Charitable trust registration cannot be denied on a technical amendment objection when civil court validation remains possible.

Registration of a charitable trust was refused under section 12AA solely because the amended trust deed was not authorised by the original deed. The High Court noted that the trust was admittedly charitable, the dispute was confined to the amended deed, and the amendment's validity could be tested by the civil court. It held that the assessee should be given time to obtain a civil court order validating the amendment, after which the registration request should be reconsidered on that basis. The refusal was therefore set aside and the matter remanded for fresh consideration.

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Issues: Whether refusal of registration under section 12AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, solely on the ground that the amended trust deed was not authorised by the original deed, was sustainable, and whether the assessee should be given time to obtain an order from the civil court validating the amendment.

Analysis: The trust was admittedly charitable in nature and the dispute concerned only the amended deed presented for registration. The rejection rested on the narrow ground that the original deed did not contain a power of amendment. The Court noted that the assessee sought to regularise the omission before the civil court and that no income had yet been assessed. Since the objects were charitable and the legal validity of the amendment could be examined by the competent civil court, the matter warranted reconsideration after enabling the assessee to obtain such orders.

Conclusion: The refusal of registration was set aside and the matter was remanded to the Commissioner for fresh consideration after granting the assessee an opportunity to secure and produce the civil court's order.

Ratio Decidendi: Where registration of a charitable trust is declined only on a technical objection to an amended trust deed, and the validity of the amendment can be determined by the civil court, the authority should permit the assessee to obtain such adjudication and then reconsider the request for registration on that basis.

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