Jogniya Mata Shaktipith Vikas Sansthan Vs ITO (ITAT Jodhpur)
Summary: These two appeals filed by Shri Jogniya Mata Shaktipith Prabandh Avm Vikas Sansthan arose from connected proceedings concerning registration under the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the consequential claim of exemption under sections 11 and 12 for A.Y. 2018-19.
ITA No. 1059/Jodh/2026 arose from the order dated 27.02.2026 passed by the learned Commissioner of Income-tax (Exemption), Jaipur [“Ld. CIT(E)”] pursuant to directions issued by the Tribunal in an earlier round. The assessee had originally filed an application in Form No. 10A on 25.09.2020 seeking registration under the then applicable section 12AA. The application was rejected by the Ld. CIT(E) on 17.06.2021. The assessee challenged the rejection before the Tribunal, which, by order dated 03.11.2022 in ITA No. 38/Jodh/2022, restored the matter to the file of the Ld. CIT(E) for fresh adjudication on merits after providing another opportunity to the assessee.
On remand, the Ld. CIT(E) accepted the assessee’s entitlement to registration but proceeded on the premise that the assessee had filed an application in Form No. 10AB under section 12AB. Consequently, registration was granted under section 12AB with effect from 25.09.2020 to 31.03.2021.
Before the Tribunal, the assessee submitted that this premise was factually incorrect. According to the assessee, no Form No. 10AB application under section 12AB had been filed in the original proceedings. The original application dated 25.09.2020 was in Form No. 10A under the then existing section 12AA regime. The rejection of that very application had been challenged before the Tribunal and the matter had been restored to the Ld. CIT(E). Therefore, according to the assessee, the consequential proceedings could not convert the original section 12AA application into an application under section 12AB.
The Tribunal accepted this contention. It found from the record that the application dated 25.09.2020 was filed in Form No. 10A seeking registration under section 12AA, that the same application was rejected, and that the rejection was the subject matter of the earlier appeal before the Tribunal. The proceedings before the Ld. CIT(E) following the Tribunal’s order were therefore held to be a continuation of the original proceedings. The Tribunal observed that the statutory character of the application could not change merely because the consequential order was passed at a later point of time.
The Tribunal accordingly modified the order of the Ld. CIT(E) and directed the Ld. CIT(E), Jaipur to grant registration to the assessee under section 12AA pursuant to its original Form No. 10A application dated 25.09.2020, instead of granting registration under section 12AB. The Tribunal further directed that the registration would carry the consequences flowing from registration under the erstwhile section 12AA provisions in accordance with law. ITA No. 1059/Jodh/2026 was accordingly allowed.
The Tribunal thereafter considered ITA No. 969/Jodh/2025 concerning A.Y. 2018-19. The assessee had filed its return of income on 31.08.2018 declaring total income of ₹5,06,614. The return was processed under section 143(1) on 16.12.2019, and the benefit claimed under sections 11 and 12 was denied. The assessee appealed, but the learned Addl./JCIT(A)-1, Chennai dismissed the appeal by order dated 17.09.2025 on the ground that the assessee did not possess registration under section 12AA during A.Y. 2018-19 and that the CPC was therefore justified in denying exemption under sections 11 and 12.
Before the Tribunal, the assessee submitted that the basis of the first appellate authority’s decision had materially changed because the Tribunal had directed registration under section 12AA and the Ld. CIT(E) had already accepted the assessee’s eligibility for registration. The Tribunal had, in the connected appeal, corrected the error in the consequential order by directing registration under section 12AA instead of section 12AB. The assessee therefore sought consequential consideration of its registration and exemption claim for A.Y. 2018-19.
The Tribunal found substance in the submission. Since the sole basis for denial of exemption by the learned Addl./JCIT(A) was the absence of section 12AA registration, the Tribunal held that the matter could no longer be adjudicated on the premise that registration under section 12AA had not been granted. It therefore set aside the order dated 17.09.2025 and restored the matter to the file of the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer.
The Assessing Officer was directed to give consequential effect to the section 12AA registration to be granted by the Ld. CIT(E) pursuant to the Tribunal’s direction in ITA No. 1059/Jodh/2026. Upon issuance of the registration certificate, the Assessing Officer was directed to examine the assessee’s claim for exemption under sections 11 and 12 for A.Y. 2018-19 and grant consequential benefit to the extent permissible under the Act, after verification of the relevant conditions and in accordance with law. Due opportunity was also directed to be afforded to the assessee.
Thus, ITA No. 1059/Jodh/2026 was allowed, while ITA No. 969/Jodh/2025 was allowed for statistical purposes. Both appeals were disposed of accordingly.
Cases Discussed
- Shri Jogniya Mata Shaktipith Prabandh Avm Vikas Sansthan, ITA No. 38/Jodh/2022 — the Tribunal’s earlier order dated 03.11.2022 was the basis for restoring the assessee’s original section 12AA registration proceedings to the Ld. CIT(E) for fresh adjudication.
Assessee by:- Mahendra Gargieya
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT JODHPUR
These two appeals of the assessee, Shri Jogniya Mata Shaktipith Prabandh Avm Vikas Sansthan, though arising from different orders, are intrinsically connected. ITA No. 1059/Jodh/2026 arises from the order dated 27.02.2026 passed by the learned Commissioner of Income-tax (Exemption), Jaipur [“Ld. CIT(E)”] pursuant to the directions of this Tribunal in an earlier round, whereas ITA No. 969/Jodh/2025 arises from the order dated 17.09.2025 passed by the learned Addl./JCIT(A)-1, Chennai, in relation to the adjustment under section 143(1) for A.Y. 2018-19. Since the outcome of the latter appeal is consequential upon the issue of registration involved in the former, both the appeals were heard together and are being disposed of by this consolidated order.
2. We first take up ITA No. 1059/Jodh/2026. The relevant facts are that the assessee had originally filed an application in Form No. 10A on 25.09.2020 seeking registration under the erstwhile section 12AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The said application was rejected by the Ld. CIT(E) vide order dated 17.06.2021. Against the said rejection, the assessee approached this Tribunal and the Tribunal, vide order dated 03.11.2022 in ITA No. 38/Jodh/2022, restored the matter to the Asst. Years: 2018-19 & 2025-26 file of the Ld. CIT(E) for adjudication afresh on merits after providing another opportunity to the assessee.
3. Pursuant to the aforesaid direction of the Tribunal, the Ld. CIT(E) passed the impugned order dated 27.02.2026. While accepting the assessee’s entitlement to registration, the Ld. CIT(E), however, proceeded on the premise that the assessee had filed an application in Form No. 10AB under section 12AB and consequently granted registration under section 12AB with effect from 25.09.2020 to 31.03.2021.
4. Before us, the Ld. Counsel submitted that the very foundation on which the impugned order has proceeded is factually incorrect. The assessee had never filed Form No. 10AB under section 12AB in the original proceedings. Its application was filed on 25.09.2020 in Form No. 10A under the then existing provisions of section 12AA, i.e., prior to the coming into force of the new registration regime under section 12AB. The rejection of that very application had travelled before the Tribunal and what was restored by the Tribunal was the assessee’s original application under section 12AA. Therefore, while giving effect to the Tribunal’s order, the Ld. CIT(E) could not have altered the character of the original application and treated it as one filed under section 12AB.
5. We have considered the submissions and perused the material placed before us. The factual position is quite manifest from the record. The assessee’s application was filed on 25.09.2020 in Form No. 10A seeking registration under section 12AA. It was this application which was rejected, which thereafter became the subject matter of appeal before the Tribunal and which was ultimately restored to the Ld. CIT(E) for fresh adjudication. Thus, the proceedings before the Ld. CIT(E) pursuant to the Tribunal’s order dated 03.11.2022 were nothing but a continuation of the original proceedings emanating from the application dated 25.09.2020. The statutory character of such application could not change merely because the consequential order pursuant to the remand came to be passed at a later point of time.
6. Once the Ld. CIT(E), upon reconsideration pursuant to the direction of the Tribunal, was satisfied that the assessee was entitled to registration, such registration had to be granted under the statutory regime which governed the assessee’s original application. The subsequent introduction of section 12AB cannot convert an application validly filed under the then prevailing section 12AA into an application under section 12AB. The reference in the impugned order to Form No. 10AB and the grant of registration under section 12AB for a limited Asst. Years: 2018-19 & 2025-26 period from 25.09.2020 to 31.03.2021, therefore, do not accord with the factual genesis of the proceedings or with the direction given by the Tribunal in the first round.
7. Accordingly, we modify the impugned order and direct the Ld. CIT(E), Jaipur to grant registration to the assessee under section 12AA, pursuant to its original application in Form No. 10A dated 25.09.2020, instead of registration under section 12AB as mentioned in the impugned order dated 27.02.2026. The registration shall carry all consequences which flow from registration under the erstwhile provisions of section 12AA in accordance with law. Thus, ITA No. 1059/Jodh/2026 is allowed.
8. We now take up ITA No. 969/Jodh/2025 for A.Y. 2018-19. The assessee had filed its return of income for the relevant assessment year on 31.08.2018 declaring total income of ₹5,06,614. The return was processed under section 143(1) on 16.12.2019 and the benefit claimed under sections 11 and 12 was denied. The assessee carried the matter in appeal. The learned Addl./JCIT(A)-1, Chennai, vide impugned order dated 17.09.2025, dismissed the appeal essentially on the ground that, during A.Y. 2018-19, the assessee did not possess registration Asst. Years: 2018-19 & 2025-26 under section 12AA and, therefore, the CPC was justified in denying exemption under sections 11 and 12.
9. Before us, the Ld. Counsel submitted that the very basis on which the learned first appellate authority dismissed the appeal now stands materially altered. He pointed out that the assessee’s application for registration under section 12AA had been restored by this Tribunal to the Ld. CIT(E), and pursuant thereto the Ld. CIT(E) has already accepted the assessee’s eligibility for registration. The only error in the consequential order dated 27.02.2026 was that registration was granted under section 12AB instead of section 12AA, which issue has now been adjudicated by us in ITA No. 1059/Jodh/2026 hereinabove. Therefore, consequential effect of the registration under section 12AA is required to be examined for A.Y. 2018-19 also in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
10. We find substance in the aforesaid contention. The sole basis for denial of exemption by the learned Addl./JCIT(A) was the absence of registration under section 12AA. In the preceding paragraphs, we have already directed the Ld. CIT(E) to grant registration under section 12AA pursuant to the assessee’s original application. Therefore, the taxability of the assessee for A.Y. 2018-19 and its claim for exemption under sections 11 and 12 can no longer be adjudicated by Asst. Years: 2018-19 & 2025-26 proceeding on the premise that the assessee has not been granted registration under section 12AA.
11. Accordingly, the impugned order dated 17.09.2025 in ITA No. 969/Jodh/2025 is set aside and the matter is restored to the file of the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer for giving consequential effect to the registration under section 12AA which shall be granted by the Ld. CIT(E) in pursuance of our direction in ITA No. 1059/Jodh/2026. Upon issuance of the registration certificate under section 12AA, the Assessing Officer shall examine the assessee’s claim for exemption under sections 11 and 12 for A.Y. 2018-19 and give the consequential benefit thereof to the extent permissible under the provisions of the Act, after verification of the relevant conditions and in accordance with law. Due opportunity shall be afforded to the assessee.
12. Thus, ITA No. 969/Jodh/2025 is allowed for statistical purposes, whereas ITA No. 1059/Jodh/2026 is allowed.
13. In the result, both the appeals are disposed of in the terms indicated above.
Order pronounced in the open court on 14/08/2026.
