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Facts
Shri Krushna Gau Seva Charitable Trust applied for registration under Section 12AB(i)(b)(ii) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which was rejected by the CIT(Exemption) due to delayed filing and non-compliance with notices. The assessee claimed non-compliance was due to their Chartered Accountant's inadvertence and lack of access to the portal.
Held
The tribunal found that the assessee was not given sufficient opportunity to be heard and, in the interest of natural justice, set aside the rejection order. The matter was restored to the CIT(Exemption) for a fresh adjudication after providing the assessee with an adequate opportunity to present their case.
Key Issues
The key legal issues were the rejection of the trust's registration application due to delayed filing and non-compliance, and whether the assessee was afforded a sufficient opportunity of being heard.
Sections Cited
Section 12AB(i)(b)(ii), Section 12A(1)(ac)
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, RAJKOT BENCH, RAJKOT
Before: DR. ARJUN LAL SAINI & Dr. DINESH MOHAN SINHA
(�नधा�रण वष� / Assessment Year: (2025-26) Shri Krushna Gau Seva Charitable Vs. CIT(Exemption), Trust, Room No.609, 6th Floor, Aayakar Naliyeri Mol, Naliyeri Moli, Bhavan, Nr. Sachin Tower, 100ft Ta. Gir Gadhada Road, Anandnagar-Prahladnagar Junagadh 362530 Road, Ahmedabad-380015 �थायीलेखासं./जीआइआरसं./PAN/GIR No.: AAZTS5830M (Appellant) (Respondent) Appellant by : Shri Jignesh Parikh, Ld. AR Respondent by : Shri Sanjay Punglia, Ld. CIT(DR) : 29/01/2026 Date of Hearing Date of Pronouncement : 11/02/2026 आदेश / O R D E R Per, Dr. Dinesh Mohan Sinha, JM:
This appeal is filed by the Assessee as against the Rejection order dated 24.06.2025 passed by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption), Ahmedabad denying Registration under section 12AB(i)(b)(ii) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) in form 10AD under Rule 17A of the I.T. Rules, 1962. ITA
Grounds of appeal
raised by the assessee, are as follows: “1. The Learned Commissioner of Income Tax Exemption erred in law and in fact in denying the registration u/s 12AB of The Income Tax Act, 1961.
2. The Learned Commissioner of Income Tax Exemption erred in law and in fact in passing an order in Form 10AD rejecting application filed in Form No.10AB by treating the same non maintainable and cancelling the provisional registration.
3. The appellant craves leave to add, amend, alter, edit, delete, modify or change all or any of the grounds of appeal at the time of or before the hearing of the appeal.”
Brief facts of the case:
In reference to the application filed by the applicant in FORM 10AB the Ld. CIT(E) has issued notice asking details/information in support of registration application. That the assessee submitted the details/information through E- mail on the website of the Department.
On perusal of details/documents submitted by you, it is observed that your Trust is found registered on 14.02.2020 and it is also observed that at para 2 of your reply, you have stated that the date of commencement of activity is Feb.-2020. However, you have obtained provisional registration under form 10AC on 23-06-2022 i.e. from AY 2023-24 to AY 2025-2026. 2 | P a g e
Hence, as your activities has already been commenced (even prior obtaining provisional registration under form 10AC), present application under section 12A(1)(ac) (iii) of the Act (re-produced above) is found to be delayed as you should have obtained provisional certificate one month prior to the commencement of the previous year relevant to the assessment year from which the said registration is sought and should have applied under clause(iii) as referred above within 6 month from the date of commencement of activities. Further, you have also failed to avail the benefit of circular no. 7 of 2024 issued by CBDT, dated 25.04.2024, whereas time up to 30.06.2024 was allowed to file Form 10AB. Therefore, the present application filed by you is delayed. Further, w.e.f. 01.10.2024, an application filed under sub-clause (1) to (vi) of section 12A(1)(ac) of the Act can be condoned if there is a reasonable cause for delay in filing such application and notice you were given an opportunity to avail the benefit of such provisions introduced under the Act by explaining the reasonable cause for delay in filing the same along with necessary supporting evidence and affidavit.. However, you have not considered the same.
In view of the above, you are once again requested to explain with corroborative evidences, condonation request/prayer and affidavit that why the present application filed in Form 10AB shall not be treated as not filed within due date specified in the Act & why the same should not be rejected as non maintainable.
In this regard, you are requested to show cause as to why your application filed in Form 10AB, should not be rejected for the reasons discussed in paras above. Further, you are requested to note that in case of non-
3 | P a g e compliance/part compliance of said notice, the matter will be decided on the basis of facts/material available on record.
In response to the above show-cause notice dated 14.06.2025, the applicant has neither filed any submission nor has sought any adjournment in this case.
That the assessee has challenge the legality and validity of impugned order dated 24.06.2025 of the Ld. CIT(E) by filing the appeal before us.
During the course of hearing, Ld. AR has prayed for an opportunity to explain the case before lower authority.
On the contrary, the Ld. DR for the revenue relied on the order of the Ld. CIT(E). however, the Ld. DR did not object the prayer of the Ld.AR.
We have heard the rival contention of both the parties and perused the material available on record. We note that there was a non-compliance of notice issued by Ld. CIT(E). The assessee has moved an affidavit giving the reasons for non-compliance. The contents are reproduced:
“That the Income Tax Department had issued notices, including a show cause notice dated 14.06.2025, in connection with the application filed in Form No. 10AB. However, the said notices remained unattended due to inadvertence on the part of the Chartered Accountant, who was at the relevant time stationed at Nanded, Maharashtra, in connection with time-bound audit assignments.
That the trustees had no independent access to the income-tax portal, nor were they aware of the issuance of such notices, as all login credentials and compliances were being handled by the Chartered Accountant.
That the non-compliance and consequent delay were neither intentional nor deliberate, and the trust had no malafide intention whatsoever. The lapse occurred solely due to circumstances beyond the control of the trustees.”
Considering the above facts and circumstances of the case, it appears that the assessee was not provided sufficient opportunity of being heard by the Ld. CIT(E) and so the assessee could not plead the case successfully before the Ld.CIT(E). According to principles of natural justice and fair play the affected party should be given sufficient opportunity of being heard to represent the case. In the interest of justice, we set aside the impugned order and restore the matter back to the file of Ld. CIT(E) for de novo adjudication and pass a speaking order after affording sufficient opportunity of being heard to the assessee. And in turn the assessee is also directed to represent the case before Ld. CIT(E).
In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed, for statistical purposes.
Order pronounced in the open court on 11/02/2026.