Mahyavanshi Samaj Bombay Trust Vs CIT Exemption (ITAT Mumbai)
The appeals concern the rejection of applications filed by an assessee-trust seeking registration under sections 12A and 80G of the Income Tax Act. The CIT (Exemptions), Mumbai rejected the applications on 24 June 2025, leading the assessee to approach the Tribunal. The assessee raised multiple grounds, asserting that the rejection was based on incorrect assumptions, non-consideration of facts, and misapplication of law.
The trust argued that the CIT(E) erred in treating the application filed in Form 10AB as delayed and failed to acknowledge that the trust had originally applied on 10 May 2024, which was rejected only on the basis that the wrong sub-clause under section 12A(1)(ac) was selected. The Tribunal, in an earlier order dated 12 March 2025, had set aside the rejection and directed reconsideration of the application after filing an amended form. The assessee contended that the CIT(E) did not properly address this history while claiming delay.
The assessee also contested the finding that it violated section 13(1)(b), arguing that the trust was formed in 1956, and therefore the provision—applicable only to trusts created after commencement of the Income Tax Act, 1961—did not apply. The trust further submitted that its beneficiaries belonged to the Mahyavanshi Samaj, a Scheduled Caste, and that Explanation 2 to section 13 clarified that trusts for Scheduled Castes, backward classes, Scheduled Tribes, women, or children were not considered trusts for the benefit of a religious community or caste.
