What is Section 69D?
Where any amount is borrowed on a hundi from, or any amount due thereon is repaid to, any person otherwise than through an account payee cheque drawn on a bank, the amount so borrowed or repaid shall be deemed to be the income of the person borrowing or repaying the amount aforesaid for the previous year, in which the amount was borrowed or repaid, as the case may be, provided that, if in any case any amount borrowed on a hundi has been deemed under the provisions of this Section to be the income of any person, such person shall not be liable to be assessed again in respect of such amount under the provisions of this Section on repayment of such amount.
Explanation: For the purposes of this Section, the amount repaid shall include the amount of interest paid on the amount borrowed.
Hundis are normally written in the vernacular language but if a document which is otherwise a hundi is written in the English language, it would not cease to be a ‘hundi’ merely because it is written in English.
Case Laws under Section 69D
Further, if a document clearly comes under the definition of “promissory note” contained in the Negotiable Instruments Act, it would cease to be a document which could be regarded as hundi. [CIT v K.P. Abdullah (1999) 240 ITR 947 (Mad)]
Where the document represented bilateral transaction and not on hundi paper. Section 69D not applicable. [CIT v Ram Niwas 170 Taxman 5 (Del)]