Manoj kumar Parmar Vs ITO (ITAT Mumbai)
The captioned two appeals were filed by the assessee against orders passed by the learned Addl/Jt. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-2, Coimbatore, both dated 24.12.2025, for Assessment Years 2020-21 and 2021-22. Since the issues involved were common and identical, the Tribunal extracted the grounds raised in ITA No. 480/Ahd/2026 for AY 2020-21 and stated that its decision in that appeal would apply mutatis mutandis to ITA No. 481/Ahd/2026 for AY 2021-22.
The assessee challenged the denial of exemption under Section 10(108) in the grounds reproduced in the order, while the substantive factual and adjudicatory discussion refers to exemption under Section 10(10B). The assessee contended that compensation received under the BSNL Voluntary Retirement Scheme, 2019 was exempt and that the claim should not be denied merely because it was not made in the original return.
The assessee was an employee of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a Government of India undertaking. BSNL introduced the Voluntary Retirement Scheme, 2019, which was approved on 04.11.2019 as part of a restructuring exercise. The assessee opted for voluntary retirement and received ex gratia compensation of ₹14,30,421/- under the scheme. The assessee stated that BSNL was facing severe financial hardship, including prolonged delay in payment of salaries, and contended that the compensation was in substance separation/retrenchment-cum-compensation arising from organisational restructuring and downsizing.
