HANAFA KIND VISION TRUST,CHENNAI vs. CIT (EXEMPTIONS), CHENNAI

When this appeal was called for hearing, the ld.counsel for the assessee, Smt. S. Vidhya, CA, took us through the order of CIT(Exemption) and she particularly referred to the para No.4, which reads as under:- “4. In this case, the assessee has not taken any of the above three opportunities granted. It was specifically mentioned in the said email that in case of failure to respond / non-compliance in the above mentioned three dates, further opportunity will not be granted and the application would stand rejected for non-compliance. As the case is getting time barred by limitation and there was no response from the applicant as mentioned herein above, it is not possible to process the application any further. Therefore, the application for registration u/s.12AA is rejected.”

In view of the above para No.4 of the order of the CIT(Exemption), she stated that the order u/s.12AA(1)(b)(ii) of the Act, rejecting application in Form 10A for registration u/s.12AA of the Act, dated 12.06.2019, is violation in principle of natural justice, as no proper opportunity of being heard is provided. When these facts were confronted to ld. senior Departmental Representative, he read out para No.3 of the order of CIT(Exemption) and stated that three opportunities were provided within a span of one month and finally case was fixed for hearing on 22.11.2019, on which date also none was present. Hence, he requested that no further opportunity be provided to the assessee.

After hearing both sides and going through the fact that the order of CIT(Exemption) is ex-parte and there is no discussion on merits, because the assessee has not availed the opportunities provided to it. But, in any case, in the interest of natural justice, we set aside the order of CIT(Exemption) dated 12.12.2019 and restore the matter back to his file for fresh adjudication. Needless to say, the assessee will file all the details before CIT(Exemption) as and when called upon and even the assessee can file those details prior to his notice, to show its bonafide. The assessee can represent as and when called for, in person. Hence, the matter is restored back to the file of CIT(Exemption) for deciding afresh.

In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purpose.