Shakuntla Devi Poonam Devi Smriti Educational Society, Bukandshahr V. CIT (E), Lucknow

ITA 899/DEL/2020

• Counselvise Citation: [2022] 103 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 9263 (ITAT-DELHI)
• Duration Of Justice: 2 year(s) 8 month(s) 6 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 31-10-2022
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: G
• Next Hearing Date: 24-10-2022
• Assessment Year: misc
• Appeal Filed On: 23-02-2020
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Section: 12

Judgement Text

IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL DELHI BENCH “G” DELHI BEFORE SHRI SHAMIM YAHYA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER & SHRI CHALLA NAGENDRA PRASAD, JUDICIAL MEMBER I.T.A. No.899/DEL/2020 Shakuntla Devi Poonam Devi Smriti Educational Society, Bazar Delhi Gate, Anoopshahr Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh Vs. Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption), Lucknow. TAN/PAN: AAQAS3027A (Appellant) (Respondent) Appellant by: None Respondent by: Shri H.K. Chaudhary, CIT-DR Date of hearing: 25 10 2022 Date of pronouncement: 01 11 2022 O R D E R PER SHAMIM YAHYA, A.M. Th is ap p eal b y th e Assessee i s d irec t ed ag ain st th e o rd er o f th e Co mmiss io n er o f In co me T ax (Ex emp t io n ), Lu ck n ow (‘CIT(E)’ in sho rt) d ated 2 0 .12 .2 0 19 p ertain s to issu e o f reje ct io n o f reg is trat io n u n der Sec tio n 1 2 AA of th e IT Ac t. 2 . Gro un d s o f ap p eal read as u n d er: “ 1 . B E CA U S E t h e “ a p p e l l a n t S H A KU N T L A D E V I P O O NA M D E V I S M R I T I E D U CA T I O NA L S O CI E T Y ” h a s a l l a l o n g b e e n e x i s t i n g f o r “ c h a r i t a b l e p u rp o ses” T h e S o c i e t y h a s b e e n c r e a t e d f o r g e n e r a l w e l f a r e , c h a ri t a b l e a n d e d u c a t i o n a l p u rp o se s . T h e S o c i e t y i s a l so h e l p i n g t h e p o o r a n d B a c k w a rd st u d e n t s b y p ro v i d i n g t h e m f re e b o o k s a n d u n i f o rm . T h e S o c i e t y i s r u n n i n g p u b l i c sc h o o l i n t h e n a m e o f “ S h a k u n t l a D e v i P o o n a m D e v i P u b l i c S c h o o l , w h i c h i s si t u a t e d in v i l l a g e A n o o p sh a h r. I.T.A. No.899/Del/2020 2 2 . B E CA U S E t h e p ro c e e d i n g s h a v e b e e n c o n c l u d e d a n d o r d e r a p p e a l e d a g a i n st h a s b e e n p a ss e d i n g ro s s v i ol a t i o n o f p r i n c i p l e s o f n a t u ra l j u s t i c e . 3 . B e c a u se t h e “ S H A KU NT L A D E V I P O O NA M D E V I S M R I T I E D U CA T I O NA L S O CI E T Y ” e v e r si n c e i t w a s c re a te d o n 0 6 - 0 3 - 1 9 9 8 f o r g e n e ra l we l f a r e , C h a r i t a b l e & e d uc a t i o n a l p u rp o s e s a s m e n t i o n e d i n i t s B y e l a w s a n d a c c o r d i n g ly i t s h o u l d b e a l l o w e d t h e b e n e f i t s o f re c o g n i t i o n u n d e r s e c t i on 1 2 A b y t h e l e a r n e d CI T . 4 . T h e l e a rn e d “ CI T ” w a s c a l l i n g f o r sp e c i f i c q u e ri e s re g a r d i n g r e g i s t ra t i o n u / s 1 2 A o n d a t e d 0 9 . 1 2 . 2 0 1 9 , f o r c o m p l i a n c e o n 1 6 . 1 2 . 2 0 1 9 b u t h e p a s se d o rd e r o n t h e b a s i s o f t h a t n o n e a n y re p l y re c e i v e d n o r a n y i n t i m a t i o n o f a d j o u r n m e n t re c e i v e d u p t o d a t e 1 9 . 1 2 . 2 0 1 9 . B u t T h e A p p e l l a n t S HA KU N T L A D E V I P O O NA M D E V I S M R I T I E D U CA T I O NA L S O CI E T Y i s ru n n i n g p u b l i c s c h o o l i n t h e n a m e o f “ S h a k u n t l a D e vi P o o n a m D e v i P u b l i c S c h o o l ” w h i c h i s s i t u a t e d i n v i l l a g e A no o p sh a h r, so t h e A p p e l l a n t d o e s n o t r e c e i v e d a n y q u e s t i o n n a i re o n i t s re g i st e re d a d d r e s s u p t o 2 0 . 1 2 . 2 0 1 9 . 5 . T h e l e a rn e d “ CI T ” wa s c a l l i n g f o r o r i g i n a l t ru st d e e d a n d o t h e r r e l e v a n t d o c u m e n t s r e q u i r e d f o r v e ri f i c a ti o n o n d a t e d 0 9 . 1 2 . 2 0 1 9 , f o r c o m p l i a n c e o n 1 6 . 1 2 . 2 0 1 9 , b u t n o t i c e i s re c e i v e d f r o m CI T E x e m p t i o n o n i t s re g i st e re d a d d res s o n d a t e d 2 8 . 1 2 . 2 0 1 9 . T h e l e a r n e d O f f i c e r p a s s e d o r d e r o n t h e b a si s o f t h a t n o n e a n y re p l y r e c e i v e d n o r a n y i n t i ma t i o n o f a d j o u rn m e n t re c e i v e d u p t o 1 9 . 1 2 . 2 0 1 9 wh i l e T h e A p p el l a n t n o t re c e i v e d a n y n o t i c e u p t o d a t e o f 2 0 . 1 2 . 2 0 1 9 . 6 . T h e l e a rn e d “ CI T ” a l so n o t i c e d t h a t t h e a p p l i c an t h a s n o t p r o d u c e o ri g i n a l t r u st d e e d a n d o t h e r re l e v a n t d o c u m e n t s re q u i r e d f o r v e ri f i c a t i o n t o p r o v e t h e o b j e c t o f t ru st a n d g e n u i n e n e s s o f a c t i v i t i e s, w h i l e T h e A p p e l l a n t a l r ea d y s u b m i t i t s R e g i s t r a t i o n o f S o c i e t y a n d a l l r e l e v a n t d o c u m en t s w h i l e su b m i s s i o n o f F o r m 1 0 A t h r o u g h E - P ro c e e d i n g . T h e soc i e t y i s re g i st e re d u n d e r S o c i e t y R e g i st r a t i o n A c t 1 8 6 0 o n da t e d 1 6 . 0 S . 2 0 1 2 . (C e rt i f i e d S o c i e t y R e g i st e r e d C o p y , R e gi s t e r e d i n M e rr u t o n d a t e d 1 6 - 0 8 - 2 0 1 2 i s a l r e a d y e n c l o se d t o CI T , e x e m p t i o n L u c k n o w wh i l e su b m i s si o n o f F o rm 1 0 A ). B ut i n o r d e r CI T E x e m p t i o n d e n i e d t h e c o p y r e c e i p t wh i l e th e a s s e ss e e h a s su b m i t t e d i t o n l i n e a n d p h y s i c a l l y a l so i n t h e D e p a rt m e n t . Co p y o f re p l y su b m i t t e d i s e n c l o s e d . 7 . T h e l e a rn e d “ CI T ” a l so n o t i c e d t h a t t h e a p p l i c a nt d o e s n o t p ro d u c e a n y p ro o f / d o c u m e n t r e g a r d i n g c h a ri t a b l e a c t i v i t i e s wh i l e t h e A p p e l l a n t a l re a d y su b m i t i t s n a t u r e o f a ct i v i t i e s w h i l e I.T.A. No.899/Del/2020 3 su b m i s s i o n o f F o r m 1 0 A t h ro u g h E - P ro c e e d i n g a n d su bm i t p h y s i c a l d o c u m e n t s CI T (E x e m p t i o n ) L u c k n o w o n d a t e d 2 6 . 0 6 . 2 0 1 9 (C o p y o f A c k n o wl e d g e m e n t i s e n c l o s e d ) 8 . T h e l e a rn e d “ CI T ” a l so n o t i c e d t h a t t h e a p p l i c a nt d o e s n o t su b m i t t e d t h e d e t a i l o f e x p e n d i t u r e f o r v e ri f i ca t i o n w h i l e t h e A p p e l l a n t a l r e a d y su b m i t i t s I n c o m e & E x p e n d i t ur e a n d B a l a n c e S h e e t A c c o u n t w h i l e su b m i s si o n o f F o rm 1 0 A t h ro u g h E - P ro c e e d i n g a n d s u b m i t p h y s i c a l d o c u m e n t s t o CI T (E x e m p t i o n ) L u c k n o w o n d a t e d 2 6 . 0 6 . 2 0 1 9 (C o p y o f A c k n o wl e d g e m e n t i s e n c l o se d ) 9 . I t i s su b m i t t e d t h a t o r d e r f r a m e d i s wi t h o u t a p pl i c a t i o n o f m i n d a n d a s se s sm e n t m a d e i s o n w ro n g a s su m p t i o n o f f a c t s o n re c o r d , t h e re f o re , e r ro n e o u s a n d d e se r v e s t o b e q u as h e d . ” 3 . Th e b rief fac ts o f th e case are th at th e assess ee fi le d an ap p lica tio n fo r reg istra t io n un d er Sectio n 1 2 A o f th e In co me Tax Act b efo re th e CIT(E), Lu ck n ow. Acco rd in g to th e ld. CIT(E), two o p po rtu n ities were g iv en to th e assessee b u t n o n e ap p eared . Th ereafter, th e ld . CIT(E) reject ed t h e ap p licat io n o n th e g ro und th at asses see h as n o t ch o sen to file th e d eta i ls. 4 . Ag ain st th is o rd er, th e assess ee is in ap p eal b efo re u s. 5 . We h av e h eard th e ld . DR an d p eru sed th e reco rd s. No n e ap p eared on b eh alf o f th e ass essee d esp ite n o tice. Hen ce, we p ro ceed to ad ju d icat e th e issu e . We n o te th at assesse e’s ap p lica tio n h as b een d ismi ssed b y th e ld . CIT(E ) for n on co mp li an ce. Ho wev er b efo re u s o n e o f th e g rou nd raised is th at assesse e h ad n o t receiv ed th e req u ir emen t g iv en b y the ld . CIT(E) in asmu ch as th e a ssessee was ru n n in g a scho o l in a v ill ag e an d h en ce d id n o t receiv e an y q u estio n n aire issu ed b y th e l d . CIT(E). In ou r co n sid ered o p in io n , in terest o f ju s tic e wil l b e se rv ed if th e issu e i s re mi tt ed t o th e fil e o f th e ld . CIT(E). Hen ce , t h e issu e i s remit ted to th e fi l e o f th e ld . CIT(E). Th e Ld . CIT(E) is d irected I.T.A. No.899/Del/2020 4 to g iv e an o p p ortu n ity o f b ein g h eard to th e a ssessee and th erea fter d ecid e t h e issu e as p er law . 6 . In th e resu lt, th e ap p eal o f th e a sse ssee st an d s allo we d fo r sta tis ti ca l p u rp o ses. Order pronounced in the open Court on 01/11/2022. Sd/- Sd/- [CHALLA NAGENDRA PRASAD] [SHAMIM YAHYA] JUDICIAL MEMBER ACCOUNTANT MEMBER DATED: 01/11/2022 prabhat