EVEREST EDUCATION TRUST,PUNE vs. CIT EXEMPTION PUNE, PUNE

The appellant is a Trust inter alia formed with the object of imparting education. The appellant Trust filed application in Form No.10AB dated 30.09.2023 seeking registration u/s.12A(1)(ac)(iii) of the Act. On receipt of the said application, the ld. CIT, Exemption, in order to verify the genuineness of activities of the appellant trust, issued notice(s) through ITBA portal on 04.12.2023 calling upon the appellant to file certain information/clarification. However, for the reasons best known to the appellant trust, the appellant trust could not comply with the said notices. In the circumstances, the ld. CIT (Exemption) drew inference that the he is unable to draw any satisfactory conclusion about genuineness of activities of the appellant trust and the compliance to the requirements of any other law, thus chose to reject the application filed denying registration u/s.12AB of the Act.

Being aggrieved, the assessee is in appeal before the Tribunal in the present appeal.

We heard the rival submissions and perused the relevant material on record. We find that the ld. CIT (Exemption), Pune had rejected the application filed by the assessee denying registration u/s.12AB, without going into the merits of the application. The CIT is obliged to pass the order on merits even in case of an ex parte order. In our considered opinion and in order to meet the ends of justice, the matter requires remission to the file of CIT, Exemption for denovo disposal of the application in accordance with law after affording an opportunity of being heard to the appellant trust.

In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is partly allowed for statistical purposes.