Trimurti Educational Charitable Trust Vs ITO (ITAT Mumbai)
Delay in Form 10AB Not Fatal: ITAT Orders Condonation and Merits-Based Consideration of 80G Approval
The Mumbai Bench of the ITAT dealt with the rejection of a charitable trust’s application for final approval under section 80G(5), which was dismissed by the CIT (Exemptions) solely on the ground of delay in filing Form 10AB. The trust held valid registration under section 12A up to AY 2026–27 and had been granted provisional 80G approval up to AY 2025–26. The delay occurred due to a bona fide misunderstanding that the validity of provisional 80G approval was co-terminus with section 12A registration.
The Tribunal noted that the rejection was purely technical, without any adverse finding on the charitable objects or genuineness of activities. It relied on a coordinate bench decision in Amrut Public Charitable Trust and emphasized that the transition to the new charitable regime had caused widespread interpretational confusion, acknowledged by CBDT through multiple extension circulars.
A crucial factor considered by the ITAT was that the assessee already held an earlier 80G approval granted in 2016, expressly valid “till withdrawn”, which had neither been withdrawn nor dealt with by the CIT(E). Rejecting the new application without addressing the subsisting approval created legal uncertainty and avoidable hardship.
Holding that substantive justice must prevail over procedural lapses, the ITAT set aside the rejection order, condoned the delay in filing Form 10AB, and restored the matter to the CIT(E) with a direction to examine the application on merits and grant approval if statutory conditions are satisfied. The appeal was allowed for statistical purposes
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT MUMBAI
