SRI VIDYA SAMITI,PATHANAMTHITTA vs. THE COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (EXEMPTION), KOCHI, KOCHI

The brief facts of the case are that the assessee is a charitable trust and in order to avail the benefits granted under the provisions of the act, they made an application u/s. 12A of the act on 23/07/2023. Previously, the assessee got their provisional registration u/s. 12A(1)(ac)(iv) of the act. In order to regularise the registration, the present application has been filed by the assessee before the Ld.CIT(E). While filing the application, the assessee mentioned the provision as 12A(1)(ac)(ii) of the act. The Ld.CIT(E) while considering the said application had simply rejected the same on the ground that the said application was not filed properly.

As against the said rejection order, the present appeal has been filed before this Tribunal.

At the time of hearing, the Ld.AR submitted that the Ld.CIT(E) had not granted an opportunity to rectify the defects but straight away rejected the application which is not correct. The Ld.AR therefore prayed to grant an opportunity to rectify the said defects. The Ld.DR relied on the order of the Ld.CIT(E) and prayed to dismiss the appeal.

We have heard the arguments of both sides and perused the materials available on record.

As seen from the order of the Ld.CIT(E), the reason for rejecting the application is that the assessee had wrongly quoted the provision while applying for the registration. Before rejecting the application, it seems that the Ld.CIT(E) had not granted any opportunity to rectify the said mistake and also without granting a personal hearing, passed the order. We feel that the order of the Ld.CIT(E) is not correct since he has not granted any opportunity to the assessee to rectify the technical defect. Further, the Ld.CIT(E) also not granted any personal hearing before passing the impugned order. In such circumstances, we have no other option except to set aside the order of the Ld.CIT(E) and directed the ld CIT to grant an opportunity to rectify the defects mentioned in the impugned order and thereafter decide the application for registration afresh, in accordance with law after granting a reasonable opportunity of being heard to the assessee.

In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced in the open court on 28th October, 2024.