BABA KISHAN DASS EDUCATION & CHARITABLE SOCIETY,FATEHGARH SAHIB vs. ITO (EXEMPTIONS), CHANDIGARH

आयकर अपीलीय अिधकरण,च"डीगढ़ "यायपीठ “ए” , च"डीगढ़ IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL, CHANDIGARH BENCH “A”, CHANDIGARH "ी संजय गग", "याियक सद"य एवं "ी िव"म "सह यादव, लेखा सद"य BEFORE: SHRI. SANJAY GARG, JM & SHRI. VIKRAM SINGH YADAV, AM आयकर अपील सं./ 2023 िनधा"रण वष" / Assessment Year : 2016-17 Baba Kishan Dasss Education & The ITO (Exemptions) बनाम Charitable Society Ward, Chandigarh Village- Salana, Fatehgarh Sahib "थायी लेखा सं./PAN NO: AAATB6757B अपीलाथ"/Appellant ""यथ"/Respondent िनधा"रती क" ओर से/Assessee by : Shri Ashwani Kumar & Ms. Muskan Garg, C.A’s राज"व क" ओर से/ Revenue by : Shri Rohit Sharma, CIT DR सुनवाई क" तारीख/Date of Hearing : 19/12/2023 उदघोषणा क" तारीख/Date of Pronouncement : 15/01/2024 आदेश/Order PER VIKRAM SINGH YADAV, A.M. :

This is an appeal filed by the Assessee against the order of the Ld. CIT(A), NFAC, Delhi dt. 26/05/2023 pertaining to Assessment Year 2016-17. 2. In the present appeal, the assessee has raised the following grounds of appeal:

1. That order passed u/s 250(6) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 by the Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), NFAC Delhi vide order dated 26.05.2023 is against law and facts on the file in as much as CIT(A) was not justified to uphold the action of the Learned Assessing Officer that the appellant is not entitled to claim of exemption u/s 10(23C)(iiiad) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

2. That the Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) was not justified to uphold the action of the Learned Assessing Officer in framing assessment ex- parte u/s 144. 3. That the Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) was not justified in not adjudicating on the ground of admissibility of additional evidence. 3. Briefly the facts of the case are that the assessee is an educational society running a school by the name of Baba Kishan Dass Education & Charitable Society at Village Salana. The assessee society filed its return of income declaring NIL income on 28/09/2016 which was subsequently revised on 14/11/2017. The case of the assessee was selected for scrutiny. Notice under section 143(2) was issued and thereafter notice under section 142(1) alongwith questionnaire and thereafter final show cause was issued and in absence of any reply submitted by the assessee society, the assessment was framed under section 144 by the AO. 3.1 As per the AO, the assessee has filed its return of income under section 10(23C)(iiiad) of the Act by showing income from other sources at Rs. 69,13,980. As per the AO, in order to claim of exemption, the assessee society has to fulfill certain conditions as laid down in the relevant provisions, however in the instant case, the assessee society has failed to furnish the details/ information to substantiate its claim under section 10(23C)(iiiad) of the Act and therefore the exemption claimed was disallowed and whole of the amount of Rs. 69,13,980/- was brought to tax in the hands of the assessee society. 4. Being aggrieved, the assessee society carried the matter in appeal before the Ld. CIT(A) who has since sustained the said addition. 5. Against the said findings and the direction of the Ld. CIT(A), the assessee society is in appeal before us. 6. During the course of hearing the Ld.AR submitted that the assessment in this case was completed under section 144 of the Act. Regarding non compliance to the notices issued by the AO, it was submitted that the assessee did not have access to the email –id being located in small village Salani, Tehsil Amloh District Fatehgarh Sahib where there was no internet facility available. It was further submitted that the authorized manager cum Principal of the School Sardar Sukhwinder Singh looking after the affairs of school could not give due attention due to medical treatment of his son Charanjeet Singh who was suffering from cancer and who has since met with an untimely death. It was accordingly submitted that there was a reasonable cause for non appearance before the AO. 6.1 It was further submitted that during the appellate proceedings, the assessee sought permission of the Ld. CIT(A) to produce additional evidence as per the Rule 46A. However on perusal of the impugned order, it may be noted that the Ld. CIT(A) has failed to record any finding either accepting or rejecting the additional evidence so submitted by the assessee. 6.2 In this regard, our reference was drawn to the impugned order wherein the submissions so filed by the assessee were reproduced by the Ld. CIT(A) wherein the assessee has sought permission to submit additional evidence in terms of copy of audited balance sheet as on 31/03/2016 alongwith audit report in Form No. 10BB, copy of the trust deed, copy of the certificate of registration, copy of the assessment order under section 143(3) for A.Y 2010-11 wherein the AO has allowed the exemption under section 10(23C)(iiiad) of the Act, computation chart showing income applied towards revenue expenses and capital expenses and which shows that the assessee society has utilized more than 85% of the gross receipt towards attaining the object of the society, copy of the bills of assets purchased during the year etc. It was submitted that all these additional evidence are critical for determination of the issue at hand and same may be allowed to be submitted and taken into consideration while deciding the eligibility of the assessee society under section 10(23C)(iiiad) of the Act for the year under consideration.