Charitable registration cannot be denied for fee receipts, ITR-6 filing, or technical limb errors when objects remain charitable.

At the registration stage, charitable status under section 12A read with section 12AB cannot be denied merely because the applicant has fee receipts, tax deduction at source, or filed ITR-6, where the stated objects are charitable and the record does not show that the entity falls within the proviso to section 2(15). The assessee's objects were treated as falling within environmental protection and allied educational awareness, not the residuary limb of general public utility. A mistake in selecting the limb for the application was treated as a technical defect and not a valid ground for outright rejection, and the rejection of registration was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to registration under section 12A read with section 12AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and whether the rejection on the grounds of alleged commercial activity, use of ITR-6, TDS deduction, and filing under the stated limb was sustainable.

Analysis: The assessee's objects were held to fall within the charitable limb relating to environmental protection and allied educational awareness, and not within the residuary limb of general public utility. The proviso to section 2(15) was therefore found inapplicable on the facts. The presence of fee receipts, deduction of tax at source, and filing of ITR-6 were treated as insufficient by themselves to negate charitable character or genuineness at the registration stage. The objection that the application was moved under the wrong limb was treated as a technical defect that could not justify outright rejection.

Conclusion: The rejection of registration was set aside and the assessee was held entitled to registration under section 12A.

Ratio Decidendi: At the registration stage, charitable status cannot be denied merely on the basis of fee-based receipts or return-filing form if the stated objects are charitable and the record does not establish that the entity falls within the proviso to section 2(15); a technical error in the chosen registration limb does not by itself justify rejection.

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