VAIBHAV SHIKSHAN PRASARAK MANDAL ,AURANGABAD V. CIT(E) , PUNE

ITA 1857/PUN/2025

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The case involves Vaibhav Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, a charitable organization, appealing against the decision of the CIT (Exemption), Pune, which denied their application for approval under section 80G(5)(ii) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, on the grounds of delay in filing. The Tribunal examined the timeline of registrations and approvals granted to the assessee and found that the application was filed within a reasonable time frame, considering the dates of previous approvals. The Tribunal referenced a similar case, R.L. Education Sanstha Vs. CIT (Exemption), to support its decision.

• Counselvise Citation: [2026] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 826381 (ITAT-PUNE)
• Duration Of Justice: 5 month(s) 1 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 06-01-2026
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: B
• Assessment Year: misc
• Appeal Filed On: 04-08-2025
• Other Referred Cases: R.L. Education Sanstha Vs. CIT (Exemption)
• Laws Referred To: Income-tax Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Department Lawyers: M.M.CHATE
• Assessee Lawyers: SHUBHAM N RATHI
• Keywords: Set aside; Charitable institution
• Section: 12A; 80G

Judgement Text

" IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL PUNE BENCHES “B”, PUNE BEFORE DR.MANISH BORAD, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER AND SHRI VINAY BHAMORE, JUDICIAL MEMBER आयकर अपील सं. / ITA No.1857/PUN/2025 Vaibhav Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, Shop No.6,K Sector, Navjivan Colony, Shopping C, N-11, HUDCO, Aurangabad-431003 Maharashtra PAN : AABTV2002Q Vs. CIT (Exemption), Pune Appellant Respondent आदेश / ORDER PER DR. MANISH BOARD, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER : The captioned appeal at the instance of assessee is directed against the order dated 11.06.2025 framed by CIT (Exemption), Pune denying application filed on Form No.10AB for approval u/s.80G(5)(ii) of the Act. 2. Assessee has raised following grounds of appeal : “1. ERRED IN CANCELLING REGULAR REGISTRATION GRANTED 1.1 The Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption) ['the Ld. CIT(E)'] erred in not granting regular approval under Clause (ii) of first proviso to section 80G (5) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ['the Act'] on the ground that there is delay in filing Form 10AB. 1.2 In the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the Appellant submits that there is no delay in filing of the form. The Ld. CIT(E) has further erred in not considering the submission filed before him. Appellant by : Shri Shubham N Rathi (Virtual) Respondent by : Shri M.M. Chate Date of hearing : 23.12.2025 Date of pronouncement : 06.01.2026 Printed from counselvise.com ITA No.1857/PUN/2025 Vaibhav Shikshan Prasarak Mandal 2 1.3 In the above circumstances, the Appellant prays to set aside the order rejecting the regular registration and it is further prayed to grant regular approval for five years. 2. LIBERTY The Appellant craves leave to add, alter, amend, delete or substitute any of the above grounds of appeal.” 3. The only grievance of the assessee is that ld.CIT (Exemption) erred in rejecting the assessee’s application under clause (ii) of first proviso to sub-section (5) of section 80G of the Act on account of delay in filing the application. 4. At the outset, ld. Counsel for the assessee submitted that the final registration under second proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act was granted to the assessee on 18.11.2024 for the A.Y.2022-23 to 2025-26 and the assessee filed the subsequent application for final approval u/s.80G(5) of the Act on 19.12.2024. However, the same has been rejected on account of the reason that it has been filed belatedly, i.e. it should have been filed on or before 30.09.2024. He submitted that since the previous approval was granted on 18.11.2024 it was not possible for the assessee to file application upto 30.09.2024. He further submitted that the assessee has been granted the final registration u/s.12AB(1)(b) of the Act on 05.02.2025 for A.Y. 2026-27 to A.Y. 2030-31. He thus prayed that since there is no intentional delay assessee deserves to be granted approval u/s.80G(5) of the Act. 5. On the other hand, ld. Departmental Representative supported the order of ld.CIT (Exemption). 6. We have heard the rival contentions and perused the record placed before us. We observe that the assessee is a Printed from counselvise.com ITA No.1857/PUN/2025 Vaibhav Shikshan Prasarak Mandal 3 Charitable Organisation and enjoying regular registration u/s.12AB(1)(b) of the Act from A.Y. 2022-23 to A.Y. 2025-26 granted on 18.11.2024 and subsequently registration has also been granted u/s.12AB(1)(b) for the A.Y. 2026-27 to A.Y. 2030-31 on 05.02.2025. Assessee vide letter dated 18.11.2024 was granted final registration/approval under second proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act for A.Y. 2025-26. Now the assessee has filed the application for subsequent periods u/s.80G(5) of the Act on 19.12.2024. We note that ld.CIT (Exemption) has rejected the assessee’s application solely on the ground that the assessee’s application is delayed and it ought to have been filed prior to six months of the approval granted for A.Y. 2025-26, i.e. application should have been filed on or before 30.09.2024. Since the assessee’s application has been filed on 19.12.2024 same has been rejected. 7. We however fail to find any merit in the finding of ld.CIT (Exemption) because he ought to have considered that the previous final approval u/s.80G(5) of the Act was granted on 18.11.2024 and therefore it was practically impossible for the assessee to file the application for subsequent period on 30.09.2024. Considering the totality of the facts and circumstances and that the assessee has also been granted registration u/s.12AB(1)(b) for the A.Y. 2026-27 to A.Y. 2030- 31 on 05.02.2025 and also there is no finding of ld.CIT (Exemption) stating any discrepancy on the merits of the assessee’s case for getting approval u/s.80G(5) of the Act, we are of the considered view that there is no delay in filing of the application u/s.80G(5) of the Act by the assessee and therefore ld.CIT (Exemption) ought to have granted the approval under Printed from counselvise.com ITA No.1857/PUN/2025 Vaibhav Shikshan Prasarak Mandal 4 second proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act. We thus set aside the order of ld.CIT (Exemption) and allow the grounds of appeal raised by the assessee. Our view is fortified by the decision of this Tribunal rendered in the case of R.L. Education Sanstha Vs. CIT (Exemption) in ITA No.1477/PUN/2025 order dated 26.11.2025. Finding of the Tribunal reads as under : “3. We have heard the rival contentions and perused the record placed before us. We note that the appellant is a charitable trust and it was granted provisional approval u/s.80G(5) of the Act on 01.20.2021 for the period 01.04.2021 till A.Y. 2024-25. Thereafter, appellant applied for regular approval u/s.80G(5) of the Act and the same was granted on 29.10.2024 for A.Y. 2022-23 to A.Y. 2025-26. The assessee in terms of clause (ii) of sub-section (5) of section 80G of the Act had to again apply for regular approval u/s.80G(5) of the Act before the expiry of six months from the end of said period appellant filed application on 26.11.2024 on Form No.10AB, however, ld.CIT(Exemption) rejected the application observing as follows : “6. The assessee furnished its reply in response to the notice on 07/03/2025. On the issue of delay the assessee has stated that \": The assessee respectfully submits that it was granted regular registration under Section 80G(5)(iii) for the period AY 2022-23 to AY 2025-26, vide registration number AACTR0100N24PN01, on 29.10.2024. This registration was issued after the renewal deadline of 30.09.2024 had passed. At the time, the assessee was still in the process of obtaining its regular registration and, as a result, did not possess the certificate to file for renewal within the prescribed time limit. The delay in filing was solely due to procedural constraints and not a result of any negligence or deliberate delay, since the registration certificate was not received by the assessee before due date of its renewal, the question of filing of application before due date does not arise as the registration certificate was not received by the assessee. Further, the validity of the Section 80G registration until AY 2025-26 was due to the fact that the Section 12A registration was valid from AY 2021-22 to AY 2025-26. Rejecting the application merely on the basis that it was not filed by 30.09.2024 is not warranted, considering the registration certificate was obtained after expiry of the due date on 29.10.2024. The assessee is attaching the registration certificate under section 80G of the Act issued to it on 29.10.24 in Annexure A. In addition, the assessee has obtained the renewal of its Section 12A registration on 05.02.2025, which is valid from AY 2026- 27 to AY 2030-31 under registration number Printed from counselvise.com ITA No.1857/PUN/2025 Vaibhav Shikshan Prasarak Mandal 5 AACTR0100N24PN02. The assessee is attaching herewith the renewed registration certificate under section 12A of the Act as Annexure B. In view of the facts above, the assessee respectfully requests that its application be considered on merits basis.\" 6.1 The reply of the assessee is considered. However, the same is not found to be acceptable. As it seen from the submissions that the previous application was filed by the assessee on 14/05/2024 under clause (iii) of first proviso to sub-section (5) of section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. It is also noted that the date of provisional approval under section 80G(iv) of the Act was 01/10/2021 and the date of expiry of provisional approval under section 80G(5)(iv) of the Act in the assessee's case was 31/03/2024. As per the provisions of clause (iii) of first proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act, where a trust or institution has been provisionally approved under section 80G(5) (iv) of the Act, the application for regular approval under section 80G(5)(iv) was required to be filed, at least six months prior to expiry of period of the provisional approval or within six months from the date of commencement of activities. Since, the period of provisional approval was due to expire on 31/03/2024, the application was required to be filed before 30/09/2023. However, the application filed by the assessee was on 14/05/2024 i.e. after the expiry of period allowed under clause (iii) of first proviso to section 80G(5) of the Act. However, the extended due date for filing of such application was 30/06/2024 as per CBDT, Circular No 7/2024 dated 25/04/2024. Also, it is seen that the order granting approval under section 12A(1)(ac)(iii) was approved on 31/03/2023. Therefore, order granting approval under section 80G(5)(iii) was issued on 29/10/2024. Also, there is a mandatory pre condition to have regular approval under section 12A(1)(ac) for approval under section 80G(5) Thus, the time. 4. Before us, ld. Counsel for the appellant submitted that six months period prior to expiry of the period of regular approval was expiring on 30.09.2024 however the regular approval which was valid for A.Y. 2022-23 to A.Y. 2025-26 has been issued on 29.10.2024 and therefore it was impossible to file application for second regular approval upto 30.09.2024 onwards. 5. Ld. Departmental Representative though supported the order of ld.CIT(Exemption) but failed to controvert the facts stated by ld. Counsel for the appellant. 6. We observe that as per clause (ii) of proviso to section 80G(5) states that institution or fund referred in clause (vi) that are approved by Principal Commissioner or the Commissioner shall make an application in the prescribed form and manner to the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner for grant of approval where Printed from counselvise.com ITA No.1857/PUN/2025 Vaibhav Shikshan Prasarak Mandal 6 the institution or fund is approved and the period of such approval is due to expire, atleast six months prior to expiry of the said period. We note that ld.CIT(Exemption) has referred to clause (iii) of proviso to section 80G(5) which is applicable only in cases where the institution or fund has been provisionally approved and has to apply for regular approval. However, the case in hand is of the appellant which had already been granted regular approval u/s.80G(5) of the Act for A.Y. 2022-23 to A.Y. 2025-26 and it has to again apply for regular approval in terms of clause (ii) of the proviso to section 80G(5) and as per the said provisions considering the period of last approval, i.e. A.Y. 2022-23 to A.Y. 2025-26 the last date for filing of the application for regular approval is 30.09.2024 (since A.Y. 2025- 26 refers to F.Y. 2024-25). 7. Now in the instant case, appellant could not file the application for regular approval u/s.80G(5) of the Act upto 30.09.2024 because the previous regular approval for A.Y. 2022-23 to A.Y. 2025-26 has been granted on 29.10.2024. Therefore, it was impossible for the assessee to file application for second regular approval upto 30.09.2024. 8. We observe that immediately after getting the approval on 29.10.2024 for A.Y. 2022-23 to A.Y. 2025-26 appellant has furnished the application for regular approval u/s.80G(5) of the Act on Form No.10AB on 26.11.2024. Since the last regular approval was granted on 29.10.2024, appellant at least should have been given 29 days of extra period for filing of application on Form No.10AB for regular approval which indicates that appellant has filed valid application on 26.11.2024. 9. We therefore fail to find any merit in the finding of ld.CIT(Exemption and the same is reversed and ld.CIT(Exemption) is directed to issue regular approval under clause (ii) of section 80G(5) of the Act as applied by the appellant in the application on Form No.10AB on 26.11.2024. Effective grounds of appeal raised by the appellant are allowed.” 7.1 Since the facts of the instant case and issues raised are also identical, we respectfully following the above referred decision of this Tribunal, direct ld.CIT (Exemption) to grant regular approval under clause (ii) of section 80G(5) of the Act as applied by the assessee in its application filed on Form No.10AB on 19.12.2024. Impugned order is set aside and the grounds of appeal raised by the assessee are allowed. Printed from counselvise.com ITA No.1857/PUN/2025 Vaibhav Shikshan Prasarak Mandal 7 8. In the result, appeal of the assessee is allowed. Order pronounced on this 06th day of January, 2026. Sd/- Sd/- (VINAY BHAMORE) (MANISH BORAD) JUDICIAL MEMBER ACCOUNTANT MEMBER पुणे / Pune; \u0001दनांक / Dated : 06th January, 2026. Satish आदेश क\u0002 \u0003ितिलिप अ ेिषत / Copy of the Order forwarded to : 1. अपीलाथ / The Appellant. 2. \u000eयथ / The Respondent. 3. The Pr. CIT concerned. 4. िवभागीय ितिनिध, आयकर अपीलीय अिधकरण, “B” ब\u0014च, पुणे / DR, ITAT, “B” Bench, Pune. 5. गाड\u0004 फ़ाइल / Guard File. आदेशानुसार / BY ORDER, // True Copy // Assistant Registrar, आयकर अपीलीय अिधकरण, पुणे / ITAT, Pune. Printed from counselvise.com "