RABINDRA BHARATI SOCIETY. ,KOLKATA. vs. CIT(EXEMPTIONS), KOLKATA. , KOLKATA.

We have considered the rival submission and gone through the record. We find from the record that in this case, the assessee was already registered u/s 12A of the Act as a charitable institution vide order dated 06.04.2022 of ld. CIT (Exemption). An amendment was brought into the relevant provisions, whereby, the institution which stood already registered u/s 12A of the Act on or before 01.04.2021, had to apply for fresh registration under the provisions of Section 12A(1)(ac)(i) of the Act. The assessee accordingly applied for registration u/s 12A(1)(ac)(i) of the Act the said application of the assessee Page 2 of 7 M.A. No.: 32/KOL/2024 & Rabindra Bharati Society was allowed on 06.04.2022. However, both the assessee as well as the ld. CIT (Exemption) have misconstrued the provisions and were of the view that the said registration was a provisional registration and that the assessee was supposed to apply for final registration. A perusal of the certificate granted in Form no. 10AC by the ld. CIT (Exemption) dated 06.04.2022 reveals that ld. CIT (Exemption) mentioned in the title “Order for provisional registration” and even in column 9 of the said registration the ld. CIT (Exemption) has expressly mentioned that it was an order of provisional registration. The assessee/appellant under the circumstances applied for final registration u/s 12A(1)(ac)(iii) of the Act. Thereafter, ld. CIT (Exemption) also carried out certain enquiries and investigations and called upon the assessee to furnish certain replies and evidences, which were duly furnished by the assessee. Thereafter, ld. CIT (Exemption) vide a small and cryptic order rejected the application of the assessee stating therein that the earlier order in Form no. 10AC was still valid till AY 2026-27 and the application of the assessee was premature. Being aggrieved by the said order of the ld. CIT (Exemption), the assessee preferred appeal before us. 2.1. It is to be noted at this stage that in many other cases, wherein, the Trusts or institutions have been provisionally registered under Item ‘A’, sub- Clause (vi) of Section 12A(1)(ac) of the Act read with Section 12AB(1)(c) of the Act and such institutions had applied for final registration u/s 12A(1)(ac)(iii) of the Act read with Section 12AB(1)(b) of the Act, in such cases also, the ld. CIT (Exemption) has rejected the application for final registration alleging that the same was premature and this Tribunal in many cases has held that there was no bar to the applicant/assessee society to make an application for final registration even at the earliest possible event and it was not required to wait in the expiry of the provisional registration. 2.2. Since in this case also the ld. CIT (Exemption), in his order dated 04.07.2023, has mentioned that the registration granted to the assessee was provisional and further in the impugned order dated 04.07.2023 has rejected the application of the assessee for final/regular registration stating the same as to be premature, hence, under the circumstances, the assessee had come

He pointed out that under sub-clause (ii) of clause 5 of this Circular, it has been contemplated that where due to technical glitches, Form No. 10AC has been issued during FY 2021- 2022 with the heading “Order for provisional registration” or “ Order for provisional approval” instead of “Order for registration” or “ Order for approval”, then all such Form No. 10AC shall be considered as an “Order for registration or approval” and, in such cases where Form No. 10AC has been issued. Therefore, all registrations issued by CPC, Bengaluru under sub-clause (i) of section 12AC(1) would be construed as if granted for regular purposes.

2.4. Now, the Department has come with Miscellaneous Application stating therein that the observation of this Tribunal is based on incorrect assumption of facts and that the Tribunal has assumed that the assessee has been granted provisional registration whereas, the registration granted to the assessee earlier vide order dated 06.04.2022 was a regular/final registration. As noted above, the aforesaid observation of the Tribunal was on account of the aforesaid confusion created on account of incorrect mention in the Page 5 of 7 M.A. No.: 32/KOL/2024 & Rabindra Bharati Society relevant columns of Form 10AC stating the said order to be a provisional order. However, the said confusion stood clarified by the CBDT under circular No. 11 of l2022 (supra), vide which it has been clarified that the provisional registration will be construed as regular registration u/s 12A(1)(ac)(i) read with Section 12AB(1)(a) of the Act. Therefore, there was no requirement of setting aside this matter to the file of the ld. CIT (Exemption). Therefore, under these circumstances, an inadvertent error apparent on record has occurred in the order of the Tribunal because of not bringing the aforesaid developments before this Tribunal. Therefore, the impugned order of the Tribunal dated 09.01.2024 passed in is hereby recalled. I.T.A. No.: 911/KOL/2023 3. In view of the above facts and circumstances of the case as narrated above while adjudicating M.A. No.: 32/KOL/2024, the present appeal of the assessee is not maintainable as the assessee has already been granted final/regular registration u/s 12A(1)(ac)(i) read with Section 12AB(1)(a) of the Act which is valid up to AY 2026-27. Therefore, there is no requirement of applying for final registration. The present appeal of the assessee, thus, is infructuous and not maintainable and the same is accordingly dismissed. However, it is made clear that the dismissal of the above appeal of the assessee will not in any manner affect the registration granted to the assessee vide order dated 06.04.2022 which is valid up to AY 2026-27.