Earlier 12A registration supports section 11 exemption; omission in the return can be rectified as a record mistake.

Where a trust receives registration under section 12A with effect from an earlier date, denial of exemption under sections 11, 12 and 13 merely because the return was filed before receipt of the registration order is not sustainable. The omission to mention the registration in the return, when caused by delayed communication of the order, does not justify exclusion of the exemption at the processing stage under section 143(1). That exclusion is a mistake apparent from the record and may be corrected under section 154, making the rectification application maintainable and the assessee entitled to the exemption benefits.

---

---

Issues: Whether the denial of exemption under sections 11, 12 and 13 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, while processing the return under section 143(1), and the consequent refusal to rectify the intimation under section 154, was sustainable when registration under section 12A had been granted with effect from an earlier date.

Analysis: The assessee trust had been granted registration under section 12A with effect from 16.11.2015, though the order was issued later, and the return had been filed before receipt of that order. The omission to mention the registration in the return was therefore held to be a consequence of the delayed communication of the registration order. In view of the effective registration date, the assessee was entitled to the benefit of section 11, and the exclusion of that benefit in processing under section 143(1) was treated as a mistake apparent from the record. The rectification application was thus held to be maintainable.

Conclusion: The refusal to grant the exemption was not sustainable, the rectification ought to have been allowed, and the assessee was held entitled to the benefits under sections 11, 12 and 13 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Ratio Decidendi: Where registration under section 12A is granted with effect from an earlier date, denial of section 11 benefits solely because the return was filed before receipt of the registration order constitutes a mistake apparent from the record and can be corrected under section 154.

---