MADHUKAR PANDURANG KANHERKAR,AHILYANAGAR vs. ITO WD- 2, AHILYANAGAR

Registry has informed that ITA No.212/PUN/2026, ITA No.215/PUN/2026, ITA Nos. 226 to 228/PUN/2026 are delayed by 629 days; ITA No.213/PUN/2016 is delayed by 652 days and ITA Nos. 214/PUN/2026 & ITA No.216/PUN/2026 are delayed by 719 days and affidavit has been filed for all the appeals citing major reason for delay which is mainly on account of service of notices and appellate orders on the old email id and not on the e-mail id mentioned in Form No.

Considering the contents of the affidavit and also observing that assessee would not have gained anything from filing the appeals with delay, we therefore adopting justice oriented approach and in light of the judgements of Hon’ble Apex Court in the case of Collector Land Acquisition, Anantnag & Anr. Vs. Mst.Katiji &

At the outset, the Ld. Counsel for the assessee submitted that for the impugned assessment years, four appeals are against the quantum addition and remaining are against the penalty levied u/s. 271(1)(c) of the Act. The assessee submitted that the assessment orders for impugned years were framed during Covid-19 pandemic restriction period resulting into either passing of the exparte orders and in some cases fair opportunity not granted. Similarly in the First Appellate proceedings, notice of hearing were sent on swapniljaykar3@ gmail.com and omsaisidhi@gmail.com which are old email ids whereas the e-mail id mentioned in Form No.35 is bhaneshwartraders @gmail.com. He therefore prayed that the quantum as well as penalty proceedings may please be restored to the file of the Ld. Juri ictional Assessing Officer for denovo adjudication. He also submitted that under the similar facts and circumstances this Tribunal in the case of son of the assessee Mr. Satish Madhukar Kanherkar - ITA No.223/PUN/2026 & others order dated 07.04.2026 has restored the matter to the file of the Ld. Assessing Officer for denovo adjudication. On the other hand, Ld. DR’s representative supported the orders of the Ld. CIT(A) but fairly did not object to the prayer made by Ld. Counsel for the assessee.

We have heard the rival submissions and perused the material on record placed before us. We observe that assessee is an individual and assessment for impugned assessment years 2013-14 to 2015-16 have been framed during the Covid-19 pandemic period from March 2020 to March 2022 and the assessment orders are framed exparte. For A.Y. 2012-13 even though the assessment has been framed u/s.143(3) r.w.s 147 of the Act, however it is claimed that fair opportunity was not granted for the impugned assessment years and penalty proceeding were also initiated. Ld.Counsel for the assessee with the support of the affidavit has demonstrated that ‘reasonable cause’ prevented the assessee from appearing before both the lower authorities. Reference also made to the decision of this Tribunal rendered in the case assessee’s son Satish Madhukar Kanherkar setting aside the matters to the file of ld. Juri ictional Assessing Officer for denovo adjudication.

We also observe that impugned orders are also exparte and notices were sent on wrong/ old e-mail id. Considering the facts and circumstances and also the decision relied in the case of assessee’s son, the impugned quantum proceedings for A.Yrs. 2012-13 to A.Y. 2015-16 are restored to the file of Ld. Juri ictional Assessing Officer for denovo adjudication, affording one more opportunity to the assessee. Needless to mention that in the set aside proceedings, ld.JAO shall grant reasonable opportunity of hearing to the assessee. Further, since penalty is dependent upon the quantum additions, therefore, penalty proceedings are also restored to the file of ld. JAO. Ld. JAO is directed to adjudicate the quantum appeals for the years under appeal and then decide the penalty appeals in accordance with law. All the impugned orders under appeal are set aside and effective grounds of appeal raised by the assessee in all the appeals are allowed for statistical purposes.

In the result, all the appeals of the assessee are allowed for statistical purposes.

The Pr. CIT concerned. विभागीय प्रतितिधि, आयकर अपीलीय अधिकरण, “B” बेंच, 4. पुणे / DR, ITAT, “B” Bench, Pune. गार्ड फ़ाइल / Guard File. 5. आदेशािुसार / BY ORDER,