Al Jamia Mohammediyah Education Society Vs CIT (Exemptions) (Bombay High Court)
The Bombay High Court addressed a petition filed by Al Jamia Mohammediyah Education Society, a charitable trust, challenging the rejection of its application for condonation of delay in filing Form No. 10B for Assessment Year (AY) 2016-17. The petitioner had filed its return of income on 6 September 2016, declaring a nil income and claiming a refund of Rs. 70,710. The petitioner’s accounts were audited, and the audit report was submitted; however, Form 10B, required for claiming exemption under Section 11 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, was not filed at that time. The form was eventually filed manually on 15 February 2020, after a delay of 1,257 days.
The petitioner submitted an application under Section 119(2)(b) of the Act requesting condonation of this delay. The application was rejected by order dated 25 October 2023, which forms the subject matter of the present petition. The Department did not accept the petitioner’s explanation that the delay was caused due to reliance on the advice of its Chartered Accountant, who had initially attempted manual submission but was instructed by departmental staff to file the form online. The petitioner explained that the delay was inadvertent and an oversight, yet the authorities argued that the petitioner, being familiar with filing procedures from previous years, should have uploaded the form immediately. The Department also noted that the return for AY 2016-17 had been processed on 17 March 2018 under Section 143(1), and rectification was only filed on 24 January 2020, with the Form 10B being filed subsequently. The impugned order found the explanation insufficient and did not recognize it as “sufficient cause” for condoning the delay.
