R.N. Shetty Trust Vs PCIT (Central) (Karnataka High Court)
Karnataka High Court Directs Condonation of Delay in E-Filing Form 10 for Section 11(2) Accumulation
The Karnataka High Court allowed the writ petition filed by R.N. Shetty Trust, quashing the order passed by the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax under Section 119(2)(b) refusing to condone the delay in e-filing Form 10 for AY 2017-18.
The Court noted that the Trust had filed Form 10 manually within the prescribed time, and the delay occurred only in electronic filing, which was subsequently done along with an application for condonation. The Court found that the delay was due to bona fide reasons and genuine hardship, and not due to any mala fide intent or negligence.
It was held that the authority had adopted an overly technical approach, ignoring the fact that the substantive compliance—intimation of accumulation under Section 11(2)—had already been made within time. Once the delay in filing the return itself had been condoned, refusal to condone the delay in e-filing Form 10 was found to be arbitrary and unsustainable.
Accordingly, the Court set aside the impugned orders, condoned the 364-day delay in e-filing Form 10, and directed the Department to proceed further in accordance with law. The ruling reiterates that procedural lapses should not defeat substantive charitable exemption claims when sufficient cause and bona fide conduct are established.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF KARNATAKA HIGH COURT
