Inadvertent misdescription in Form 10AB cannot defeat section 80G approval where the correct clause is clear and undisputed.

An application for approval under section 80G could not be rejected solely because Form 10AB mentioned an incorrect clause, where the intended statutory provision was identifiable and the error was inadvertent and undisputed. On that basis, the rejection was set aside and the matter was remanded to the Commissioner for fresh consideration treating the application as one made under section 80G(5)(iii)(B) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The operative principle is that a bona fide misdescription in the prescribed form, without factual controversy, should not defeat consideration on the correct statutory footing.

---

---

Issues: Whether the rejection of the application for approval under section 80G, based on mention of an incorrect clause in Form 10AB, could be sustained, and whether the matter required remand for fresh consideration under the correct provision.

Analysis: The assessee pointed out that the reference to section 80G(5)(iv)(B) in Form 10AB was an inadvertent error and that the intended provision was section 80G(5)(iii)(B). The factual position was not controverted by the Revenue. In view of the mistake and the surrounding circumstances, the impugned rejection could not stand and the application required reconsideration on the basis of the correct clause.

Conclusion: The rejection order was set aside and the matter was remanded to the Commissioner for fresh decision by treating the application as one made under section 80G(5)(iii)(B) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Final Conclusion: The assessee obtained relief by way of remand, with the earlier rejection displaced and the application restored for reconsideration on the correct statutory basis.

Ratio Decidendi: An application for tax approval cannot be rejected merely because of an inadvertent misdescription of the relevant statutory clause in the prescribed form where the correct provision is identifiable and the mistake is undisputed.

---