Little Flower Education Society Vs CIT (Exemptions) (Bombay High Court)
The writ petition concerned the challenge against an order dated 11 February 2025 issued under Section 119(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act for Assessment Year (AY) 2020-21. The order rejected the petitioner’s request to condone a delay in filing Form 10B, relying on CBDT Circular No. 16/2024 dated 18 November 2024. This circular states that applications for condonation of delay in filing Forms 9A, 10, 10B and 10BB cannot be entertained beyond three years from the end of the relevant assessment year, and applies to all applications filed on or after its issuance. The second issue raised in the petition was the validity of paragraph 3 of the Circular, which imposes the three-year restriction.
The petitioner, an educational trust registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950 and Section 12AA of the Income Tax Act, has been running educational institutions since 1972 and currently has around 3000 students. For AY 2020-21, return-filing due dates were repeatedly extended owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The petitioner filed its return on 15 February 2021, claiming exemption under Section 11, and also filed Form 10B on the same date. Later, on 30 November 2021, an intimation under Section 143(1) computed taxable income at Rs. 2,07,89,948/-, denied exemption under Section 11, and raised a demand of Rs. 78,51,920/- with a remark “No forms filed.” The petitioner states that this intimation was unnoticed due to pandemic-related disruptions, including closure of the school and irregular administrative functioning.
