Pune: Revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Friday said the impact of a Pune civil court order declaring the Amadea Enterprises LLP sale deed void ab initio on the Rs21 crore stamp duty demand would be decided by the quasi-judicial authority hearing the firm’s appeal.Bawankule told TOI that the appeal had been transferred to the principal secretary (appeals). “The case is pending before a quasi-judicial authority. Since it is a judicial matter, we cannot make any statement on its merits,” he said.Asked if the levy could survive after the sale deed in the controversial Mundhwa land transaction was declared void, Bawankule said the issue required legal interpretation. “The principal secretary (appeals) will examine all relevant provisions of law, including the Registration Act, 1908, and take an independent decision,” he said.Bawankule said the state govt would not interfere in the proceedings. He said any party aggrieved by the appellate order could approach the high court. “The legal process will continue in accordance with law,” Bawankule said.The appeal relates to the purchase of a 40-acre land parcel in Mundhwa by Amadea Enterprises LLP, in which Rajya Sabha member Parth Pawar, son of deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar, is the majority stakeholder. The former Mahar Watan and government-owned land was sold in a transaction valued at around Rs300 crore. The controversy came up after the sale deed, executed in May 2025, was registered on payment of Rs500 as stamp duty. The registration department subsequently determined that around Rs21 crore was payable towards stamp duty and penalties. Amadea’s appeals before the joint IGR and the IGR were rejected in December 2025 and May 2026, respectively.The firm subsequently moved an appeal under the amended Maharashtra Stamp Act, citing the civil court ruling that declared the transaction null and void. Its contention is that the stamp duty demand cannot survive once the underlying sale deed has been declared void.The matter came up in the first week of June and is pending for hearing. There was no prescribed timeline for deciding the appeal, senior officials said.The appeal is among the first to be taken up under the amended act, which created an intermediate appellate mechanism for challenges to IGR orders. Earlier, aggrieved parties had to approach the high court for further relief.
