Tribunal grants assessee's appeals, directs reexamination of exemption denial under sections 11 and 12AA

The Tribunal allowed all appeals of the assessee for statistical purposes, setting aside the orders of the authorities below. It directed the Assessing Officer to reconsider the denial of exemption under section 11 in light of the granted registration under section 12AA. The Tribunal emphasized that the infrastructure fund issue should be reexamined, considering the assessee's entitlement to exemption under section 11 as a custodian of the funds for development activities. The matters were restored to the AO for fresh consideration in accordance with the law.

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Issues Involved:
- Denial of exemption under section 11 of the Act due to lack of registration under section 12AA for the assessee.
- Dismissal of appeals by the Ld. CIT(A) based on the denial of registration.
- Reconsideration of the matter at the level of the AO based on previous judgments and orders regarding registration and exemption.
- Addition made on account of infrastructure fund and its treatment as income for the assessee.
- Reexamination of the infrastructure fund issue in light of the granted registration under section 12AA and entitlement to exemption under section 11 of the Act.

Analysis:
- The appeals were filed against orders of Ld.CIT(Appeals) for different assessment years. The Tribunal initially dismissed all appeals of the assessee, but upon filing miscellaneous applications, the Tribunal recalled its order and directed fresh hearings. The appeals were listed again for reconsideration.

- In the case of AY 2009-10, the AO denied exemption under section 11 as no registration under section 12A was granted to the assessee. The Ld. CIT(A) upheld the AO's decision. However, the Tribunal found that registration under section 12AA was granted to the assessee in a previous year, and the AO should verify the conditions of section 11 before passing a fresh assessment order, granting exemption.

- Similar issues were found in AYs 2010-11 and 2012-13 where the AO denied exemption under section 11 due to lack of registration under section 12AA. The Tribunal directed the AO to reconsider the matter and grant exemption after satisfying the conditions of the law.

- Regarding the addition made on account of the infrastructure fund, the Tribunal noted that the issue required reconsideration at the level of the AO. The Tribunal emphasized that the assessee being granted registration under section 12AA entitled them to exemption under section 11. The treatment of the infrastructure fund as income was to be reexamined considering the entitlement to exemption.

- The Tribunal highlighted that the authorities had not fully considered the nature of the infrastructure fund and the fact that the assessee acted as a custodian of the funds for development activities. The Tribunal directed the AO to redecide the issue of the infrastructure fund in light of the granted registration and entitlement to exemption under section 11.

- Ultimately, the Tribunal allowed all appeals of the assessee for statistical purposes, setting aside the orders of the authorities below and restoring the matters to the AO for fresh consideration in accordance with the law.

Conclusion:
The Tribunal's judgment focused on the denial of exemption under section 11 due to the lack of registration under section 12AA for the assessee. It emphasized the need for the AO to reconsider the matter in light of previous judgments and orders granting registration and entitlement to exemption. Additionally, the treatment of the infrastructure fund as income was to be reexamined considering the granted registration and entitlement to exemption under section 11.

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