Hanoze Harish Thakkar Vs ITO (ITAT Mumbai)
Rs 2.22 Crore Property Addition Made Ex Parte: Mumbai ITAT Gives Assessee Another Opportunity, but Leaves the Merits Open
Summary: An addition of ₹2.22 crore under section 69 cannot be sustained merely by letting an ex parte assessment and an ex parte appellate order stand without examining the assessee’s explanation and supporting documents. At the same time, a remand does not mean that the investment has been accepted as explained. This is the position emerging from the Mumbai ITAT’s order in Hanoze Harish Thakkar v. ITO.
For AY 2014-15, the Assessing Officer completed the reassessment on 30 March 2022 without the assessee’s participation. Among other additions, the AO treated ₹2,22,66,300 invested in immovable property as unexplained investment under section 69. The assessee appealed, but the NFAC also disposed of the appeal ex parte on 18 December 2025, sustaining the additions. The matter then reached the Tribunal.
What Was Before the Tribunal?
The assessee had challenged additions relating to salary, interest, commission and estimated business income. However, at the hearing, the authorised representative did not press that ground. The Tribunal therefore dismissed it as not pressed. The Tribunal’s relief in this order must be read with that limitation: those additions were not examined or deleted on merits.
