Exemption u/s 11 can not be denied merely on the ground that audit report was not filed with return of Income

The assessee, a charitable trust, filed a return claiming exemption u/s 11 in respect inter alia of a receipt of Rs. 35.70 crores on sale of property. The audit report in Form 10B was not filed with the return. During the assessment proceedings, the assessee’s trustee gave a statement u/s 131 to the AO in which he stated that no audit report u/s 10B was obtained. Subsequently, the said statement was retracted on the ground that the trustee was not a tax expert and had no knowledge of the audit report. It was claimed that the audit report had been obtained but was omitted to be filed with the...