajesh Kumar (2008) 306 ITR 27
(ix) CIT vs. Carbo Industries Holdings Ltd. 244 ITR 422 (Cal)
(x) CIT vs. Emerald Commercial Ltd. 250 ITR 539 (Cal)
(xi) Manish Kumar Baid vs. ACIT, order dated 18.08.2017; ITANo. 1236-1237/K/17
(xii) Vasudha Jain vs. ITO, ITA No. 10181K/2018, order dated 15.02.2019
(xiii) Prakasho Devi Saria vs. ITO, ITA No. 23601K/2017, order dated 17.05.2019 4 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15
(xiv) CIT vs. Bhagwati Prasad Agarwal (Calcutta High Court); ITA No.22 of 2009, dated 29.04.09.
He also contended in respect of AO's contention that the company in question had insignificant business operation, so it could not command such high prices, the ld AR submitted that it is common knowledge price of any commodity including shares is determined by the market forces of demand and supply of the market players and not by their intrinsic worth. The assessee categorically submits that the assessee bonafidely purchased the shares in private placement in anticipation of substantial gain and sold the shares in the online system, when substantial gains materialised. According to ld AR, there is not a shred of evidence on record to prove the complicity of the assessee in the alleged racket, and therefore it is not possible to draw any adverse inference against the assessee. The A.O. has also nowhere in the assessment order referred to any material which can prove the complicity of assessee in the alleged accommodation entry operation. According to ld AR, if the assessee has taken advantage of the price rise in an open manner through the transaction conducted in the official online system, no adverse inference can be drawn against the assessee. According to Ld. AR, the AO/CIT(A) was not justified in invoking the provisions of section 68 of the Act in regard to the sale proceeds of shares. According to Ld. AR, there is no evidence on record to disbelieve that the assessee sold shares through registered share and stock broker. The assessee produced all evidences to explain the source of the amounts received by the assessee from the brokers. The AO was not justified in assessing the sale proceeds of shares as undisclosed income. He also submitted that in respect of share of M/s. SRK the Coordinate bench of this Tribunal has already accepted the scrip of M/s. SRK vide its order dated 15.02.2019 in the case of Shri Vivek Jhunjhunwala Vs. ITO in ITA No. 2333/Kol/2018 for AY 2014-15. Therefore, he humbly prayed before the bench that the appeal of the assessee may please be allowed.
5. Per contra, the Ld. DR supported the order of Ld. CIT(A) and AO and according to him, the investigation report of department has shown that assessees were indulging in their illegal activities to launder their ill gotten unaccounted money. And these, according to him, are stage managed, pre-arranged, rigged transaction, which is beyond human probabilities and relied on the decision of the Hon'ble High court of Bombay order in 5 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 Sanjay Bimalchand Jain Vs. Pr. CIT, Nagpur dated 10.04.2017 and CIT Vs. Independent Media (P) Ltd. and Smt. M. K. Rajeshwar Vs. ITO (Bangalore ITAT) dated 12.10.2018 and the Hon'ble High Court of Punjab & Haryana in the case of Chandan Gupta Vs. CIT dated 16.09.2014 and wants us to confirm the order of Ld. CIT(A) and does not want us to interfere with the order of Ld. CIT(A) and cited few more cases which I will deal with infra.
6. After hearing the rival submissions and going through the facts and material available on record, it is noted that the assessee had purchased 1350 numbers of shares of M/s. Transcend Commerce Ltd. on 08.08.2012 at a total consideration of Rs.13,500/- from Jintan Vanijya Pvt. Ltd. . (copy of the purchase bill is available in the paper book at pages
12.) The payment was made through an account payee cheque and copy of the bank statement evidencing the payment made to M/s. Jintan Vanijya Pvt. Ltd. for such share purchase is also available at paper book page 13. Thereafter, Transcend Commerce Ltd. was merged with M/s. SRK and on merger, the assessee received 2997 shares of M/s. SRK. Further the said shares were subdivided and the assessee's demat account was credited with 5,994 shares. Thereafter, in the relevant year the assessee sold in two trenches of 3000 shares on 25.10.2013 and 2994 shares on 11.11.2013 for a total consideration of Rs.10,79,032/- through Eureka Stock & Share Broking Services Ltd., who is a registered broker at the BSE and claimed LTCG of Rs.10,65,532/-. Copy of contract notes in connection sale of shares along with the bank statement reflecting the receipt of sale consideration and demat statement are available in the paper book page 15 to 23.
7. It is noted that the AO was of the opinion that huge rise in the prices of shares of M/s. SRK was not real and it is a stage managed, pre-arranged transaction wherein the assessee's own money has been converted/laundered through the use of a syndicate/racket which initially sold the scrips of M/s. SRK for a very low price and after twelve to fourteen months rigs/artificially inflated the price wherein pre-arranged companies to whom assessee's cash is delivered, which in-turn then purchases the shares of M/s. SRK at a very high price thus the assessee earns huge LTCG which the assessee later claims to be exempt income. According to AO, the modus operandi as suggested above has been revealed after in depth study by the Investigation Wing of the Department as well as by other agencies like 6 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 SEBI etc. Even though the assessee filed various details/documents/papers before the AO to show that purchase and sale of share scrips of M/s. SRK which resulted in LTCG claim and which was not allowed by AO and Ld CIT(A).
8. I note that the assessee has filed purchase bill, bank statement showing the transaction in respect of purchase of shares, copy of amalgamation letter, contract notes of sale of shares, bank statement showing the transaction in respect of sale of shares, copy of demat statement etc. which are available at paper book pages 12 to 23 to support his claim. The AO has heavily relied on the modus operandi which has been brought out by the Investigation Wing of the Department and some SEBI studies. I find that there is no evidence/material to suggest that the aforesaid documents filed by the assessee are false or fabricated. All the transactions of purchase and sale have happened through stock exchange through online platform and through banking channel at the prices quoted at BSE on the date of purchase/sale of scrips. The shares were held in demat account for more than a year, therefore, without any material to suggest that the assessee/broker had indulged in any activity like stage managed and/or pre-arranged as suggested by the AO, it cannot be held that the assessee's LTCG claim is bogus. Therefore, we overturn the decision of the authorities below and direct the AO to allow the claim of LTCG of the assessee.
9. For coming to aforesaid conclusion I rely on certain judicial decisions on similar facts:-
10. The case of the assessee's is similar to the decision of Hon'ble Bombay High Court, Nagpur Bench in CIT vs. Smt. Jamnadevi Agrawal & Ors. dated 23rd September, 2010 reported in (2010) 328 ITR 656 wherein it was held that:
"The fact that the assessees in the group have purchased and sold shares of similar companies through the same broker cannot be a ground to hold that the transactions are sham and bogus, especially when documentary ITA Nos. 93 to 99/RPR/2014 & C.O. Nos. 12 to 18/RPR/2014 . A.Y. 2004-05 10 produced to establish the genuineness of the claim. From the documents produced, it is seen that the shares in question were in fact purchased by the assessees on the respective dates and the company has confirmed to have handed over the shares purchased by the assessees. Similarly, the sale of the shares to the respective buyers is also established by producing documentary evidence. It is true that some of the transactions were off-market transactions. However, the purchase and sale price of the shares declared by the assessees were in conformity with the market rates prevailing on the respective dates as is seen from the documents furnished by the assessees. Therefore, the fact that some of the 7 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 transactions were off-market transactions cannot be a ground to treat the transactions as sham transactions. The statement of the broker P that the transactions with the H Group were bogus has been demonstrated to be wrong by producing documentary evidence to the effect that the shares sold by the assessees were in consonance with the market price. On perusal of those documentary evidence, the Tribunal has arrived at a finding of fact that the transactions were genuine. Nothing is brought on record to show that the findings recorded by the Tribunal are contrary to the documentary evidence on record. The Tribunal has further recorded a finding of fact that the cash credits in the,bank accounts of some of the buyers of shares cannot be linked to the assessees. Moreover, yn the light of the documentary evidence adduced to show that the shares purchased and sold by the assessees were in conformity with the market price, the Tribunal recorded a finding of fact that the cash credits in the buyers' bank accounts cannot be attributed to the assessees. No fault can be found with the above finding recorded by the Tribunal. Therefore, the decision of the Tribunal is based on finding of facts. No substantial question of law arises from the order of the Tribunal.--Asstt. CIT vs. Kamal Kumar S. Agrawal (Indl.) & Ors. (2010) 41 DTR (Nag) (Trib) 105: (2010) 133 TTJ (Nag) 818 affirmed; Sumati Dayal vs. CIT (1995) 125 CTR (SC) 124: (1995) 80 Taxman 89 (SC) distinguished."
12. The Hon'ble High Court of Rajasthan in CIT vs. Smt. Pushpa Malpani - reported in (2011) 242 CTR (Raj.) 559; (2011) 49 DTR 312 dismissed the appeal of department observing 'Whether or not there was sale of shares and receipt of consideration thereof on appreciated value is essentially a question of fact. CIT(A) and Tribunal have both given reasons in support of their findings and have found that at the time of transactions, the broker in question was not banned by SEBI and that assessee had produced copies of purchase bills, contract number share certificate, application for transfer of share certificate to demat account along with copies of holding statement in demat account, balance sheet as on 31st March, 2003, sale bill, bank account, demat account and official report and quotations, of Calcutta Stock Exchange Association Ltd. on 23rd July, 2003. Therefore, 'the prese/itdppeal does not raise any question of law, much less any substantial question of law."
11. The Hon'ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana in the case of Anupam Kapoor 299 ITR 0179 has held as under:-
"The Tribunal on the basis of the material on record, held that purchase contract note, contract note for sates, distinctive numbers of shares purchased and sold, copy of share certificates and the quotation of shares on the date of purchase and sale were sufficient material to show that the transaction was not bogus but a genuine transaction. The purchase of shares was made on 28th April, 1993 i.e.. asst. yr. 1993-94 and that assessment was accepted by the Department and there was no challenge to the purchase of shares in that year. It was also placed before the relevant AO as well as before the Tribunal that the sale proceeds have been accounted for in the accounts of the assessee and were received through account payee cheque. The Tribunal was right in rejecting the appeal of the Revenue by holding that the assessee was simply a shareholder of the company. He had made investment in a company in which he was neither a director nor was he in control of the company. The assessee had taken shares from the market, the shares were listed and the transaction took place through a registered broker of the stock exchange. There was no material before the AO, which could have lead to a conclusion that the transaction was simplicitier a device to camouflage activities, to defraud the Revenue. No such presumption could be drawn by the AO merely on surmises and conjectures. In the absence of any cogent material in this regard, having been placed on record, the AO could not have reopened the assessment. The assessee had made an investment in a company, evidence whereof was with the AO. --Therefore, the AO could not have added income, which was rightly deleted by the CIT(A) as well as the Tribunal. It is settled law that suspicion, howsoever strong cannot take the place of legal proof.8 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018
Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 Consequently, no question of law, much less a substantial question of law, arises for adjudication.-- C. Vasantlal & Co. vs. CIT (1962) 45 ITR 206 (SC), M.O. Thomakutty vs. CIT (.1958) 34 ITR 501 (Ker)) and Mukand Singh vs. Sales Tax Tribunal (1998) 107 STC 300 (Punjab) relied on; Umacharan Shaw &Bros. vs. CIT (1959) 37 ITR 271 (SC) Applied; Jaspal Singh vs. CIT (2006) 205 CTR (P & H) 624 distinguished"
12. The Co-ordinate Bench of Ahmedabad in ITA Nos. 501 & 502/Ahd/2016 had the occasion to consider a similar issue which was wherein the assessment was framed on the strength of the statement of a broker. The relevant part reads as under:-
"14. The entire assessment is based upon the statement of Shri Mukesh Choksi. It is an undisputed fact that neither a copy of the statement was supplied to the assessee nor any opportunity of cross-examination was given by the Assessing Officer/CIT(A). The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Andaman Timber Industries in Civil Appeal No. 4228 of 2006 was seized with the following action of the Tribunal:-
"6. The plea of no cross examination granted to the various dealers would not help the appellant case since the examination of the dealers would not bring out any material which would not be in the possession of the appellant themselves to explain as to why their ex factory prices remain static. Since we are not upholding and applying the ex factory prices, as we find them contravened and not normal price as envisaged under section 4(1), we find no reason to disturb the Commissioners orders."
15. The Hon'ble Apex Court held as under:-
"According to us, not allowing the assessee to cross-examine the witnesses by the Adjudicating Authority though the statements of those witnesses were made the basis of the impugned order is a serious flaw which makes the order nullity inasmuch as it amounted to violation of principles of natural justice because of which the assessee was adversely affected. It is to be borne in mind that the order of the Commissioner was based upon the statements given by the aforesaid two witnesses. Even when the assessee disputed the correctness of the statements and wanted to cross-examine, the Adjudicating Authority did not grant this opportunity to the assessee. It would be pertinent to note that in the impugned order passed by the Adjudicating Authority he has specifically mentioned that such an opportunity was sought by the assessee. However, no such opportunity was granted and the aforesaid plea is not even dealt with by the Adjudicating Authority. As far as the Tribunal is concerned, we find that rejection of this plea is totally untenable. The Tribunal has simply stated that cross- examination of the said dealers could not have brought out any material which would not be in possession of the appellant themselves to explain as to why their exfactory prices remain static. It was not for the Tribunal to have guess work as to for what purposes the appellant wanted to cross-examine those dealers and what extraction the appellant wanted from them.
As mentioned above, the appellant had contested the truthfulness of the statements of these two witnesses and wanted to discredit their testimony for which purpose it wanted to avail the opportunity of cross examination. That apart, the Adjudicating Authority simply relied upon the price list as maintained at the depot to determine the price for the purpose of levy of excise duty. Whether the goods were, in fact, sold to the said dealers/witnesses at the price which is mentioned in the price list itself could 9 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 be the subject matter of cross-examination. Therefore, it was not for the Adjudicating Authority to presuppose as to what could be the subject matter of the cross- examination and make the remarks as mentioned above. We may also point out that on an earlier occasion when the matter came before this Court in Civil Appeal No. 2216 of 2000, order dated 17.03.2005 was passed remitting the case back to the Tribunal with the directions to decide the appeal on merits giving its reasons for accepting or rejecting the submissions.
In view the above, we are of the opinion that if the testimony of these two witnesses is discredited, there was no material with the Department on the basis of which it could justify its action, as the statement of the aforesaid two witnesses was the only basis of issuing the Show Cause.
We, thus, set aside the impugned order as passed by the Tribunal and allow this appeal."
16. On the strength of the aforementioned decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the assessment order has to be quashed.
17. Even on facts of the case, the orders of the authorities below cannot be accepted. There is no denying that consideration was paid when the shares were purchased. The shares were thereafter sent to the company for the transfer of name. The company transferred the shares in the name of the assessee. There is nothing on record which could suggest that the shares were never transferred in the name of the assessee. There is also nothing on record to suggest that the shares were never with the assessee. On the contrary, the shares were thereafter transferred to demat account. The demat account was in the name of the assessee, from where the shares were sold. In our understanding of the facts, if the shares were of some fictitious company which was not listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange/National Stock Exchange, the shares could never have been transferred to demat account. Shri Mukesh Choksi may have been providing accommodation entries to various persons but so far as the facts of the case in hand suggest that the transactions were genuine and therefore, no adverse inference should be drawn.
18. In the light of the decisions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Andaman Timber Industries (supra) and considering the facts in totality, the claim of the assessee cannot be denied on the basis of presumption and surmises in respect of penny stock by disregarding the direct evidences on record relating to the sale/purchase transactions in shares supported by broker's contract notes, confirmation of receipt of sale proceeds through regular banking channels and the demat account.
19. Accordingly, we direct the A.O. to treat the gains arising out of the sale of shares under the head capital gains- "Short Term" or "Long Term" as the case may be. The other grievance of the assessee becomes infructuous."
13. The assessee has furnished all evidences in support of the claim of the assessee that it earned LTCG on transactions of his investment in shares. The purchase of shares had been accepted by the AO in the year of its acquisition and thereafter until the same were sold. The off market transaction for purchase of shares is not illegal as was held by the decision of Co-ordinate Bench of this Tribunal in the case of Dolarrai Hemani vs. ITO in ITA No. 10 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 19/Kol/2014 dated 2.12.2016 and the decision by Hon'ble Calcutta High court in PCIT Vs. BLB Cables & Conductors Pvt. Ltd. in ITAT No. 78 of 2017 dated 19.06.2018 wherein all the transactions took place off market and the loss on commodity exchange was allowed in favour of assessee. The transactions were all through account payee cheques and reflected in the books of accounts. The purchase of shares and the sale of shares were also reflected in Demat account statements. The sale of shares suffered STT, brokerage etc. In the facts and circumstances of the case, it cannot be held that the transactions were bogus. The following judgments of Hon'ble Jurisdictional High Court:-
(i) The Hon'ble Calcutta High Court in the case of Principal Commissioner Of Income vs M/S. Blb Cables And Conductors; ITAT No.78 of 2017, GA No.747 of 2017; dt. 19 June, 2018, had upheld the order of the Tribunal by observing as follows:-
"4. We have heard both the side and perused the materials available on record. The ld. AR submitted two papers books. First book is running in pages no. 1 to 88 and 2nd paper book is running in pages 1 to 34. Before us the ld. AR submitted that the order of the AO is silent about the date from which the broker was expelled.
There is no law that the off market transactions should be informed to stock exchange. All the transactions are duly recorded in the accounts of both the parties and supported with the account payee cheques. The ld. AR has also submitted the IT return, ledger copy, letter to AO land PAN of the broker in support of his claim which is placed at pages 72 to 75 of the paper book. The ld. AR produced the purchase & sale contracts notes which are placed on pages 28 to 69 of the paper book. The purchase and sales registers were also submitted in the form of the paper book which is placed at pages 76 to 87. The Board resolution passed by the company for the transactions in commodity was placed at page 88 of the paper book. On the other hand the ld. DR relied in the order of the lower authorities.
4.1 From the aforesaid discussion we find that the assessee has incurred losses from the off market commodity transactions and the AO held such loss as bogus and inadmissible in the eyes of the law. The same loss was also confirmed by the ld. CIT(A). However we find that all the transactions through the broker were duly recorded in the books of the assessee. The broker has also declared in its books of accounts and offered for taxation. In our view to hold a transaction as bogus, there has to be some concrete evidence where the transactions cannot be proved with the supportive evidence."
ii) M/s Classic Growers Ltd. vs. CIT [ITA No. 129 of 2012] (Cal HC) - In this case the ld AO found that the formal evidences produced by the assessee to support huge losses claimed in the transactions of purchase and sale of shares were stage managed. The Hon'ble High Court held that the opinion of the AO that the assessee generated a sizeable amount of loss out of prearranged transactions so as 11 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 to reduce the quantum of income liable for tax might have been the view expressed by the ld AO but he miserably failed to substantiate that. The High Court held that the transactions were at the prevailing price and therefore the suspicion of the AO was misplaced and not substantiated.
iii)CIT V. Lakshmangarh Estate & Trading Co. Limited [2013] 40 taxmann.com 439 (Cal) - In this case the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court held that on the basis of a suspicion howsoever strong it is not possible to record any finding of fact. As a matter of fact suspicion can never take the place of proof. It was further held that in absence of any evidence on record, it is difficult if not impossible, to hold that the transactions of buying or selling of shares were colourable transactions or were resorted to with ulterior motive.
iv) CIT V. Shreyashi Ganguli [ITA No. 196 of 2012] (Cal HC) - In this case the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court held that the Assessing Officer doubted the transactions since the selling broker was subjected to SEBI's action. However the transactions were as per norms and suffered STT, brokerage, service tax, and cess. There is no iota of evidence over the transactions as it were reflected in demat account. The appeal filed by the revenue was dismissed.
v) CIT V. Rungta Properties Private Limited [ITA No. 105 of 2016] (Cal HC) - In this case the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court affirmed the decision of this tribunal , wherein, the tribunal allowed the appeal of the assessee where the AO did not accept the explanation of the assessee in respect of his transactions in alleged penny stocks. The Tribunal found that the AO disallowed the loss on trading of penny stock on the basis of some information received by him. However, it was also found that the AO did not doubt the genuineness of the documents submitted by the assessee. The Tribunal held that the AO's conclusions are merely based on the information received by him. The appeal filed by the revenue was dismissed.
12 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15
vi) CIT V. Andaman Timbers Industries Limited [ITA No. 721 of 2008] (Cal HC) - In this case the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court affirmed the decision of this Tribunal wherein the loss suffered by the Assessee was allowed since the AO failed to bring on record any evidence to suggest that the sale of shares by the Assessee were not genuine.
vii) CIT V. Bhagwati Prasad Agarwal [2009- TMI-34738 (Cal HC) in ITA No. 22 of 2009 dated 29.4.2009] - In this case the Assessee claimed exemption of income from Long Term Capital Gains. However, the AO, based on the information received by him from Calcutta Stock Exchange found that the transactions were not recorded thereat. He therefore held that the transactions were bogus. The Hon'ble Jurisdictional High Court, affirmed the decision of the Tribunal wherein it was found that the chain of transactions entered into by the assessee have been proved, accounted for, documented and supported by evidence. It was also found that the assessee produced the contract notes, details of demat accounts and produced documents showing all payments were received by the assessee through banks. On these facts, the appeal of the revenue was summarily dismissed by High Court.
14. I note that since the purchase and sale transactions are supported and evidenced by Bills, Contract Notes, Demat statements and bank statements etc., and when the transactions of purchase of shares were accepted by the ld AO in earlier years, the same could not be treated as bogus simply on the basis of some reports of the Investigation Wing and/or the orders of SEBI and/or the statements of third parties. In support of the aforesaid submissions, the ld AR, in addition to the aforesaid judgements, has referred to and relied on the following cases:-
(i) Baijnath Agarwal vs. ACIT - [2010] 40 SOT 475 (Agra (TM)
(ii) ITO vs. Bibi Rani Bansal - [2011] 44 SOT 500 (Agra) (TM)
(iii) ITO vs. Ashok Kumar Bansal - ITA No. 289/Agra/2009 (Agra ITAT)
(iv) ACIT vs. Amita Agarwal & Others - ITA Nos. 247/(Kol)/ of 2011 (Kol ITAT)
(v) Rita Devi & Others vs. DCIT - IT(SS))A Nos. 22-26/Kol/2p11 (Kol ITAT)
(vi) Surya Prakash Toshniwal vs. ITO - ITA No. 1213/Kol/2016 (Kol ITAT)
(vii) Sunita Jain vs. ITO - ITA No. 201 & 502/Ahd/2016 (Ahmedabad ITAT) 13 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15
(viii) Ms. Farrah Marker vs. ITO - ITA No. 3801/Mum/2011 (Mumbai ITAT)
(ix) Anil Nandkishore Goyal vs. ACIT - ITA Nos. 1256/PN/2012 (Pune ITAT)
(x) CIT vs. Sudeep Goenka - [2013] 29 taxmann.com 402 (Allahabad HC)
(xi) CIT vs. Udit Narain Agarwal - [2013] 29 taxmann.com 76 (Allahabad HC)
(xii) CIT vs. Jamnadevi Agarwal [2012] 20 taxmann.com 529 (Bombay HC)
(xiii) CIT vs. Himani M. Vakil - [2014] 41 taxmann.com 425 (Gujarat HC)
(xiv) CIT vs. Maheshchandra G. Vakil - [2013] 40 taxmann.com 326 (Gujarat HC)
(xv) CIT vs. Sumitra Devi [2014] 49 Taxmann.com 37 (Rajasthan HC) (xvi) Ganeshmull Bijay Singh Baid HUF vs. DCIT - ITA Nos. 544/Kol/2013 (Kolkata ITAT) (xvii) Meena Devi Gupta & Others vs. ACIT - ITA Nos. 4512 & 4513/Ahd/2007 (Ahmedabad ITAT) (xviii) Manish Kumar Baid ITA 1236/Kol/2017 (Kolkata ITAT) (xix) Mahendra Kumar Baid ITA 1237/Kol/2017 (Kolkata ITAT)
15. The ld AR also brought to our notice that once the assessee has furnished all evidences in support of the genuineness of the transactions, the onus to disprove the same is on revenue. He referred to the judgement of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Krishnanand Agnihotri vs. The State of Madhya Pradesh [1977] 1 SCC 816 (SC). In this case the Hon'ble Apex Court held that the burden of showing that a particular transaction is benami and the appellant owner is not the real owner always rests on the person asserting it to be so and the burden has to be strictly discharged by adducing evidence of a definite character which would directly prove the fact of benami or establish circumstances unerringly and reasonably raising inference of that fact. The Hon'ble Apex Court further held that it is not enough to show circumstances which might create suspicion because the court cannot decide on the basis of suspicion. It has to act on legal grounds established by evidence. The ld AR submitted that similar view has been taken in the following judgments while deciding the issue relating to exemption claimed by the assessee on LTCG on alleged Penny Socks.
(i) ITO vs. Ashok Kumar Bansal - ITA No. 289/Agr/2009 (Agra ITAT) 14 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15
(ii) ACIT vs. J. C. Agarwal HUF - ITYA No. 32/Agr/2007 (Agra ITAT)
16. Moreover it was submitted before me by ld AR that the AO was not justified in taking an adverse view against the assessee on the ground of abnormal price rise of the shares and alleging price rigging. It was submitted that there is no allegation in orders of SEBI and/or the enquiry report of the Investigation Wing to the effect that the assessee, the Companies dealt in and/or his broker was a party to the price rigging or manipulation of price in CSE. The ld AR referred to the following judgments in support of this contention wherein under similar facts of the case it was held that the AO was not justified in refusing to allow the benefit under section 10(38) of the Act and to assess the sale proceeds of shares as undisclosed income of the assessee under section 68 of the Act :-
(i) ITO vs. Ashok Kumar Bansal - ITA No. 289/Agr/2009 (Agra ITAT)
(ii) ACIT vs. Amita Agarwal & Others - ITA Nos. 247/(Kol)/ of 2011 (Kol ITAT)
(iii) Lalit Mohan Jalan (HUF) vs. ACIT - ITA No. 693/Kol/2009 (Kol ITAT)
(iv) Mukesh R. Marolia vs. Addl. CIT - [2006] 6 SOT 247 (Mum)
17. I note that the ld. D.R. had heavily relied upon the decision of the Hon'ble Bombay High Court in the case of Bimalchand Jain in Tax Appeal No. 18 of 2017. We note that in the case relied upon by the ld. D.R, we find that the facts are different from the facts of the case in hand. Firstly, in that case, the purchases were made by the assessee in cash for acquisition of shares of companies and the purchase of shares of the companies was done through the broker and the address of the broker was incidentally the address of the company. The profit earned by the assessee was shown as capital gains which was not accepted by the A.O. and the gains were treated as business profit of the assessee by treating the sales of the shares within the ambit of adventure in nature of trade. Thus, it can be seen that in the decision relied upon by the ld. DR, the dispute was whether the profit earned on sale of shares was capital gains or business profit.
18. It is clear from the above that the facts of the case of the assessee are similar with the facts of the cases discussed supra wherein the co-ordinate bench of the Tribunal has deleted the addition and allowed the claim of LTCG. We, therefore, respectfully following the same 15 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 ratio, set aside the order of Ld. CIT(A) and direct the AO not to treat the long term capital gain and short term capital loss as bogus and to allow the same and so, delete the consequential addition.
19. Before I part, the judicial pronouncements cited by the Ld. DR in his support. I note that the said judicial pronouncements are all distinguishable on facts as well as on law. The said decisions are dealt with herein below in seriatim as under:
1. Ratnakar M. Pujari vs. Assessee -ITA No.995/Mum/2012, Order dt. 3rd August, 2016 [AY 2006-07] -ITAT Mumbai In this case the ITAT, Mumbai Bench were considering a case where the purchases of shares were treated as bogus and sham transactions by the Revenue in the immediately preceding financial year 2005-06 and the said findings of the AO with respect to bogus and sham purchases were not challenged by the Assessee. In such facts of the case the Tribunal had treated the exempt long term capital gains arising on sales of shares as bogus and sham. However, there is no such finding of fact in the instant case and thus the facts in the instant case are distinguishable.
It was brought to my notice that the aforesaid order of ITAT, Mumbai, inter-alia, had been distinguished by Co-ordinate Benches of the Tribunal in the following cases:
a. Kaushalya Agarwal vs. ITO [ITA No.194/Ko/2018, Order dt. 03.06.2019 (Kol, ITAT)] b. Meenu Goel vs. ITO [2018] 94 taxmann.com 158 (Del-Trib)
2. Ritu Sanjay Mantry vs. ITO - ITA No.2003/Mum/2017, Order dt. 9th February, 2018 - ITAT Mumbai In this case is that was reopened by the AO on the basis of information received from office of DGIT (C&IB), New Delhi that the assessee had taken accommodation entry from M/s. Magasagar Securities Pvt. Ltd. (a company in the Mahasagar Securities Pvt. Ltd. group share scam case) of Rs.10,32,289/-. Subsequently the assessment was completed u/s. 147 r.w.s. 143(3) of the Act after making an addition of Rs.10,39,289/- on account of bogus share transactions and Rs.20,786/- being commission paid to the broker for arranging accommodation entries in the form of share transactions. The AO had given a finding that the assessee had taken entries 16 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 from Mahasagar Securities Pvt. Ltd. involved in the shares scam case for Rs.10,39,289/- for bogus speculation profit during the financial year 2007 -08. It was further found by the AO that the assessee has paid cash of equivalent amount and received back by cheque and bogus contract notes and bills for the transactions not actually rooted through stock exchange. It is noted that the ITAT, Mumbai had relied upon and followed the judgment of Hon'ble Bombay High Court in Sanjay Bimalchand Jain v. PCIT, Order dated 10.04.2017 (Bom.), being judgment of Jurisdictional High Court. However, in this case, the AO observed that the assessee had taken entries and paid cash of equivalent amount and received back by cheque.
And on the basis of such adverse inference, the Tribunal confirmed the addition made by the AO. However, in the present case in hand, there is no such finding made by the AO.
Further. It is noted that the abovementioned judgment of ITAT, Mumbai Bench has been considered and distinguished by the ITAT, Kolkata Benches and other Benches of the Tribunal, inter-alia, in the following cases:
a. Satyanarayan Saria vs. ITO [ITA No.1224/KoIl2016, Order dt. 28.06.2019 (Kol ITAT)] b. Kaushalya Agarwal vs. ITO [ITA No.194/KoIl2018, Order dt. 03.06.2019 (Kol, ITAT)] c. Meenu Goel vs. ITO [2018] 94 taxmann.com 158 (Del-Trib) Reference is also made to the recent judgment dated 01.07.2019 rendered by this Tribunal in the case of Aparna Misra Vs. ITO (ITA No. 161/Kol/2019) wherein the Tribunal had relied upon the following jurisdictional Calcutta High Court judgments to decide similar issue in favour of the assessee.
i) M/s Classic Growers Ltd. vs. CIT [ITA No. 129 of 2012] ii) CIT vs. Lakshmangarh Estate & Trading Co. Limited [2013] 40 taxmann.com 439 (Cal) iii) CIT V. Shreyashi Ganguli [ITA No. 196 of 2012] iv) CIT V. Rungta Properties Private Limited [ITA No. 105 of 2016] v) CIT V. Andaman Timbers Industries Limited [ITA No. 721 of 2008] 17 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 vi) CIT V. Bhagwati Prasad Agarwal [2009- TMI-34738-ITA No. 22 of 2009, Order dt. 29.4.09] 3) Coming to the case of ITO vs. Shamim M. Bharwani (2016) 69 taxmann.com
(Mum ITAT), Order dt. 27.03.2015 of Mumbai Triabunal, the brief facts in this case was that the assessee purchased 2500 shares of Emrald Commercial Ltd. (ECl). The purchase was in cash. According to the AO since the purchase was made in cash, the same was not verifiable. Further, the A.O. found that said transaction was not through the stock exchange. The shares were in a nondescript company, with no financial and/or physical assets of value or reported earnings. The shares, purchased at an average rate of Rs. 21.70 per share in May 2004, went up to as much as from Rs. 465 to Rs. 489 in July, 2005, i.e., just over years' time. Each of these incidents matched with that which could be expected in a case of a transaction in a penny stock, the modus operandi of the transactions in which was also listed by the AO.
Accordingly, relying on the decisions by the apex court in the case of Sumati Dayal v. CIT [1995] 214 ITR 801/80 Taxman 89 (SC); Durga Prasad More v. CIT [1971] 182 ITR 540 (SC) and MC. Dowell & Co. Ltd. v. CTO [1985] 154 ITR 148/22 Taxman 11 (SC), besides by the Tribunal in the case of Asstt. CIT v. Som Nath Maini [2006] 7 SOT 202 (Chd.), he assessed the impugned credit of Rs. 12.15 lacs as unexplained income u/s. 68 of the Act. The Tribunal confirmed the addition observing that the purchase of shares was off market purchase not reported in the stock exchange. Further, it was observed by the Tribunal that the purchase was through a back date contract note in cash and, there was no trail. Thus it is noted that Tribunal in this case confirmed the addition on a factual finding that the purchase was through a back dated contract note in cash and, there was no trail. This fact is not applicable in the present case.
Further, it is noted that the abovementioned judgment of Tribunal, Mumbai Bench was considered/distinguished by the Mumbai ITAT in its following judgments while allowing similar issue in favour of the Assessee:
a. DCIT vs. Anil Kainya [ ITA Nos.4077 & 4078/MUM/2013, Order dt. 22.03.16 Mum ITAT)] b. Anjali Pandit vs. ACIT [2017] 88 taxmann.com 657 (Mumbai - Trib.) 18 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 Further, it is noted that lthe said judgment has been considered/distinguished by the Kolkata and other Benches of the Tribunal, inter-alia, in the following cases while allowing similar issue in favour of the assessee.
a. Kaushalya Agarwal vs. ITO [ITA No.194/Kol/2018, Order dt. 03.06.2019 (Kol ITAT)] b. Anupama Garg vs. ITO [ITA NO.5971/0el/2018, Order dt. 12.12.2018 (Del, ITAT)] c. Radhika Garg. vs. ITO [ITA No.4738/0el/2018, Order dt. 01.01.2019 (Del-Trib)
4. Coming to the case of Vidya Reddy - ITA No.126/Chny/2017 -Chennai ITAT had disallowed the claim of exempt LTCG and had confirmed the addition made on the ground that the assessee has not placed any material before the lower authorities to prove that her transactions are genuine. The Tribunal observed "She has also not placed any material to prove that her claim of exemption u/s. 10(38) is genuine and valid." However, in the case of the assessee company all relevant documents were furnished to support purchases as well as sale of shares. Further, the Chennai Tribunal had relied upon and followed the judgment of Hon'ble Bombay High Court in Sanjay Bimalchand Jain Vs. PCIT, order dated 10.04.2017, which judgment has been considered and distinguished by Kolkata and other Benches of the Tribunal, inter-alia, in the following cases:
a. Satyanarayan Saria vs. ITO [ITA No.1224/Kol/2016, Order dt. 28.06.2019 (Kol ITAT)] b. Kaushalya Agarwal vs. ITO [ITA No.194/Kol/2018, Order dt. 03.06.2019 (Kol, ITAT)] c. Meenu Goel vs. ITO [2018] 94 taxmann.com 158 (Del-Trib) Reference is also made to the recent judgment dated 1st July, 2019 rendered by the Tribunal in the case of Aparna Misra vs. ITO [ITA No.161/KoIl2019] wherein the Tribunal had relied upon the Jurisdictional Calcutta High Court judgments, as mentioned hereinabove.
5. M. K. Rajeshwari vs. ITO [2018] 99 taxmann.com 339 - The Bangalore Tribunal noted the acts in this case as the assessee earned long-term capital gain on sale of shares of MARL and claimed exemption on it under section 10(38). The 19 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 Assessing Officer relying upon the report of the investigation wing, SEBI report and findings/observations of the SIT, concluded that exemption under section 10(38) claimed by the assessee was not acceptable and the act of the assessee in purchasing the penny stock shares and sale of fee within the ambit of adventure in the nature of trade. Consequently, amount in question was liable to be taxed under the head 'business income'. The Tribunal confirmed the addition by observing that the department had brought sufficient material on record to demonstrate that unaccounted money was introduced in the books of account through long-term capital gain by adopting such method.
It is noted that in the aforesaid case, the Tribunal confirmed the addition on a factua1 finding that the department had brought sufficient material on record to demonstrate that unaccounted money was introduced in the books of account through long-term capital gain by adopting such method. This fact is not applicable in the present case. Further, the abovementioned judgment has been considered/distinguished by this Tribunal, inter-alia, in the following cases while allowing similar issue in favour of the Assessee:
a. Kaushalya Agarwal vs. ITO [ITA No.194/Kol/2018, Order dt. 03.06.2019 (KoI ITAT)] b. Yogesh Dalmia vs. ACIT [ITA No.113/Kol/2018, Order dt. 03.06.2019 (KoI ITAT)] c. Navin Kumar Kajaria vs. ACIT [ITA No.1254-55/Kol/2018, Order dt. 03.04.2019 (Kol- Trib) d. Soumitra Choudhury vs. ACIT [ITA No.256/Kol/2019, Order dt. 15.03.2019 (Kol ITAT)]
6. Coming to the case of Abhimanyu Soin [2018-TIOL-733-ITAT-CHD - The Chandigarh Bench of Tribunal had confirmed the addition made by AO after observing that "11. The assessee has failed to prove that the purchase and sale transactions are genuine and could not even furnish and iota of evidence regarding the sale of shares .............". However, in the case of the Assessee Company all relevant documents were furnished to support, and prove beyond all doubts, purchases and as well as sale 20 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 of shares, which was evidently absent in that case, so is not applicable to case in hand.
7. Coming to the case of Balbir Chand Maini Vs. CIT (2011) 12 taxmann.com 276 (P&H) - The Hon'ble Punjab & Haryana High Court had confirmed the addition made by Assessing Officer on the basis of finding of fact by the Tribunal:
"10. The Tribunal while adjudicating the issue against the assessee had recorded a finding of fact that the transaction of sale and purchase of shares of M/s. Ankur International Ltd., was not a genuine transaction, a part where of relevant to the present issue, mentioned in para Nos. 27 and 28 of the order, reads as under ...."
However, in the case of the Assessee Company all relevant documents were furnished to support, and prove beyond all doubts, purchases and as well as sale of shares.
Further this judgment has been considered and distinguished by this Tribunal and other Benches of the Tribunal, inter-alia, in the following cases while allowing similar issue in favour of the Assessee:
a. Kaushalya Agarwal vs. ITO [ITA No.194/Kol/2018, Order dt. 03.06.2019 (Kol ITAT)] b. Kamal Singh Kundalia vs. ITO [ITA No.2359/Kol/2017, Order dt. 08.05.2019 (Kol ITAT)] c. Meenu Goel vs. ITO [2018] 94 taxmann.com 158 (Del-Trib)
8. Coming to the case of Chandan Gupta Vs. CIT (2015) 54 taxmann.com 10 (P&H) - The Hon'ble Punjab & Haryana High Court had confirmed the addition made by Assessing Officer on the basis of finding of fact by the Tribunal that the assessee had failed to prove the genuineness of the transaction of sale and purchase of shares. The relevant observation is as under:
" ..... On appreciation of the evidence, the Tribunal held that the assessee had failed to prove the genuineness of the transaction of sale and purchase of shares. Once the transaction of purchase and sale was found to be bogus then the sale proceeds had to be added as income of the assessee under Section 68 of the Act because the money received on the basis of bogus transaction had been credited by the assessee in the books of account which remained unexplained.
9. In view of the findings of fact recorded by the authorities below which could not be demonstrated to be erroneous or perverse in any manner, no interference is called for. "21 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018
Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 However, in the instant case of the Assessee company all relevant documents were furnished to support and prove beyond all doubts, purchases as well as sale of shares. Further this judgment has been considered and distinguished by this Tribunal and other Benches of the Tribunal, inter-alia, in the following cases while allowing similar issue in favour of the Assessee:
a. Kaushalya Agarwal vs. ITO [ITA No.194/Kol/2018, Order dt. 03.06.2019 (Kol, ITAT)] b. Kamal Singh Kundalia vs. ITO [ITA No.2359/Kol/2017, Order dt. 08.05.2019 (Kol ITAT)] c. Meenu Goel vs. ITO [2018] 94 taxmann.com 158 (Del-Trib)
9. Coming to the case of CIT vs. Sunita Dhadda (Hon'ble Supreme Court judgment dated 06.06.2018), it is noted that this judgment relied upon by the department has no application in the facts of the instant case. The contention of Ld. DR that matter should be set aside to AO for supplying the Assessee with Investigation Wing Report and statements of parties relied upon cannot be applied in each and every case. The assessee company had in the case in hand discharged the onus casted upon it to prove the claim of LTCG/STCL, then it was the bounden duty of the AO to bring out the falsity/fabrication/wrong doing if any on the part of assessee or confront the assessee with any material which is adverse against the assessee and to proceed in accordance to law i.e. in confronting with principle of Natural Justice without doing so, and when assessee placed all documentary evidences before the AO/Ld. CIT(A), the assessee cannot be again sent back before AO and the decision to send back to AO is decided when proper opportunity has not been given by AO during assessment stage and that is not the case here in the case in hand.
10. Coming to the following cases. I note that in these cases given below Mahendra Kumar Bhandari vs. ITO [Order dt. 06.04.2018] Aravind Kumar, Chennai vs. ITO [Order dt. 08.11.2018] Vikram Dughar, Chennai vs. ITO [Order dt. 13.11.2018] Sadhana, Bangalore vs. ITO [Order dt. 26.05.2017] Arun Kumar Bhaiya, New Delhi vs. ITO [Order dt. 30.08.2018] 22 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 Natti Singh HUF, Jaipur vs. ACIT [Order dt. 31.10.2018] Vinod J. Sharma, Thane [Order dt. 28.10.2015] All the matters were set aside to the file of the AO for fresh consideration and/or to confront the Assessee with the adverse materials used against him. The matters in each of the said cases were set aside in the specific facts and circumstances of each of the cases were set aside in the specific facts and circumstances of each of the cases wherein all facts were not available on record and/or where in the words of the D/R the "AO has botched up enquiry".
However, in the case in hand there is no occasion for setting aside the matter in as much as the assessee had furnished all relevant documents, materials and/or evidence to support its transactions of purchase and as well as sale of shares and the AO had failed to point out any defect and/or lacuna in the said documents, materials and/or evidence.
Further, this Tribunal in its orders had decided similar issue in favour of the assessee by relying on binding judicial pronouncements. Reference is also made to the recent judgment dated 1st July, 2019 rendered by the Tribunal in the case of Aparna Miwsra, supra wherein the Tribunal had relied upon the following jurisdictional Calcutta High Court judgments to decide similar issue in favour of the assessee.
i) M/s Classic Growers Ltd. vs. CIT [ITA No. 129 of 2012]
ii)CIT vs. Lakshmangarh Estate & Trading Co. Limited [2013] 40 taxmann.com 439 (Cal)
iii) CIT V. Shreyashi Ganguli [ITA No. 196 of 2012]
iv) CIT V. Rungta Properties Private Limited [ITA No. 105 of 2016]
v) CIT V. Andaman Timbers Industries Limited [ITA No. 721 of 2008]
vi) CIT V. Bhagwati Prasad Agarwal [2009- TMI-34738-ITA No. 22 of 2009, Order dt. 29.4.09]
11. Coming to the cases given below Prem Jain vs. ITO [ITAT, Delhi, Order dt. 22.03.2018] Sanjay Bimalchand Jain vs. PCIT [2018] 89 taxmann.com 196 (Bom) The decisions of these cases had been relied upon by D/R to contend that gains from sale of shares should be assessed as "Business income" and not under the head 23 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 "Capital Gains". It is noted that the Learned D/R is trying to put forward a completely new argument which do not emanate out of the orders of the lower authorities and also from the records of the case and thus is not permissible to be raised as this stage.
Even otherwise, the ITAT, Delhi Bench in Prem Jain (supra) had held when the facts of the case was that the Assessee had claimed the income from sale of shares to be assessed at business profits and not capital gains where there was short duration of holding of shares and lack of clarity in account books, sale and purchase of shares. In such facts of the case, it was held that profits from sale of shares would amount to business income and not short term capital gain. However, no such case had been made out by the Assessing Officer in the instant cases.
The aforesaid order has been considered by this Tribunal while deciding similar issue in favour of an assessee in the case of Kaushalya Agarwal Vs. ITO (ITA No. 194/Kol/2018, order dated 03.06.2019 (ITAT, Kol).
More particularly, the judgment of Hon'ble Bombay High Court in Sanjay Bimalchand Jain V. PCIUT, order dated 10.04.2017 (Bom HC) had been considered and distinguished by this Tribunal and other benches of the Tribunal, inter-alia, in the following cases:
a. Satyanarayan Saria vs. ITO [ITA No.1224/Kol/2016, Order dt. 28.06.2019 (Kol ITAT)] b. Kaushalya Agarwal vs. ITO [ITA No.194/Kol/2018, Order dt. 03.06.2019 (Kol, ITAT)] c. Meenu Goel vs. ITO [2018] 94 taxmann.com 158 (Del-Trib)
12. Coming to the cases given below:
ACIT vs. Madhuri Sunil Kotecha [ITAT, Pune, Order dt. 28.03.2018] Charu Agarwal, Meerut vs. ITO [ITAT, Delhi, Order dt. 10.09.2018] Dayaram Khandelwal vs. PCIT [MP High Court, Order dt. 01.03.2018] Sourabh Khandelwal vs. PCIT [MP High Court, Order dt. 01.03.2018] It is noted that in all of these cases relates to imposition of penalty under section 271(1)(c) of the Act in the facts where the Assessee had withdrawn/surrendered his/her claim of exempt L TCG u/s. 10(38) of the Act and paid taxes on the gains 24 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018 Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 arising from sale of shares. All these judgments are irrelevant and has no application to the facts of the instant case before the Tribunal.
13. Coming to the case of SEBI v. Rakhi Trading P. Ltd [Civil Appeal No.1969 of 2011, Judgment dated 8th February, 2018 (of the Hon'ble Supreme Court ) It is noted that the Hon'ble Supreme Court was concerned with a case where SEBI had initiated actions against few traders and brokers for violation of Regulations 3(a), (b) and (c) and 4 (1), (2)(a) and (b) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 2003 ("the PFUTP Regulations"). In the said case, the Hon'ble Apex Court upheld the action initiated in the case of traders as the said traders have admitted of being involved in synchronized trade to manipulate the prices of shares. There is no such admission by the Assessee in the instant case that it has involved in any price manipulation and/or any dubious tax planning. Moreover, the Hon'ble Apex Court had set aside the action initiated by SEBI in the case of brokers as there was no evidence on record to show involvement of the said brokers. Similarly in the instant cases the department had failed to bring on record any evidence whatsoever to show that the Assessee was involved in any price manipulations. Thus the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court is clearly distinguishable on facts. The said judgment had been held to be distinguishable by the ITAT, Kolkata Benches in the following judgments:-
i. Suman Saraf v. ITO in ITA No.1395/KoI/2018, Order dated 05.10.2018. ii. Jignesh Desai v. ITO in ITA No.1394/KoI/2018, Order dated 05.10.2018. iii. Rishab Jain v. ITO in ITA No.1392/KoI/2018, Order dated 05.10.2018. iv. Rekha Devi v. ITO in ITA NO.1269/KoI/2018, Order dated 05.10.2018. v. Sunita Devi v. ITO in ITA No. 1268/Ko1/2018, Order dated 05.10.2018. vi. Jagat Lal Jain v.ITO in ITA No.1226/KoI/2018, Order dated 05.10.2018. vii. Sneha Choudhary v. ITO in ITA NO.1218/KoI/2018, Order dated 05.10.2018. viii. U.C.Choudhary & Ors (HUF) v. ITO in ITA No.1217/KoI/2018, Order dated 05.10.2018.
ix. Virendara Barmecha v. ITO in ITA No.1201/KoI/2018, Order dated 05.10.2018. x. Taruna Devi Barmecha v. ITO in ITA No.1199/KoI/2018, Order dt. 05.10.2018. xi. Premlata Agarwal vs. ITO in ITA No.874/KoI/2018, Order dt. 05.10.2018. xii. Sunil Kumar Ladha vs. ITO in ITA No.851/KoI/2018, Order dt.05.10.2018. xiii. Balram Gupta vs. ITO in ITA No.817/KoI/2018, Order dt.05.10.2018. xiv. Alka Changoiwala vs. ITO in ITA No.634/KoI/2018, Order dt.05.10.2018. xv. Santosh Choraria vs. ITO in ITA NO.521/KoI/2018, Order dt.05.10.2018.
25 ITA No. 1664/Kol/2018Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, AY 2014-15 xvi. Sonal Bajaj vs. ITO in ITA No.239/KoI/2018, Order dt.05.10.2018. xvii. Sudha Khandelwal v. ITO in ITA No.86/KoI/2018, Order dt. 05.10.2018. xviii. Bina Agarwal vs. ITO in ITA NO.1403/KoI/2018, Order dt.05.1 0.2018. xix. Harish Jain vs. ITO in ITA No. 1404/Ko1/2018, Order dt.05.10.2018.
Thus, it is noted that aforesaid decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, Hon'ble Bombay High Court and Tribunal are distinguishable and so the ratio is not applicable to the case/cases in hand. And for the facts discussed in para 6 to 8 supra I am inclined to allow the appeal of the assessee.
20. Since I have ordered the deletion of the addition made by AO which has been confirmed by Ld. CIT(A) on account of claim of LTCG, the consequential addition in respect of commission payment is also hereby directed to be deleted.
21. In the result, the appeal of assessee is allowed.
Order is pronounced in the open court on 23/08/2019 Sd/-
(A. T. Varkey) Judicial Member Dated: 23rd August, 2019 Jd.(Sr.P.S.) Copy of the order forwarded to:
1 Appellant - Sudarshan Jalan, HUF, C/o Subash Agarwal & Associates, Siddha Gibson, 1, Gibson Lane, Suite-213, 2nd floor, Kolka5ta-700 069.
2 Respondent -ITO, Ward-36(2), Kolkata.
3 CIT(A)-10, Kolkata. (sent through e-mail)
4 CIT , Kolkata
5 DR, Kolkata Benches, Kolkata (sent through e-mail)
/True Copy, By order,
Assistant Registrar