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Judgment
Per Raj Kumar Chauhan, Judicial Member:
The appeal is directed against the order dated 21.03.2025 of Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption), Delhi [hereinafter referred to as the “CIT (E)”] wherein the application dated 03.09.2024 in Form 10AB for approval under Clause (iii) of first proviso to section 80G(5)(iii) of the Act was dismissed on the ground that the applicant has failed to furnish the necessary information despite opportunity given.
Aggrieved by the impugned order of the Id. CIT(E), the assessee has raised the following grounds of appeal:
"1.On the facts and circumstances of the Appellant's case and in law the Ld. CIT(Exemptions) erred in rejecting the application made by the applicant in Form 10AB u/s 80G(5) (iii) for seeking registration u/s 12AB of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for the reasons mentioned in the impugned order or otherwise.
2.The Appellant craves leaves to alter, amend withdraw or substitute any ground or grounds or to add any new ground or grounds of appeal on or before the hearing."
The brief facts as alleged in the proceedings before the Id. CIT(E) are that an application was filed on 03.09.2024 in Form 10AB for approval u/s 80G(5) of the Act. The Id. CIT(E) issued a questionnaire on 17.10.2024 for furnishing certain details/documents/clarification in support of its claim of registration u/s 80G(5) of the Act. Another opportunity was also given vide letter dated 03.03.2025, however the applicant has failed to submit necessary information, accordingly the application filed in Form 10AB for regular registration u/s 12AB was also rejected vide separate order of even dated, therefore this application filed in Form 10AB for grant of approval u/s 80G(5) was also rejected.
It is brought to our notice that there is a delay of 173 days in filing the appeal before us and the affidavit for seeking condonation of delay has been found. The contents are the same are reproduced as under:
"I, Kalpana Kumari, aged 28 years, residing at Ram Niwas, Road No. 07, Hehal Block, Ganga Nagar, Harmu, Ranchi, Jharkhand, 834001, do hereby solemnly affirm and state as under:
1.That I am an accountant and was responsible for handling the tax matters of the trust namely Webpulse Foundation.
2.That the trust had applied for renewal of registration under section 12A and renewal of 80G registration, both of which were rejected by the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax (PCIT) vide its order dated 21.03.2025
3.That an appeal against the 12A registration rejection was duly filed before the Hon'ble Income Tax Appellate Tribunal and the same as disposed by the Hon'ble tribunal vide its order dated 30.09.2025
4.That due to my lack of adequate knowledge regarding procedural requirements and under the wrong presumption that once the appeal against the 12A registration rejection had been filed, no separate appeal was required for the 80G registration rejection, a separate appeal for 80G renewal was not filed within the prescribed time.
5.That immediately upon realizing this oversight, steps were taken to file the appeal against the 80G registration rejection before the Hon'ble Tribunal. I say that the due to this very reason, there was a delay of 173 days in filling the appeal before the Hon'ble Tribunal.
6.That the delay in filing the appeal was bona fide, unintentional, and occurred due to a genuine misunderstanding of procedural requirements, and there was no mala fide intent or negligence on the part of Webpulse Foundation.
7.That I, therefore, humbly request the Hon'ble Tribunal to kindly condone the delay in filing the appeal against the 80G registration rejection in view of the bona fide reasons mentioned above.
8.That all the facts stated herein are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief, and nothing material has been concealed therefrom.
VERIFICATION
I, Kalpana Kumari, do hereby verify that the contents of this affidavit are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. No part of it is false, and nothing material has been concealed therefrom."
Nothing contrary has been brought on record by the Revenue to contradict the contents of affidavit the assessee/appellant. On perusal of the affidavit we are satisfied that the assessee/appellant has got sufficient cause for condonation of delay and accordingly. We condoned the delay in filing the appeal.
We have heard the Id. AR as well as the Id. DR.
The Id. AR at the very outset, submitted that the application in Form 10AB for registration u/s 12A(1)(ac)(iii) of the Act was also dismissed and the assessee has preferred an appeal against the said order. ITAT Delhi in ITA No. 3465/Del/2025 vide order dated 30.09.2025 has set aside the said order for dismissal of the application and restored the matter to the file of the Id. CIT(E) for granting one final opportunity to the assessee. It is therefore prayed that a similar leave may also be granted in this case and the material facts and circumstances are the same and in case the approval u/s 80G(5) is not granted, it would result into the miscarriage of justice to the applicant which is a charitable organization.
The Id. DR has left it to the discretion of the case of the Tribunal to consider the submission accordingly. In view of the submissions made and the facts and circumstances brought to our notice and the fact that the main application for registration u/s 12A is also pending for consideration before the Id. CIT(E), therefore, we deem it expedient to restore the matter to the file of the Id. CIT(E) by giving a final opportunity to the applicant for considering approval u/s 80G of the Act.
The assessee shall cooperate with the Id. CIT(E) and submit the necessary information/document within a period of 60 days of this order.
The appeal of the assessee is accordingly allowed for statistical purposes.