Vesava Koli Samaj Shikshan Sanstha Vs CIT (Exemption) (Bombay High Court)
The Bombay High Court delivered a judgment in the case of Vesava Koli Samaj Shikshan Sanstha Vs CIT (Exemption), setting aside an order that had rejected the petitioner’s application to condone a 181-day delay in filing Form No. 10B (Audit Report) for the Assessment Year (A.Y.) 2019-20. The court directed the tax authorities to grant the charitable trust consequential relief, allowing its claim for exemption under Sections 11 and 12 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
Case Background
The petitioner is a registered Public charitable trust running the Vesawa Vidya Mandir, an educational institution in Mumbai. For A.Y. 2019-20, the trust filed its Income Tax Return (ITR) on the due date, September 30, 2020, declaring NIL income. Although the mandatory audit report in Form No. 10B was secured on September 30, 2019, it was uploaded late, on March 30, 2021.
This delay occurred because the auditor’s accountant inadvertently failed to upload the report while filing the return, despite the ITR making a reference to it. Due to this technical omission, the Centralized Processing Centre (CPC), Bengaluru, issued an intimation under Section 143(1) on November 23, 2021, rejecting the exemption claim. This action determined the trust’s total income as over Rs. 2.52 crore and imposed a tax demand of approximately Rs. 1.30 crore.
