In the case of Dr. S.C. Gupta v. CIT (2001) 118TAX252 the assessee made surrender during the course of survey. The assessing officer reopened assessments to give effect to surrender made for previous years. The assessee however retracted his statement in the course of reassessment proceedings. The AO made additions on the basis of such statement without collecting any other material or independent witness.
The Allhabad High Court held that an admission is an extremely important piece of evidence though it is not conclusive. Therefore, statement made voluntarily (not under duress or pressure) by the assessee could form the basis of assessment. The mere fact that the assessee retracted the statement could not make the statement unacceptable.