Surveying authority can’t allege excess stock without demanding standard weighment facility from assessee

Facts

a)  Surveying authority conducted survey at premises of assessee and alleged excess stock by weighing stock on basis of cartons. Consequently, the Assessing Officer (AO) made addition on account of excess stock.

b)  Assessee challenged that no addition could made on account of excess stock as weighment was not done by the surveying authority in accordance with the provisions of the Standards and Weights and Measures Act, 1976.

c)  CIT(A) upheld the addition made by the AO by observing that there was no evidence that the assessee provided to the survey team the necessary facility of weighment by a standardized scale.

d)  Aggrieved by the order of the CIT(A), assessee filed the instant appeal before the tribunal.

The tribunal held in favour of assessee as under-

1)  The mandate of the law is that assessee must be made aware, by the statutory authority i.e. the income-tax authority, that the stock found in the survey is to be weighted as per the provisions of the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976, for which purpose the necessary facility is to be provided by the assessee to the authority. The authority cannot hold such legal requirement from the assessee prejudicially and then, on the contrary, hold that assessee was liable for not making good such legal requirement.

2)  The CIT(A) had illegally casted the burden on the assessee by observing that it was the assessee who did not provide the requisite facility of weighment to the surveying authority, whereas the position was quite dramatically opposite.

3)  So, it was the surveying authority who arbitrarily never required the assessee to provide him with the weighment facility and it was not the assessee who refused to do so. Therefore, the addition made in income of the assessee was liable to be quashed- [2016] 68 taxmann.com 288 (Amritsar - Trib.)