6. The facts as found are clearly (as above) indicative of the source being not genuine - a finding which has been specifically recorded in the proceeding. When the law has given to the Assessing Officer discretion and it is his satisfaction upon which genuineness has to be decided, his inference on the basis of the facts, in our view, is a finding of fact and as held by the Supreme Court in CIT v. Daulat Ram Rawatmull , findings on questions of pure fact arrived at by the Tribunal are not to be disturbed by the High Court on a reference unless it appears that there was no evidence before the Tribunal upon which they, as reasonable men, could come to the conclusion to which they have come; and this is so even though the High Court would on the evidence have come to a conclusion entirely different from that of the Tribunal. It is well settled that a finding of fact can be reviewed only on the ground that there is no evidence to support it or that it is perverse. Moreover, when a conclusion has been reached on an appreciation of a number of facts, whether that is sound or not must be determined, not by considering the weight to be attached to each single fact in isolation, but by assessing the cumulative effect of all the facts in their setting as a whole.
If there is some evidence before the Tribunal to support its finding, the High Court has no power to require a reference even though it does not concur in the conclusion : see Commissioner of Income-Tax, (Central) Calcutta vs. Daulat Ram Rawatmull, . Here the material was overwhelming and the conclusion irresistible.
In CIT v. Daulat Ram Rawatmull, [1973] 87 ITR 349, also the Supreme Court reiterated the above principle and observed that the findings on questions of pure fact arrived at by the Tribunal are not to be disturbed by the High Court on a reference unless it appears that there was no evidence before the Tribunal upon which they, as reasonable men, could come to the conclusion to which they have come ; and this is so even though the High Court would on the evidence have come to a conclusion entirely different from that of the Tribunal. It was held that such a finding can be reviewed only on the ground that there is no evidence to support it or that it is perverse. Further, when a conclusion has been reached on an appreciation of a number of facts, whether that is sound or not must be determined, not by considering the weight to be attached to each single fact in isolation, but by assessing the cumulative effect of all the facts in their setting as a whole.
That further, when we observe
that a part finding of the Tribunal whether such business assets were used
for the purpose of business of the assessee, the Tribunal has given its own
analysis, though this part is not disputed by the assessee but because of the
fact that on the issue of establishing ownership, the Tribunal has exceeded its
jurisdiction, in such scenario, therefore, taking guidance from the decision of
the Hon‟ble Supreme Court in the case of CIT Vs. Daulat Ram Rawatmull
(supra.), the entire findings on this issue gets vitiated and has to be held as
incorrect. Therefore, in our considered view, mistake apparent from record
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MA Nos.75 to 81/PUN/2019
Coca-Cola India Pvt. Ltd.
7.1.7. The onus to prove that apparent, is not the real one, is on the
party who claims it to be so, as held by Hon'ble Supreme Court in the
case of CIT v. Daulat Ram Rawatmull [1973] 87 ITR 349 and CIT v.
Durga Prasad More (supra). In the latter case, it has been held by the
Apex Court that though an apparent statement must be considered real
until it was shown that there were reasons to believe that apparent was
not the real, in a case where an authority relied on self serving recitals
in documents, it was for the party to establish the proof of those
recitals, the taxing authorities were entitled to look into the
surrounding circumstances to find out reality of such recitals.
7.1.8 It is also a settled legal proposition that if no evidence is given by
the part)- on whom the burden is cast, the issue must be found against
him. Therefore, onus is always on a person who asserts a proposition
or fact, which is not self evident. The onus, as a determining factor of
the whole case can only arise if the Tribunal, which is vested with the
authority to determine, finally all questions of fact, finds the evidence
pro & con, so evenly balanced that it can come to no conclusion, then,
the onus will determine the matter. Needless to say that the onus is
heavy or light, depending on the facts and circumstances of each case.
There cannot be any doubt that onus as a determining factor comes into
play where, either there is no evidence on either side, or where it is
equally worthless or where it is equally balanced. It is imperative to
mention here that where such is not the case and all available evidence
is considered, without reference to the onus and without relying on the
circumstances that onus lies on a particular party, the issue is
determined on facts and the onus cannot be said to have influenced the
decisions. However, in the instant case, the appellant has miserably
failed to lead evidence and hence, onus is a determining factor.