Unexplained investments
Section 69 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 deals with unexplained investments. Where in the financial year immediately preceding the assessment year the assessee has made investments which are not recorded in the books of account, if any, maintained by him for any source of income, and the assessee offers no explanation about the nature and source of the investments or the exp The Act came into force on 01 Apr 1962. Repealed by the Income-tax Act, 2025 with effect from 1 April 2026, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.
Where in the financial year immediately preceding the assessment year the assessee has made investments which are not recorded in the books of account, if any, maintained by him for any source of income, and the assessee offers no explanation about the nature and source of the investments or the explanation offered by him is not, in the opinion of the Assessing Officer, satisfactory, the value of the investments may be deemed to be the income of the assessee of such financial year.
Unexplained money, etc.
Section 69, The Income-tax Act, 1961 (Act 43 of 1961).
Now in the Income-tax Act
INCOME-TAX-ACT-2025 103 Unexplained investment Official correspondence
Measured by comparing the text of the two provisions, not taken from an official correspondence table — there is no machine-readable one. See both texts side by side before relying on it.
Both regimes are live. The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force. We never redirect one to the other.
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
Referred to by 7
- Finance Act s. 16 Insertion of new section 69A
- Finance Act s. 42 Amendment of section 69
- s. 115BBD Tax on certain dividends received from foreign companies
- s. 115BBDA Tax on certain dividends received from domestic companies
- s. 115BBE Tax on income referred to in section 68 or section 69 or section 69A or section 69B or section 69C or section 69D
- s. 158BB total undisclosed income] of block period
- s. 271AAC Penalty in respect of certain income
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Commissioner of Income Tax v. Amritha Cyber Park (P) Ltd.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Final Order order-1.pdf 2019-02-19 DATE VERIFIED. ITA 294/2010. Kerala DB K. Vinod Chandran / Ashok Menon. Isolates when s.69 does not apply: rent advance remaining in books with identified source is neither unexplained investment (69) nor cash credit (68); if recovery is time-barred it is business income (T.V. Sundaram Iyengar). AO may finalise under a different head than proposed. Map income-tax-act 69 cited. Heading collision noted. Do not pad 68 (empty but this is a 69 non-application isolate, not a 68 ingredients holding).
On this section: A rent advance remaining in books with an identified source is not income-tax s.69 unexplained investment; a time-barred recovery is business income (CIT v. Amritha Cyber Park).
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Commissioner of Income Tax v. Mahesh Kumar
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Final Order order-1.pdf 2010-08-20 DATE VERIFIED. ITA 1191-1192/2010. Delhi DB (Chief Justice / Manmohan). Isolates income-tax 69 unexplained-investment: addition cannot rest on DVO valuation alone; revenue has the primary burden of understatement (K.P. Varghese). No incriminating search material plus non-comparable DVO instances → 69 addition deleted. DVO opinion per se is not 147 information. Map income-tax-act 69 cited. sections.csv heading is a Second Schedule collision ('Appointment of receiver for business'); live s.69 / 115BBE is unexplained investments. Do not pad 147/142A. Do not attach to it-act 69 (interception).
On this section: Income-tax s.69 unexplained-investment addition cannot rest on DVO valuation alone; the revenue must first prove understatement (CIT v. Mahesh Kumar). sections.csv heading is a Second Schedule collision; live s.69 / 115BBE is unexplained investments.
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Babulal C. Borana v. Third Income-tax Officer
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Final Order order-1.pdf 2005-01-17 DATE VERIFIED. ITXA 1311/2000. Bombay DB S. Radhakrishnan / J.P. Devadhar. Isolates s.69 statutory ingredients: additions only if investments are not recorded in books and the explanation is unsatisfactory. Books recorded purchases/sales/closing stock and cheque payments to an identified seller → 69 fails even if the seller’s statement is false. Map income-tax-act 69 cited. Best statutory-ingredients isolate of the three 69 cases. Heading collision noted. Do not pad 132.
On this section: Income-tax s.69 bites only if the investment is not recorded in the books and the explanation is unsatisfactory; recorded purchases paid by cheque to an identified seller defeat 69 (Babulal C. Borana).
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Questions about Section 69
What have the courts held on Section 69 of the Income-tax Act?
Commissioner of Income Tax v. Amritha Cyber Park (P) Ltd. (19 Feb 2019) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: A rent advance remaining in books with an identified source is not income-tax s.69 unexplained investment; a time-barred recovery is business income (CIT v. Amritha Cyber Park). Another 2 judgments on this section are set out below. They run from 2005 to 2019.
How do I find court cases under Section 69 of the Income-tax Act?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Income Tax Act 69, section 69 Income Tax Act, section 69 of the Income-tax Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 3 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Commissioner of Income Tax v. Amritha Cyber Park (P) Ltd. (19 Feb 2019).
What should I read with Section 69 of the Income-tax Act, and has it changed?
7 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. For anything done on or after 1 April 2026 the provision to read is Income-tax Act, 2025, section 103 (Unexplained investment), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.
When did Section 69 of the Income-tax Act come into force?
Section 69 of the Income-tax Act, cited as Income Tax Act 69, came into force on 01 Apr 1962, having been enacted on 13 Sep 1961. It is no longer in force.
Other sections of this Act
- 10. Incomes not included in total income30885 words
- 2. Definitions11419 words
- 80HHF. Deduction in respect of profits and gains from export or transfer of film software, etc7148 words
- 80-IB. Deduction in respect of profits and gains from certain industrial undertakings other than infrastructure development undertakings5474 words
- 155. Other amendments5451 words
- 139. Return of income5400 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Recovered from the consolidated text published by the Income Tax Department, as amended by the Finance Act, 2026. India Code holds no record of this Act in any form. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.