Procedural delay in e-filing Form 10B condoned, preserving Section 11 exemption where audit was completed on time.

Belated electronic upload of Form 10B was treated as a procedural lapse where the audit report had been obtained in time and the return was filed within the prescribed period. The delay was confined to the mode and timing of e-filing, with no breach of the charitable objects or the substantive conditions for exemption under Section 11. Relying on earlier Tribunal rulings, the delay in uploading Form 10B was condoned, and denial of exemption solely on that ground was held unsustainable. Exemption under Section 11 remained available if the assessee was otherwise eligible.

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Issues: Whether the belated electronic filing of Form 10B could be treated as a procedural lapse so as to condone the delay and allow exemption under Section 11.

Analysis: The audit report in Form 10B had been obtained within time, while the return of income had also been filed within the prescribed time. The delay arose only at the stage of electronic upload of the audit report and did not involve any violation of the charitable objects or the substantive conditions relating to exemption. The issue was covered by earlier Tribunal decisions holding that filing of Form 10B is a procedural requirement and that such delay, where the audit itself was completed in time and the assessee remained otherwise eligible, can be condoned. On that basis, the denial of exemption merely because the report was uploaded after the return was found unsustainable.

Conclusion: The delay in filing Form 10B was condoned and the assessee was held entitled to exemption under Section 11 if otherwise eligible.

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