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Judgment
ORDER
PER NAVEEN CHANDRA [ACCOUNTANT MEMBER]:
The above captioned appeals are preferred by the Revenue against the order dated 31.01.2026, passed by Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)/National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi [hereinafter referred to as ‘ld. CIT(A)/NFAC], under section 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 [hereinafter referred to as, ‘Act’] arising out of the assessment order u/s 143(3) r.w.s. 144B dated 13.05.2021 issued by the NeAC, Delhi for Assessment Year 2017-18 & order dated 05.02.2026, passed by the ld. CIT(A)/NFAC under section 250 of the Act arising out of the assessment order u/s 143(3) r.w.s.144B dated 20.12.2022 issued by Assessment Unit for Assessment Year 2021-22.
Since the above captioned appeals were heard together and the facts in issues and grounds (except amounts) are identical, both the appeals are being disposed of by this common order for the sake of convenience and brevity.
The grounds of appeal raised by the Revenue in ITA No.3383/Del/2026 are as under:
1.“That on the facts and circumstances of the case und in law, the Ld. CIT(A) is erred in allowing appeal of the assessee by ignoring that it is not carrying charitable activities as envisaged in Section 2(15) r.w.s. 10(23C) of the IT Act, 1961.
2.That on the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the Ld. CIT(A) Is erred in allowing appeal of the assessee by merely relying on order of the Hon'ble ITAT without appreciating the facts of the case and findings of the AO.
3.That on the facts and circumstances of the case and in law. the Ld. CIT(A) is erred in allowing appeal of the assessee by merely relying on order of the Hon'ble ITAT. whereas the same has not been accepted by the revenue and further appeal is being filed before the Hon'ble High Court.
4.The Appellant craves leave to add, alter, amend, append or delete any of above grounds."
Brief facts of the case are that the assessee is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 w.e.f 18.06.1980 with the mandate to assist the Government of India ("GOI") and State Governments in the fields of reproductive health, HIV/ AIDS prevention, eradication of tuberculosis and maternal and child health.
The assessee obtained registration under section 12A of the Act on 06.12.1991 w.e.f from 20.03.1989. The assessee also received approval dated 01.01.1988 under section 80G of the Act. Registration/ Approval under section 10(23C)(iv) of the Act was granted to the assessee for A.Y. 1989-90 to 1991-92 and vide Notification No.18/2007 on 31.01.2007 w.e.f A.Y. 2002-03. For the captioned assessment year, the assessee filed return of income on 30.09.2017 under section 139(1) of the Act declaring Nil income; exemption was claimed under section 10(23C)(iv) of the Act. Assessee was selected for scrutiny vide notice dated 11.08.2018 issued under section 143(2), which culminated in assessment order dated 13.05.2021 being passed under section 143(3) of the Act, wherein income of the assessee was assessed at Rs.68,61,91,849/-. Upon appeal, the CIT(A) decided in favour of the assessee following the decision of ITAT for immediately preceding assessment year 2016-17 involving identical issues. Aggrieved, the Revenue has contested the order of the CIT(A) stating that the assessee is not carrying charitable activities as envisaged under section 2(15) r.w.s 10(23C) of the Act.
The ld DR from the Revenue argued that Hon’ble CIT(A) has relied upon the order of the ITAT which the Revenue has not accepted and is filing an appeal before the Hon’ble High Court.
Per contra, learned Counsel of the assessee stated that the ITAT vide its order dated 30.11.2022 has restored the registration under section 10(23C)(iv) which was revoked by the CIT(E) vide his order dated 16.03.2021 in the assessee’s own case. In the said order, the ITAT held that the Revenue has granted registration under section 12A and 80G of the Act as charitable institutions but has denied charitable status for the purpose of section 10(23C)(iv) of the Act. The ITAT held that the approval granted under section 10(23C)(iv) has wrongly been revoked and accordingly it restored the status under section 10(23C) of the Act.
We have heard the rival submissions and have perused the materials on record. We find that in the impugned order, the Ld CIT(A) has followed the order of the Tribunal in ITA No.433/Del/2021 for A.Y. 2016-17, which was decided in favour of the assessee. The mere fact that the Revenue has not accepted the ITAT order and is filing appeal before the Hon’ble High Court, does not erase the effect of the ITAT order. The hon’ble Supreme Court deprecated such argument of Revenue in the case of UOI V Kamlakshi Finance Corporation Ltd AIR 1992-SC-711. We, therefore, find no justification in the appeal of the Revenue and accordingly dismiss the appeals for both the years in A.Ys. 2017-18 and 2020-21. Appeal of Revenue is accordingly, dismissed.
In the result, both the appeals filed by the Revenue in ITA Nos. 3383 & 3384/Del/2026 are dismissed.