Technical defect in Form 10AB cannot defeat 80G approval where charitable objects require substantive scrutiny on merits.

A technical misdescription in Form 10AB cannot, by itself, justify rejection of approval under section 80G where the trust otherwise claims charitable objects and no finding is recorded that it is not genuine or not charitable. The analysis treats section 80G(5B) as protecting eligibility despite limited religious expenditure within the statutory ceiling, so the application must be examined on substance rather than form. On that basis, the rejection was not sustained, the assessee was to be given an opportunity to correct Form 10AB, and the matter was remitted for fresh consideration.

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Issues: Whether approval under section 80G could be rejected merely because the application in Form 10AB described the trust as religious cum charitable and mentioned religious objects, and whether the assessee should be given an opportunity to rectify the technical defect and have the matter reconsidered.

Analysis: The trust had already been granted registration under section 12A and the rejection rested on the description entered in Form 10AB rather than on any finding that the trust was not genuine or that its activities were not charitable. The non obstante protection in section 80G(5B) was relied upon to show that an institution does not lose eligibility merely because it incurs limited expenditure of a religious nature within the statutory ceiling. The material on record and the cited authorities supported the view that a purely technical mistake in the form should not defeat substantive consideration of eligibility, especially where the trust asserts that its main objects are charitable.

Conclusion: The rejection of approval was not sustained; the assessee was entitled to an opportunity to correct Form 10AB, and the matter was sent back to the Commissioner for fresh consideration.

Ratio Decidendi: A technical misdescription in the approval application cannot, by itself, justify of section 80G approval where the trust otherwise claims charitable objects and the statutory conditions require substantive examination on merits, including the limited reach of section 80G(5B).

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