Guru Ganesh Shri Guru Mishri Gorakshan Charitable Trust Vs Exemption Ward (ITAT Pune)
80G Approval Denied for Wrong Clause Selection Set Aside; One More Opportunity Granted: ITAT Pune
The Pune Bench (“B”) of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) allowed the appeal of a charitable trust and set aside the NFAC order denying regular approval under section 80G(5)(iii), holding that the rejection was based on an inadvertent procedural mistake rather than merits.
The trust had originally been granted valid provisional approval under section 80G(5). Subsequently, due to an error by the consultant, the trust again applied for provisional approval under an incorrect clause of the first proviso to section 80G(5), despite an existing valid provisional approval. When the trust later applied for regular approval via Form 10AB, the CIT (Exemption) rejected the application, treating the incorrect subsequent application as fatal and concluding that the prerequisite provisional approval was not in force.
The ITAT observed that the trust did possess a valid provisional registration, and the later incorrect filing was a bona fide, inadvertent mistake. Denial of regular approval solely on this technical ground, without examining merits, was held to be unjustified.
Accordingly, the Tribunal set aside the impugned order and remanded the matter to the CIT (Exemption) with directions to consider the application for regular approval afresh on merits, after granting reasonable opportunity of hearing. The appeal was allowed for statistical purposes.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT PUNE
