Colours Educational Society Vs CIT (ITAT Pune)
Wrong Clause Selected in Form 10AB is a Curable Defect – ITAT Pune Restores U/s 12AB & 80G Applications of Educational Society
The Pune ITAT held that an inadvertent selection of the wrong clause while filing Form 10AB cannot, by itself, justify rejection of a trust’s registration application. The Tribunal treated the error as a curable defect and restored the matter for fresh consideration.
The assessee society had obtained provisional registration under section 12AB and thereafter applied for regular registration in Form 10AB. However, instead of selecting section 12A(1)(ac)(iii), it mistakenly filed the application under section 12A(1)(ac)(ii). The CIT (Exemption) held that an application filed under one clause could not be treated as an application under another clause and rejected the registration application as non-maintainable without examining the merits. Consequentially, the application for approval under section 80G was also denied.
Before the Tribunal, the assessee explained that the mistake occurred due to an inadvertent error while filing the application without professional assistance and relied on earlier Tribunal decisions where similar mistakes were treated as technical defects.
Accepting the contention, the ITAT observed that the assessee was otherwise required to apply under section 12A(1)(ac)(iii) and the wrong selection of clause was merely a technical error. Following earlier coordinate bench rulings, the Tribunal set aside the CIT(E)’s order and directed him to treat the existing application as one filed under section 12A(1)(ac)(iii) and adjudicate the registration request on merits after granting adequate opportunity to the assessee. Since the 80G approval issue was consequential, it too was remanded for fresh consideration. Both appeals were allowed for statistical purposes.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT PUNE
