12AB registration cannot be denied for missing irrevocability clause or a compelled Form 10AB response.

Registration or renewal under section 12AB cannot be refused merely because a trust deed lacks an express irrevocability or dissolution clause. The statutory inquiry is confined to the trust's objects, genuineness of activities, and compliance with material laws; absence of such clauses is not, by itself, a disqualifying condition. A compelled "Yes" response in Form 10AB, generated by an online utility despite the deed's wording, cannot be treated as false or incorrect information or as a specified violation. A procedural form cannot override the statute, and rejection on that basis is arbitrary and unsustainable.

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Issues: (i) Whether an application for registration or renewal under section 12AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 can be rejected merely because the trust deed does not contain an express irrevocability or dissolution clause. (ii) Whether treating a compelled "Yes" answer in Row 6 of Form 10AB, in the absence of an express irrevocability clause, as false or incorrect information and a specified violation can justify rejection of registration.

Issue (i): Whether an application for registration or renewal under section 12AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 can be rejected merely because the trust deed does not contain an express irrevocability or dissolution clause.

Analysis: The statutory requirements under section 12AB are confined to satisfaction about the objects of the trust, genuineness of its activities, and compliance with material laws. The provision does not prescribe an express irrevocability clause as a condition precedent. Section 63 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 creates a deeming fiction for revocable transfers and must be strictly construed; absence of an irrevocability clause does not make a trust revocable. The trust law framework under the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950, including the mechanisms for de-registration, disposal of assets, and application of the cy-pres doctrine, shows that public trust property cannot revert to the settlor. The absence of an express dissolution clause was also held earlier to be no ground for refusing registration, and the same logic applies to renewal under section 12AB.

Conclusion: The absence of an express irrevocability or dissolution clause is not a valid ground to reject registration or renewal under section 12AB.

Issue (ii): Whether treating a compelled "Yes" answer in Row 6 of Form 10AB, in the absence of an express irrevocability clause, as false or incorrect information and a specified violation can justify rejection of registration.

Analysis: The online utility required applicants to answer in a manner that did not reflect their deeds and then used that compelled response against them. A procedural form cannot override the statute or compel a declaration inconsistent with the legal position. Since the absence of an irrevocability clause does not make the trust revocable, a bona fide answer based on that position cannot be treated as false or incorrect information. Using the form-generated response as a specified violation was held to be arbitrary and unsustainable.

Conclusion: The compelled "Yes" answer in Form 10AB cannot be treated as false or incorrect information and cannot support rejection of registration.

Final Conclusion: The rejection orders were quashed, the challenged registrations were restored for reconsideration in accordance with law, and the revenue authorities were directed not to insist on an express irrevocability or dissolution clause as a threshold requirement for section 12AB registration.

Ratio Decidendi: A charitable trust is to be treated as irrevocable unless the instrument expressly reserves a power of revocation, and registration under section 12AB cannot be denied on the basis of a condition not found in the statute or on a form response compelled by an erroneous online utility.

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