Menaba Charitable Trust Vs CIT (Exemption) (ITAT Ahmedabad)
Assessee is a registered charitable trust engaged in relief to poor, education & general public utility. It was granted provisional 80G approval u/s 80G(5) via Form 10AC on 04.11.2021. As per law, it was required to apply for final registration in Form 10AB within the prescribed time under clause (ii) of the first proviso to section 80G(5). CBDT, through Circular No. 07/2024 dated 25.04.2024, extended the due date to 30.06.2024 & clarified that even cases earlier rejected due to delay or wrong section selection would be covered.
Assessee filed Form 10AB on 12.04.2024, well within the extended date. However, due to inadvertence, it selected clause (ii) instead of clause (iii). CIT(E) rejected the application on technical ground (wrong clause) without examining merits. To rectify this, Assessee filed a fresh Form 10AB on 17.12.2024 under the correct clause (iii). CIT(E) rejected this second application as time-barred & also cancelled the provisional Form 10AC, holding that Circular 7/2024 relief could not apply.
Before ITAT, Assessee argued that both rejections were purely procedural, despite timely compliance. Assessee relied on CBDT Circular 7/2024, which clearly states that applications earlier rejected due to wrong section are to be treated as valid within extended time. Further, procedural lapse cannot defeat substantive rights, & fresh application was only a curative attempt.
