Trust deed omissions cannot alone defeat section 12AB registration or make Form 10AB statements false.

Absence of an express irrevocability clause and dissolution or winding-up clause in a trust deed cannot, by itself, justify refusal of registration under section 12AB. The Tribunal applied the binding jurisdictional High Court view that registration or renewal under section 12AB cannot be denied merely on that basis. It further held that a positive reply in Form 10AB, where the deed does not expressly contain such clauses, is not automatically false or incorrect information and does not by itself amount to a specified violation under Explanation (g) to section 12AB(4). The rejection was therefore unsustainable and the matter had to be restored for fresh consideration in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the absence of an explicit irrevocability clause and dissolution clause in the trust deed could justify rejection of the application for registration under section 12AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961, treating the reply in Form 10AB as false or incorrect information and a specified violation.

Analysis: The application for registration was rejected solely because the trust deed did not expressly contain clauses on irrevocability and dissolution or winding up. The Tribunal followed the binding jurisdictional High Court decision, which held that registration or renewal under section 12AB cannot be refused merely on that ground. It also held that a positive answer in Form 10AB, in the absence of an express clause, cannot by itself be treated as false or incorrect information constituting a specified violation under Explanation (g) to section 12AB(4). In view of that ruling, the impugned rejection could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The rejection of registration on the ground of absence of an irrevocability and dissolution clause was not valid, and the application was required to be restored for fresh adjudication in accordance with law.

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