Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Vs CIT (Exemption) (Bombay High Court)
Summary: The Bombay High Court allowed the writ petition filed by Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception and quashed the order dated 30 January 2025 passed under Section 119(2)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, rejecting the trust’s application for condonation of a 29-day delay in filing Form No. 10B for Assessment Year 2022-23. The Court also condoned the delay in filing Form No. 10B.
The Petitioner was a Charitable Trust established for charitable and religious purposes and administered by the Archdiocese of Bombay. It was registered as a Public Charitable Trust under the Maharashtra Public Trust Act, 1950 and had been assessed to income-tax since 1975. It was registered under Section 12A(1)(ac)(i) of the Act and had also been registered under Section 12A(a).
For A.Y. 2022-23, the Petitioner filed its Return of Income on 5 November 2022, within the extended time permitted under Section 139(1). The due date for filing the audit report in Form No. 10B under Section 12A(1)(b) was 7 October 2022. Form No. 10B was, however, e-filed on 5 November 2022, resulting in a delay of about 29 days. The return was processed under Section 143(1) on 8 March 2023, and the exemption claimed under Section 11 was disallowed because Form No. 10B had not been filed within the prescribed time.
