BHAI VAIDYA FOUNDATION ,PUNE V. CIT EXEMPTION , PUNE

ITA 2577/PUN/2024

AI Insights

The case involves Bhai Vaidya Foundation, which appealed against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption), Pune, rejecting their application for registration under section 12A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The CIT(E) had initially rejected the application due to the use of an incorrect section code in Form 10AB and also cancelled the provisional registration granted earlier under section 12AB. The Tribunal considered the precedents and submissions, noting that the mistake in the section code was not fatal to the application for registration of a charitable trust. The Tribunal restored the matter to the CIT(E) for a fresh decision, emphasizing the need for the assessee to comply with the requirements without seeking further adjournments.

• Counselvise Citation: [2025] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 360900 (ITAT-PUNE)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 19-05-2025
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Assessment Year: misc
• Other Referred Cases: Datar Kulmandal Vs. CIT, UV Patel Foundation vs. CIT, Raj Krishna Jain Charitable Trust, Shree Swaminarayan Gadi Trust
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Department Lawyers: AMOL KHAIRNAR
• Assessee Lawyers: SHARAD A VAZE VIRTUAL
• Keywords: Opportunity of being heard; Charitable institution
• Section: 12A

Judgement Text

"IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL PUNE BENCH “A”, PUNE BEFORE SHRI R. K. PANDA, VICE PRESIDENT AND MS. ASTHA CHANDRA, JUDICIAL MEMBER ITA No.2577/PUN/2024 Bhai Vaidya Foundation 10 Sanas Plaza, Bajirao Road, Pune – 411002 Vs. CIT (Exemption), Pune PAN: AACTB6552G (Appellant) (Respondent) Assessee by : Shri Sharad A Vaze (virtual) Department by : Shri Amol Khairnar CIT-DR Date of hearing : 05-05-2025 Date of pronouncement : -05-2025 O R D E R PER ASTHA CHANDRA, JM: This appeal filed by the assessee is directed against the order dated 06.09.2024 of the Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption), Pune [“CIT(E)”] rejecting the application for grant of registration u/s 12A of the Income Tax Act, 1961(the “Act”). 2. Facts of the case, in brief, are that the assessee filed an application in Form No.10AB on 29.03.2024 for registration of the trust under section 12A(1)(ac)(vi)- ITEM(B). With a view to verify the genuineness of the activities of the assessee and compliance to requirements of any other law for the time being in force by the trust / institution as are material for the purpose of achieving its objects, a notice was issued through ITBA portal on 24.05.2024 requesting the assessee to upload 2 ITA No.2577/PUN/2024 certain information / clarification. The assessee was requested to submit the compliance by 10.06.2024. The assessee responded to the said notice and sought an adjournment and the Ld. CIT(E) granted the adjournment upto 12.07.2024. On verification of the details submitted by the assessee in response to the said notice and the documents submitted along with the application, the Ld. CIT(E) noted certain discrepancies for which he issued another notice on 22.08.2024 seeking clarification on those issues. The assessee was asked to show cause as to why the application for grant of registration u/s 12A should not be rejected and why the registration granted earlier u/s 12AB should not be cancelled in the event to file compliance by 29.08.2024. In the absence of any reply from the side of the assessee, the Ld. CIT(E) rejected the application filed by the assessee for grant of registration u/s 12A(1)(ac)(vi)-ITEM(B) of the Act and also cancelled the provisional registration granted earlier u/s 12AB of the Act by observing as under: “6. Since the assessee has not furnished any explanation to the discrepancies communicated to it, it is presumed that the assessee has nothing to say in the matter. 7. The information / details were called for under the provisions of section 12AB(1)(b)(i) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. These are the basic details required to ascertain the overall nature of the activities of the assessee and are directly relevant to the present proceedings. However, the assessee has failed to comply despite giving sufficient opportunities as discussed above including an opportunity of being heard. 8. Thus, the assessee has failed to furnish the details called for under the provisions of section 12AB(1)(b)(i) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to verify the genuineness of activities of the trust / institution and to verify the compliance to requirements of any other law for the time being in force by the trust/institution as are material for the purpose of achieving its objects. 9. In absence of the compliance to the above requirement, it is not possible to arrive at any conclusion about the genuineness of activities of the assessee and the 3 ITA No.2577/PUN/2024 compliance to the requirements of any other law for the time being in force by the trust/institution as are material for the purpose of achieving its objects. 10. It is clear from the above that the assessee was given sufficient opportunity to comply, but it has not complied to the same. It seems that the assessee is not having any supporting documents / evidence to submit. The assessee has failed to comply with the provisions of section 12AB(1)(b)(i) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Hence, the undersigned is unable to draw any satisfactory conclusion about genuineness of activities of the assessee and the compliance to the requirements of any other law for the time being in force by the trust / institution as are material for the purpose of achieving its objects. Therefore, the undersigned has left no alternative but to reject the application.” 3. Aggrieved with such order of Ld. CIT(E), the assessee is in appeal before the Tribunal by raising the following grounds: 1. On the basis of facts and in the circumstances of the case and as per law, the Commissioner of Income Tax, (Exemptions) Pune, is not justified in rejecting the regular registration even after the submission of information called from the assessee-trust. The rejection is only on the hyper-technical ground of wrong section code inadvertently / mistakenly used by the assessee in Form 10AB. The Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions) Pune be directed to consider Form 10AB filed on 27.03.2024 as having been filed under Clause (iii) of sec 12A(1)(ac), by condoning the delay / limitation, if any. 2. The appellant craves leave to add, alter, omit or substitute any of the grounds at the time of hearing of the appeal. 4. The Ld. Counsel for the assessee at the outset submitted that the application filed for grant of registration u/s 12A of the Act was rejected by the Ld. CIT(E) on the ground that the assessee has used wrong section code in Form 10AB inadvertently / mistakenly. He submitted that in the interest of justice, the assessee should be given an opportunity to substantiate its case by filing all the relevant details for deciding the issue afresh. He accordingly submitted that the matter may be restored to the file of the Ld. CIT(E). 4 ITA No.2577/PUN/2024 4.1 The Ld. AR relied on the decision of the Pune Bench of the Tribunal in the case of Datar Kulmandal Vs. CIT (ITA No. 1052/PUN/2024) dated 27.02.2025 and in the case of UV Patel Foundation vs. CIT (ITA No. 1956/PUN/2024), dated 02.12.2024 in support thereof. He further submitted that the mistake in wrong selection code in e-filing of Form 10AB is not fatal denying the registration of a charitable trust and placed reliance on the decision of Delhi Tribunal in the case of Raj Krishna Jain Charitable Trust (ITA no. 1553/Del/2024) and in the case of Shree Swaminarayan Gadi Trust (2024) 162 taxmann.com 772 (Surat). 5. The Ld. DR, on the other hand, supported the order of the Ld. CIT(E). 6. We have heard the heard the Ld. Representatives of the parties, perused the order of the Ld. CIT(E) and the paper book filed on behalf of the assessee and various judicial precedents relied upon by the Ld. AR as well. It is an admitted fact that due to non-compliance to the notice issued by the Ld. CIT(E) inter-alia asking for certain details such as bills/vouchers/invoices/photographs for claiming expenses in respect of charitable activities carried out by the trust etc., he rejected the application for grant of registration and also cancelled the provisional registration granted earlier u/s 12AB. The assessee trust was earlier registered u/s 12A w.e.f. 05.01.2017. The assessee sought re-registration under new scheme and was also granted provisional registration on 24.09.2021. Thereafter the assessee applied for regular registration by filing Form 10AB on 29.03.2024. A show cause notice was issued by the Ld. CIT(E) indicating wrong selection of code by the 5 ITA No.2577/PUN/2024 assessee while e-filing Form 10AB, which is also the reason for which the Ld. CIT(E) rejected the registration application of the assessee. It is the submission of the Ld. Counsel for the assessee that given an opportunity the assessee is in a position to substantiate its case by filing all the relevant details before the Ld. CIT(E). Considering the totality of the facts of the case and in the interest of justice, we deem it proper to restore the issue to the file of the Ld. CIT(E) with a direction to grant one final opportunity to the assessee to substantiate its case by filing the requisite details to his satisfaction and decide the issue as per fact and law. The assessee is also hereby directed to submit the details as called for by the Ld. CIT(E) on the appointed date without seeking any adjournment under any pretext, failing which the Ld. CIT(E) is at liberty to pass appropriate order as per law. 7. In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced in the open Court on 19th May, 2025. Sd/- Sd/- (R. K. PANDA) (ASTHA CHANDRA) VICE PRESIDENT JUDICIAL MEMBER पुणे Pune; दिन ांक Dated : 19th May, 2025 GCVSR 6 ITA No.2577/PUN/2024 आदेश की प्रतितिति अग्रेतिि/Copy of the Order is forwarded to: 1. अपीलार्थी / The Appellant; 2. प्रत्यर्थी / The Respondent 3. 4. The concerned Pr.CIT, Pune DR, ITAT, ‘A’ Bench, Pune 5. गार्ड फाईल / Guard file. आदेशानुसार/ BY ORDER, // True Copy // Senior Private Secretary आयकर अपीलीय अधिकरण ,पुणे / ITAT, Pune S.No. Details Date Initials Designation 1 Draft dictated on 08.05.2025 Sr. PS/PS 2 Draft placed before author 08.05.2025 Sr. PS/PS 3 Draft proposed & placed before the Second Member JM/AM 4 Draft discussed/approved by Second Member AM/AM 5 Approved Draft comes to the Sr. PS/PS Sr. PS/PS 6 Kept for pronouncement on Sr. PS/PS 7 Date of uploading of Order Sr. PS/PS 8 File sent to Bench Clerk Sr. PS/PS 9 Date on which the file goes to the Head Clerk 10 Date on which file goes to the A.R. 11 Date of Dispatch of order "