PRABHU MAHAVIR JIVDAYA TRUST,JAIPUR vs. CIT(EXEMPTION), AHMEDABAD, AHMEDABAD

The Assessee has taken the following grounds of appeal:- “1. That the order passed by Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax, Exemption, Ahmedabad by rejecting application u/s. 12AB (1)(b) of the I.T. Act, 1961 is wrong, unwarranted and bad in law. Kindly direct to register the same.

That the Ld. CIT(Exemption), Ahmedabad has erred in law and in facts of the case by neither recording the independent satisfaction for rejection of provisional registration and nor issued Show Cause Notice for rejection of provisional registration u/s. 12A of the I.T. Act 1961 which is wrong, unwarranted and bad in Law. Kindly restore the same.

That the Ld. CIT (Exemption), Ahmedabad has erred in law and in facts of the case in rejecting the provisional registration u/s. 12A without issuing separate

That the order passed by Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption), Ahmedabad by rejecting provisional registration u/s. 12A of the I.T. Act, 1961 is wrong, unwarranted and bad in law. Kindly direct to register the same.

That the appellant craves permission to add to or amend to any of the above grounds of appeal or to withdraw any of them.” 1. That under the facts and in the circumstances of the case Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax, Exemption, Ahmedabad rejected the application u/s. 80G(5)(iii) of the I.T. Act, 1961 which is wrong, unwarranted and bad in law. Kindly direct to register the same.

That the Ld. CIT (Exemption), Ahmedabad has erred in law and in facts of the case by neither recording the independent satisfaction for rejection of provisional approval and nor issued Show Cause Notice for rejection of provisional approval u/s. 80G of the I.T. Act 1961 which is wrong, unwarranted and bad in Law. Kindly restore the same.

That the Ld. CIT (Exemption), Ahmedabad has erred in law and in facts of the case in rejecting the provisional approval u/s. 80G without issuing separate DIN of the rejection order, which is against the circular & notification issued ^by the CBDT. So, the same is wrong, unwarranted and bad in Law. Kindly restore the same.

That the order passed by Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption), Ahmedabad by rejecting provisional approval u/s. 80G of the I.T. Act, 1961 is wrong, unwarranted and bad in law. Kindly direct to register the same.

That the appellant craves permission to add to or amend to any of the above grounds of appeal or to withdraw any of them.

The brief facts of the case are that the assessee / applicant trust filed application for grant of registration under Section 12A of the Act in Form No. 10AB. Notices calling for certain details were issued by Ld. CIT(E) from time, but there was no response on part of the assessee. Hence, in absence of requisite details, the Ld. CIT(E) dismissed the application for grant of registration under Section 12A of the Act with the following observations:

In view of the above, the present application filed in Form No.1OAB sub- clause (iii) of clause (ac) of sub-section (1) of section 12A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 is rejected and also your provisional registration stands cancelled.”

Further, application for grant of registration under Section 80G of the Act was also rejected by the Ld. CIT(E) on the ground that since the application for registration under Section 12A of the Act has been rejected, therefore, registration under Section 80G of the Act cannot be granted to the assessee. While dismissing the application under Section 80G filed by the assessee / applicant trust, Ld. CIT(E) made the following observations:

Under similar circumstances, where the assessee did not have valid registration u/s 12A of the Act, the Hon'ble Gujarat High Court in the case of CIT (Exemptions) vs. Shree Tapeshwar Hanumanji Bajrang Charity Trust, reported in 122 taxmann.com 98 has held that the registration u/s 12A of the Act is a pre- requisite for grant of approval u/s 80G of the Act. In absence of valid registration certificate u/s 12A of the Act, approval u/s 80G could not be granted.

In view of the above, the present application filed in Form 10AB is rejected without going into the merits.”

The assessee is in appeal before us against the aforesaid order passed by Ld. CIT(E) denying grant of registration under Section 12A and 80G of the Act.

Before us, the Counsel for the assessee admitted that evidently there has been non-compliance on the part of the assessee and the assessee failed to respond to notices issued by Ld. CIT(E). However, the Counsel for the assessee submitted that the assessee has a good case on merits and if given an opportunity of being heard, the assessee shall furnish all requisite documents as called for, to the satisfaction of Ld. CIT(E). Accordingly, the Counsel for the assessee requested that the matter may be restored to the file of Ld. CIT(E) for de-novo consideration in the interest of justice.

In response, Ld. D.R. placed reliance on the observations made by Ld. CIT(E) in the order passed by him.

We have heard the rival contentions and perused the material on record.

On going through the facts of the instant case, we observe that there is admittedly non-compliance on part of the assessee during the course of 12A/80G proceedings and the assessee / applicant trust has not responded to various notices issued by Ld. CIT(E), calling for details from time to time. However, in the interest of justice, both the matters relating to grant of registration under Section 12A of the Act and grant of registration under Section 80G of the Act, are restored to the file of Ld. CIT(E) for de-novo consideration, after giving due opportunity of hearing to the assessee. However, in case assessee / applicant trust still continuous to remain non- complied, Ld. CIT(E) would be at liberty to pass appropriate orders, on the basis of materials available on record, in accordance with law.

Further, in view of the admitted non-compliance to various notices issued by Ld. CIT(E) a cost of Rs. 5,000/- with respect to each of the two appeals is hereby directed to be paid to the Prime Minister Relief Fund for getting the matter restored to the file of Ld. CIT(E).

In the result, the appeals of the assessee / applicant trust are allowed for statistical purposes.